County sides with EPA in pollution suit
County Attorney Christian Menefee late last week intervened to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s stricter standards for fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5. The county joined a multiparty consolidated case in the U.S. Court of Appeals alongside state attorneys general and nonprofits hoping to save the EPA’S recent changes.
The move put Menefee at odds with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office sued federal regulators last month to block the tightened soot pollution rules.
EPA in February finalized rules lowering the allowable rolling average of particle pollution below current levels in Harris County.
The new limits mean Harris County’s particle pollution levels will soon violate the federal Clean Air Act unless the area’s soot levels drop precipitously. These tiny flecks waft from car exhaust, forest fire smoke and
concrete batch plants, among other sources, and even form in the air from industrial gas emissions. Long-term exposure — especially to the smallest particles — can reduce lung function and lead to premature death,
while their short-term impacts include asthma attacks and bronchitis, according to EPA documents and public health research.
“We know that these pollutants can lead to serious health
problems and have seen that too many times in Harris County neighborhoods. Instead of wasting time suing the federal government, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality should be working to protect human health and the environment,” Menefee said in a statement, adding that he thought Paxton was prioritizing shortterm economic interests over the health of area residents.
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on Menefee’s filing, but said in the past that the change would seriously harm Texas economically.
“The rule and its corresponding compliance costs will result in the closure of manufacturing and industrial facilities, putting workers out of jobs and devastating the surrounding communities,” the office said in March.
Its statement called the EPA’S new rule an “about-face” and questioned its scientific basis, since federal agency staff had decided during former President Donald Trump’s tenure not to update the standards. At the time, a group of EPA scientists fired by the Trump administration questioned the lack of action given scientific advancements that showed health impacts after exposure to lower levels of pollution.