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Seven environmental and public interest organizations sent a February 28th joint letter to Dr. Earthea Nance, Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Region 6 identifying what they consider “important environmental justice issues that exist in the backyard of EPA’s Region 6 Headquarters” (referencing North Texas).
The seven organizations include:
- Lane Plating Community Advisory Group
- Southern Sector Rising
- Clean Up Garland
- Sierra Club Member
- Downwinders at Risk
- Midlothian Breathe
- Liveable Arlington
-
Sierra Club
(collectively “Organizations”)
EPA Region 6 includes the following states:
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
The issues identified in the February 28th letter to Dr. Nance include:
- Determine the environmental and public health risks at the Lane Plating Superfund Site;
- Conduct a comprehensive evaluation on the former site of ‘Shingle Mountain’ in Dallas;
- Convene a taskforce to address unregulated and unpermitted pollution sites in and around Garland;
- Require polluters in the region to comply with EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone pollution;
- Require Vistra’s Martin Lake Power Plant, the worst sulfur dioxide polluter in the country, to install modern pollution controls in compliance with the Clean Air Act;
- Evaluate how the Clean Air Act may be used to enforce neighborhood pollution controls;
- Focus on community health in Midlothian, the “Cement Capitol of Texas”; and
- Protect children from fracking pollution and methane in communities across Texas.
The Organizations ask that these issues be prioritized and their view on potential solutions are outlined in an attached document.
A copy of the February 28th letter can be downloaded here.
