In a major win for overburdened communities of color in southwest Detroit, a judge has granted the EPA’s request to add multibillion-dollar energy company DTE Energy as a defendant in a federal lawsuit brought against the company’s subsidiary, EES Coke. The lawsuit alleges that EES Coke’s coke oven facility on Zug Island in River Rouge unlawfully releases thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant known to cause respiratory problems, heart attacks, and premature death. Local residents and environmental justice advocates with Sierra Club, which intervened in the lawsuit, are celebrating the ruling.

“I am relieved that DTE will not be able to hide their illegal behavior from the court,” said Ebony Elmore, a Sierra Club Executive Committee Member who lives in River Rouge. “It’s important for everyone to understand what the court found: The emissions may come from EES Coke, but the orders come from DTE Energy.”

“In truth this is only one example in DTE’s long and ugly history of profiting at the expense of low-income people of color,” said Sierra Club Organizer Bryan Smigielski. “This ruling is an important step in a long road towards environmental justice for southwest Detroit.”

The EPA brought its lawsuit against EES Coke in June 2022, alleging that the company violated the Clean Air Act when it ignored legal requirements to install pollution controls starting in 2014. As a result, residents have been wrongfully exposed to thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, exacerbating health issues across neighborhoods that already show higher levels of air pollution than in 95 percent of the state of Michigan.

During the discovery phase for the trial, depositions with EES Coke and DTE employees revealed that the key decisions behind EES Coke’s unpermitted pollution were made by its parent company, DTE Energy Co. and two intermediate DTE companies. That prompted the EPA to request in February that the court add DTE as a defendant in the case.

“At DTE’s direction, EES Coke sought the removal of pollution limits that allowed the facility to burn more coke oven gas and emit more sulfur dioxide pollution,” said Earthjustice Attorney Mary Rock.

“We hope to move quickly and ensure that EES Coke and DTE end their illegal pollution and fix the damage they have caused,” said Great Lakes Environmental Law Center Director Nick Leonard.

Earthjustice and the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center are representing the Sierra Club, which is intervening in the lawsuit to ensure that impacted community members can hold EES Coke and DTE directly accountable for developing remedies that address the community’s urgent health needs.