Appeal Window Closed, Clean Air Advocates Respond to Court Ruling on E.D. Edwards Air Violation #BeyondCoal

On September 25, clean air advocates gathered to respond to the U.S. District Court ruling that held Dynegy’s E.D. Edwards power plant violated its operating permit thousands of times over seven years by emitting an excessive amount of particulate matter pollution — or soot — a known health hazard. This week marked the end of the appeal deadline for Houston based Dynegy. The suit was originally brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club Illinois, and Respiratory Health Association, and is an important piece of a long and determined fight local advocates have led against pollution in the region.

“Placing large polluters like E.D. Edwards upwind from low-income and minority neighborhoods isn’t just wrong, it’s effectively racist. We must recognize this as we transition towards a clean energy future. A future that includes those who have suffered the harm of pollution for all these years, and a future that presents new economic opportunities, jobs, and investments for the communities hardest hit,” said Donald Jackson, the President of the Peoria Branch of the NAACP.

The court case will now shift focus and the judge will decide what steps the E.D. Edwards plant, owned by Dynegy, must take to curb its pollution and comply with its permit, and what penalties its operator must pay for the violations. The court may consider, among other things, the negative effects of the violations on surrounding communities when ruling in the remedy phase. One of the most damaging effects is the impact soot has on public health, exacerbating conditions like asthma.

“My daughter and I both suffer from asthma. I didn’t know how bad the air quality was in our region, but since her first asthma attack as an infant it’s been one of my biggest worries. There is plenty to worry about when raising a family. How to protect them from the very air they breath… that shouldn’t be one of them,” said Robin Garlish, a member of Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance (CIHCA).

For years, members of the CIHCA, Sierra Club, and the Peoria Branch of the NAACP have been concerned with the detrimental effects of air pollution from area coal plants. They have repeatedly called on Dynegy to do the right thing and clean up the dangerous air pollution from E.D. Edwards which disproportionately hurts low-income communities and communities of color. Speakers also called on elected officials to make a plan for transition away from coal, raising concerns about Dynegy’s business practices.

Larry Jones volunteer leader with Sierra Club said, “Instead of providing communities with long-term solutions, like a transition plan, Dynegy has continued to ask state government for lifelines that delay the inevitable. When profits stop, Dynegy just closes plants, leaving communities with nothing but lost tax bases, lost jobs, and abandoned toxic sites. We  need real clean energy policies that can jump start our local economies, not guarantee Dynegy Profits. Coal is no longer a sure bet for our communities. It’s not a question of if coal is going to leave our community, but when, and must be ready.”