Protecting clean air from polluters

All too often, companies pollute our air in violation of the law. We take these polluters to court to protect the air we breathe.

Clean air


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Denbow | TPIN
Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger in front of ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas, facility.

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Clean air is vital to our health. Yet all too often, companies release pollution into the air we breathe, far in excess of what the law allows. This pollution includes substances that cause cancer, trigger asthma attacks, and cut lives short. And yet all too often, officials are doing nothing, or too little too late, to hold these polluters accountable.

Fortunately, the Clean Air Act gives the public the power to take these polluters to court and stop their illegal pollution. Acting on behalf of our citizen members, our litigation team is doing just that.

factory-smokestacks-sunset-The-American-Wanderer-shutterstock
The American Wanderer | Shutterstock.com
Air pollution from a coal plant

We have won several cases to end illegal air pollution at several oil and chemical refineries – including one against ExxonMobil. A federal judge ordered Exxon to pay a $14.25 million fine, believed to be the largest civil penalty ever imposed in an environmental citizen suit, for committing 16,386 days of violations of the Clean Air Act at its facility in Baytown, Texas. 

We also brought suit against ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company, for showering Pittsburgh-area neighborhoods with emissions of soot, acidic gases and noxious odors. The company agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty and spend an estimated $2 million on air pollution controls.

Ready to bring more polluters to court

We’re always on the lookout for companies that are illegally polluting our air. And given the EPA’s long-term decline in inspections and enforcement, our citizens’ suits against these polluters have become even more critical for clean air.

More information on our clean air cases:

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Authors

John Rumpler

Clean Water Director and Senior Attorney, Environment America

John directs Environment America's efforts to protect our rivers, lakes, streams and drinking water. John’s areas of expertise include lead and other toxic threats to drinking water, factory farms and agribusiness pollution, algal blooms, fracking and the federal Clean Water Act. He previously worked as a staff attorney for Alternatives for Community & Environment and Tobacco Control Resource Center. John lives in Brookline, Mass., with his family, where he enjoys cooking, running, playing tennis, chess and building sandcastles on the beach.