A court case before the Fifth Circuit of Appeals has ramifications for citizen suits that...
Smoke still fills the air at ExxonMobil’s refinery on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021 in Baytown, Texas after crews extinguished a large fire. In Baytown, a fight against ExxonMobil for clean air underscores the importance of citizen suits
“Things are happening at those facilities on a far too frequent basis,” Rock Owens, head of the Harris County Attorney Office’s environmental practice groupThat’s more or less what four residents said in 2010 when they, along with two environmental groups filed a suit against the company for excessive flaring, so-called “upset” emissions, and the particularly dangerous combination of pollutants, among other issues, that residents argue have affected their health and quality of life.
ExxonMobil, the environmental groups have argued in court documents, is seeking a “new standard” that could remake such citizen suits, a key tool everyday people and communities have used to protect themselves against poorly regulated polluters since the 1970s. The company, meanwhile, argues that it is simply “seeking to uphold the traditional, limited role for citizen suits,” according to an emailed statement.
For “the people most heavily burdened by pollution,” a ruling in ExxonMobil’s favor would “raise the bar on access to the courts in a way that makes it more difficult for them to hold polluters accountable,” Josh Kratka, a senior lawyer with the National Environmental Law Center and one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, explained.
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