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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Midwest Generation Coal Plants Under Pressure to Clean Up in Illinois

Case Updates:

September 15, 2004

On September 13, Sierra Club joined a broad coalition in a legal challenge against the Bush Administration’s failure to clean up five polluting power plants near Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago region currently fails to meet air quality standards for ozone smog and fine-particle pollution, yet the Bush administration has failed to establish strict monitoring requirements for the Midwest Generation power plants in violation of the Clean Air Act. Power plant pollution nationwide causes at least 30,000 deaths from respiratory illness each year, and in Chicago, over 70,000 asthmatics are rushed to the hospital annually. Despite these health impacts, the Bush administration has virtually abandoned its enforcement actions against coal-burning power plants, including these five in the Chicago area. Last year, the Sierra Club protested new permits for the plants, citing clean air violations and an unwillingness by the Bush administration to uphold the “New Source Review” law which requires the modernization of aging coal plants. This new lawsuit challenges the plants which, with the acquiescence of the Bush administration, continue to operate without the necessary permits or public health safeguards.

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