May 29th the D.C. Circuit denied industry challenges to new national air toxics standards for polyvinyl chloride plants. These standards were only put in place after over a decade of nearly constant litigation and advocacy by Earthjustice.

Earlier this week, a U.S. Court of Appeals denied the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) industry’s request to delay the April 2015 compliance date for federal limits on the toxic pollution emitted by PVC plastics plants. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Mossville Environmental Action Now, Air Alliance Houston and Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, fought the industry’s…

Recognizes need to seek public comment and address affected communities’ concerns

Investors urge EPA to protect environmental justice communities

Last year, the EPA proposed an air rule that would finally limit the amount of cancer-causing chemicals residents in Mossville, Louisiana would have to breathe from the polyvinyl chloride plant nearby. So it came as a blow when the EPA released a final rule that imposes weaker limits at the CertainTeed plant in Mossville—a facility…

Edgar Mouton lived much of his 76 years in Mossville, Louisiana, and for the past decade fought doggedly to obtain federal protections from the toxic pollution that pours into Mossville from the largest concentration of PVC and vinyl manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and a host of other hazardous industrial facilities. As a great-grandfather and…

Community groups’ lawsuit challenges EPA’s weakened protections against toxic air pollution from polyvinyl chloride facilities

Residents of Mossville, La. speak out in debut of a new CNN investigation

PVC Settlement Agreement with EPA

Court settlement reached, agency to limit emissions of cancer-causing toxins starting in July 2011

Earthjustice settlement is healthy news for Gulf Coast residents

Each year, PVC (or polyvinyl chloride) plants are responsible for pumping approximately 500,000 pounds of vinyl chloride—a known human carcinogen—and many other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. These plants have had incredibly damaging effects on communities throughout the country, especially in Louisiana. In Mossville, Louisiana, a historically African American community that is home to two…

Many cancer-causing toxins from vinyl manufacturers remain unregulated