EPA settles Texas lawsuit, agrees to rule on pollution plan in East Texas

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The EPA must decide whether to accept Texas’s plan to reduce pollution from a coal-fired power plant in East Texas following a settlement with the Sierra Club over air quality in Rusk and Panola counties.

The Sierra Clubs lawsuit accused the EPA of failing to timely reject or approve a plan submitted in 2022 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to reduce pollution from the Martin Lake power plant near Tatum. The Sierra Club called the TCEQ plan inadequate and has urged the EPA to reject it.

A decision from the EPA, required by the settlement, is due by the end of the year. The agency must then decide how to bring the county’s air quality up to standard by early 2024.

We’ve seen in the past that while plans in Texas are generally inadequate, the federal government makes much more thorough plans that result in better air quality, said Emma Pabst, a Sierra Club campaign representative.

Air quality in the two counties has fallen short of federal air quality standards since 2017 because of high levels of sulfur dioxide, commonly emitted by power plants, said the Sierra Club, which called the Martin Lake plant the worst sulfur dioxide and mercury polluter in the entire United States.

The TCEQ said in an email statement to The Texas Tribune that they believe their plan can be fully approved.

Paulette Goree, 70, lives five miles from the power plant and has spent her entire life in Panola County.

I hope that means help is on the way, Goree said of the settlement. I hope it will be something positive for our community and some changes will be made.

Goree said that since the Martin Lake power plant opened in the late 1970s, she, her family and neighbors have had breathing problems. She said her sister and father died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which she says is a result of air pollution in the area. She said her father smoked, but her sister did not.

Goree has an air monitor that monitors the level of outdoor pollution. She said the monitor usually indicates twice a week in the summer that the air quality is too bad to be safe outside.

Misti OQuinn, a senior field organizer for Sierra Club, said residents near the power plant are experiencing real effects from what comes from there and are complaining of health problems, from asthma to cancer to low birth weight babies.

OQuinn said she spent time in the community and residents raised concerns about pollution, but many also pointed out that the power plant is a major employer in the area.

OQuinn is optimistic that the settlement is a step toward improving air quality for these East Texas communities.

I won’t necessarily say I’m confident that the EPA will strictly enforce air quality standards, OQuinn said. I hope they do well by the residents.

Alejandra Martinez contributed to this story.

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