Sierra Sues Luminant

On Sept. 2, the Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project, filed a federal lawsuit against Luminant (formerly TXU), operator of the coal-fired Martin Lake power plant in Longview, Texas. Charging more than 50,000 air pollution violations, the Sierra Club called the Martin Lake plant "one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation," the worst mercury polluter among all U.S. coal plants, and Texas' third-ranked plant for soot pollution. Citing the 2008 Texas Commission for Environmental Quality database, the club said the plant "was responsible for 13 percent of all industrial air pollution in the state." Ilan Levin, senior attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project, said: "This coal-fired power plant is consistently in the top 10 highest carbon dioxide emitters in the nation, the top 50 highest sulfur dioxide emitters in the nation, and is shamefully ranked number one as the highest power plant mercury polluter in the U.S. ... Our goal is to stop illegal air pollution through strict enforcement of the law." The complaint cites citizen enforcement provisions of the federal Clean Air Act.