CEMEX Violates Clean Air Laws Again

The CEMEX cement plant in Lyons, Colorado has violated clean air laws again, putting clean air and public health at risk again, and once again proving that the company couldn't operate a cement plant responsibly if it tried.

Last week, the State of Colorado put CEMEX on notice of a multitude of clean air violations and even issued a press release over the action. It's a sign that the state may be waking up to the fact the Lyons cement plant poses a serious risk to clean air and public health in north Boulder County. Late last year, the state gave CEMEX the green light to keep violating clean air laws, a move that Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has challenged. The latest notice issued to CEMEX is a refreshing change in direction from the state.

But these recent violations are merely the latest in a long history of violations. Since 2000, CEMEX has been cited by the State of Colorado six times for violating clean air laws. Last year, both Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put CEMEX on notice of the most serious clean air violations--failing to install the best air pollution controls.

And as if CEMEX's track record wasn't bad enough, yesterday the company reported that a coal silo at its Lyons cement plant "spontaneously" caught fire. The fire, which smoldered for hours on end, spewed coal smoke into the air totally unchecked. We seriously doubt whether the fire was "spontaneous," and it's telling that of this morning, CEMEX had yet to file a required report with the State of Colorado verifying the cause of the fire. The picture below, taken by CEMEX neighbor Ken Dobbs, shows the coal fire.

You can learn more about CEMEX and efforts to clean up its aging, dirty cement plant in Lyons, Colorado at www.ourcleanair.org/cemex.html.

Clean Air, Clean Air, Clean Air

Here's a recap of where Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has left its mark for clean air in the region:

In response to a petition filed by Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, the CEMEX cement plant in Lyons is facing scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency. The petition calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to require CEMEX to install the best pollution controls on its smokestack. CEMEX claims its spent "millions" to clean up the Lyons cement plant, yet the company hasn't spent a penny on upgrading controls on its smokestack.

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has taken aim at climate change. Together with a number of local, regional, and national health and environmental groups, we've challenged the Bureau of Land Management's decision to auction hundreds of thousands of acres of Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico for more oil and gas drilling, drilling that will fuel global warming pollution.

And earlier this week, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action challenged a decision by the Forest Service to allow a western Colorado coal mine to vent billions of cubic feet of methane--again  Methane is not only a valuable gas, it's 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. We successfully overturned the same decision last February.

And you heard it from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment first: people are the best air quality monitors.

CEMEX Permit Challenged

The CEMEX cement plant is one of the worst polluters in the Denver metro area, spewing massive amounts of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, along with toxic mercury and dioxins, near the town of Lyons. Not only that, but the plant regularly violates clean air laws.

Most recently, the Environmental Protection Agency found CEMEX is illegally operating the Lyons plant without using up-to-date pollution controls.

That's why Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has taken aim at CEMEX's air pollution permit. Citing the failure of the cement plant to use up-to-date pollution controls, we've asked the EPA to overturn CEMEX's permit and make the company use the best available pollution controls.

Under the Clean Air Act, any citizen has the right to petition the EPA to object to the issuance of an air pollution permit. The petition in this case is a formal request for the government to do something; in this case, make CEMEX follow the law. The EPA has to respond to our petition within 60 days. It's an unprecedented step; citizens have never before challenged CEMEX's air pollution permit.

Although we hope CEMEX comes to its senses and cleans up its act, we're not holding our breath. As we've learned time and time again, it takes vigilant citizen pressure to hold polluters accountable to clean air and our health.

We'll be keeping the pressure up until CEMEX is cleaned up once and for all.