Citizens Sue EPA over PVC Plant Emissions
Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm that represents citizen groups, filed a lawsuit on behalf of citizens in communities affected by emissions from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturers. The lawsuit is intended to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the host of toxins released from these plants. Although the Clean Air Act required EPA to promulgate such regulations by Nov. 15, 2000, the agency has not done so.
A 2004 federal court ruling found that EPA's standards regulating air emissions from PVC plants violated the law, so the court threw out the standards. Four years later, the agency has yet to develop any new standards.
The latest lawsuit was filed to force the agency to issue lawful standards for all hazardous pollutants emitted from PVC plants. If successful, the suit would trigger protections against several harmful pollutants associated with a wide variety of serious adverse health effects. To read the lawsuit, go to www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/pvc-complaint-for-filing.pdf.