Documents

Press Release: Illinois Citizens Group Urges U.S. EPA to Strip State of Oversight of Fast-Growing CAFO
Discharge of Millions of Gallons of Animal Waste into Illinois Rivers and Streams Now Overlooked; Clean Water Act Enforcement by State Nonexistent for Illinois' 2,100 CAFOS.
May 14, 2008

Maryland citizens, Potomac Riverkeeper, and the Environmental Integrity Project Cite Nearly 13,000 Clean Water Act Violations at Charles County Mirant Fly Ash Landfill
Apr 2, 2008
The Faulkner Fly Ash Storage Facility, operated by the utility Mirant, is discharging selenium, cadmium, and other toxic pollutants into Maryland waters in violation of state law and without a federally required Clean Water Act permit. The toxic pollutants is entering Zekiah Swamp, cited by the Smithsonian as one of the most important ecological areas on the East Coast. Fly ash contains heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants that are toxic to both human health and the environment. Coal-fired power plants in the U.S. produce approximately 130 million tons of fly ash and other coal combustion waste each year, and the unregulated disposal of this waste has contributed to surface water and ground water contamination in at least thirteen different states.

Press Release: Greenhouse Gas Increase from U.S. Power Plants Highest Since 1998
Mar 18, 2008
Carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants rose 2.9 percent in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998, according to new data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Emissions of carbon dioxide from the electric power industry have risen 5.9 percent since 2002, and 11.7 percent since 1997. Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Illinois and California are among the states with the largest increases over the past one, five, and ten years. EIP's report is available below, and detailed 50 state data may be found in the appendices.

U.S. EPA Data Shows Toxic Air Pollution Worsening at Many Texas and Louisiana Refineries
EPA Urged to Get Tougher on Refinery Pollution, Not Turn a Blind Eye to Problem.
Nov 27, 2007
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled a public hearing in Houston on November 27, to hear public testimony on the Agency's recent proposal to require no further reduction in hazardous air pollution from refineries. This proposal assumes that regulations already on the books have reduced emissions to a level that poses no real risk to the public. But data reported by the industry to the EPAs Toxics Release Inventory shows that hazardous air pollutants(HAPs) from some refineries has actually increased since EPA began regulating such emissions in 1995.

PennFuture, Environmental Integrity Project Proceed with Lawsuit against FirstEnergy for Continued Violations of Clean Air Laws
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture), with the support of the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), today announced it has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against FirstEnergy Corporation for repeated and dangerous air pollution violations at its Bruce Mansfield plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. PennFuture is representing itself and three of its members who live near the plant, Ralph Hysong, Anna May Moore, and Robert Jones. Today's filing alleges that the plant has violated both the federal Clean Air Act and the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act.
Oct 18, 2007

Updates on the Bruce Mansfield Case
Oct 12, 2007

Press Release: Small Farmers, Other Concerned Iowans Petition EPA To Revoke Iowa DNR Authority over Factory Farm Pollution
Sep 20, 2007
Discharge of Millions of Gallons of Animal Waste into Iowa Rivers and Streams Overlooked; Clean Water Act Compliance Non-existent for Iowa's 2,100 CAFOS.

Press Release: Environmental Groups Appeal ConocoPhillips Illinois Refinery Permit
Tar Sands Expansion will Triple Global-warming Gases, Increase Pollution
Aug 22, 2007
American Bottom Conservancy, represented by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club, represented by the Environmental Integrity Project, today filed a Petition for Review of the air permit issued by Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to ConocoPhillips to expand its Wood River, Illinois, refinery in order to process heavy crude oil derived from Canadian tar sands. The massive refinery expansion signals an alarming trend in the U.S. away from conventional crude oil to the use of cheaper and dirtier tar sands, resulting in triple the global-warming gases and increases in regional air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, volatile organic materials, and sulfur oxides. The groups brought their challenge in front the Environmental Appeal Board because of IEPA's failure to require state-of-the-art pollution control measures and because of IEPA's failure to follow procedural rules designed to protect citizens.

Press Release: EIP 50 Dirtiest
Jul 26, 2007

50 Dirtiest U.S. Power Plants: CO2 Pollution Linked to Global Warming on Track to Rise by a Third, Mixed Picture on Other Key Pollutants (2007)
Dirty Kilowatts: States With Most Problem Facilities for CO2 Emissions Are AL, FL, GA, IN, KY, NC, NM, OH, PA, TX, WV, and WY.
Jul 26, 2007
CO2 to Rise Sharply, Mercury Levels Hold Steady, Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide Ease Somewhat; States With Most Problem Facilities for CO2 Emissions Are AL, FL, GA, IN, KY, NC, NM, OH, PA, TX, WV, and WY.

Heads up: Senate attacks on key environmental protections
Jun 14, 2007
The U.S. Senate is debating national energy legislation this week, and the fossil fuel industry is trying to load the bill with sweetheart deals that would weaken environmental law, shut the public out of the permitting process, and promote technologies that would increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Press Release: EIP EPA Enforcement
May 23, 2007

Press Release: Paying Less to Pollute: Environmental Enforcement Under the Bush Administration
Over the past five years, environmental violators have been less likely to face court actions, be subject to criminal investigation, or pay civil or criminal penalties. There is one bright spot: EPA staff have negotiated settlements that require polluters to spend billions to reduce emissions. But this achievement is threatened by EPA's continued efforts to weaken laws its own staff is trying to enforce.
May 23, 2007

Refineries: Top Ten Sources of Carcinogens
The February 8, 2007 report has been revised to reflect that Texas refineries released nearly five times the volume of airborne carcinogens per barrel of oil refined in 2004 as did California refineries (the original report indicated that Texas refineries released two and half times the carcinogens emitted by California refineries on a per barrel basis).
Mar 16, 2007
EIP released a report on February 8, 2007 identifying refineries with the highest emissions of known or suspected carcinogens. The analysis is based on emission reports submitted to the USEPA's Toxics Release Inventory in 2004, the latest year for which such data is publicly available. While overall emissions declined slightly between 1999 and 2004, emissions increased at some refineries owned by companies that have recently reported record profits.

News Release: Title V Emission Fees
Mar 7, 2007

*IMPORTANT UPDATE to Title V Emission Fee News Release *
Mar 7, 2007

News Release: Coalition of public interest groups and law professors ask Congress to investigate industry influence over clean air rules
Mar 1, 2007
Twelve law professors joined more than sixty public interest groups in asking Senate and House Committees to investigate the role that industry lobbyists have played in weakening the Clean Air Act over the last six years.

Refinery Report Streaming Audio
will be available after 5:30 pm EST February 9, 2007
Feb 8, 2007

Press Release: Refinery Rankings
Feb 8, 2007

Streaming Audio for Texas Coal-Fired Power Plant Survey Event
Dec 6, 2006

Texans Oppose Dirty Coal-Fired Power Plants
SURVEY: FOUR OUT OF FIVE TEXANS OPPOSE GOVERNOR'S "FAST TRACKING" OF DIRTY COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS
Dec 6, 2006

Press Release: EPA Must Limit Factory Farm Animal Waste Bacteria
E. coli-Tainted Spinach Illustrates Need for Tougher Safeguards
Oct 25, 2006
Three top national organizations working to safeguard the country's food and water supplies warn that bacterial pollution from livestock and poultry factory farms poses a major threat to public health. The warning from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and Environmental Integrity Project comes in the wake of a highly publicized E. coli outbreak from California-grown spinach.

Press Release: Ohio Department of Agriculture Must Reverse Lax Pollution
Oct 24, 2006
Ohio Department of Agriculture must reverse lax pollution oversight of factory farms before US EPA can give it full Clean Water Act Authority

Letter: See No Evil, Hear No Evil
EPA ignores court order by failing to provide for enforcement of new Clean Air Act rule.
Aug 30, 2006
22 Groups urge EPA to end foot dragging and comply with court order requiring enforcement of New Source Review (NSR) Rules. 14 Months after Court throws out weak EPA Rules, Agency yet to fix enforcement provisions; Double Standard? Agency took just 7 Months to push for new industry-backed rollback of emission monitoring after other court action.

Press Release: 50 Dirtiest Power Plants
50 DIRTIEST POWER PLANTS: DESPITE SLOW PROGRESS, U.S. AIR POLLUTION PICTURE REMAINS DOMINATED BY OLD AND INEFFICIENT ELECTRITY-GENERATING FACILITIES
Jul 27, 2006
Mixed Picture: CO2 Pollution Up, Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide Easing, Mercury Holding Steady; States With Most Problem Facilities Are AL, IA, IL, IN, KY, ND, NE, NJ, OH, PA, TX, and WY.

PA DEP Commits to Stricter Enforcement Standards
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Agrees with EIP Analysis
Jul 17, 2006
While investigating the Hatfield's Ferry power plant, EIP discovered that some large Pennsylvania pollution sources could emit nearly 50 percent more particle pollution than the law allows by 'rounding' their test results. The Hatfield's Ferry settlement ends this illegal practice at the plant. But, more importantly, PA DEP has agreed to end this practice once and for all for everyone. That's good news for Pennsylvania, especially as the commonwealth struggles to meet new health-based standards for fine particle pollution.

Press Release: Ohio News Advisory
Bloomdale/Toledo Area Residents to Use State Hearing to Demand Access to Factory Farm Pollution Maps
Jul 5, 2006
Citizens: Ohio Department of AG and Naomi Dairy Hiding Data on "Ground Zero" for 24.5 million gallons of liquid manure and 12.9 tons solid manure

Press Release: Half of US Wetlands Now Vulnerable Under Unwise Decision
Half of US Wetlands Now Vulnerable Under Unwise Decision by US Supreme Court
Jun 22, 2006
Army Corps of Engineers' reaction to recent Supreme Court decision could accelerate already significant losses resulting from earlier Court holding in SWANCC