Many of the biggest polluters are in Texas and the groups say the EPA has failed for years to update limits on the dangerous chemicals they dump into waterways.
The Houston Ship Channel is lined by a nearly unbroken, 20-mile stretch of pollution-emitting refineries, storage tanks and petrochemical plants.Frustrated that U.S. oil refineries are still allowed to dump massive amounts of toxic chemicals and heavy metals into lakes, rivers and streams, more than a dozen environmental groups are urging a federal court to order more stringent regulation of some of the nation’s biggest polluters.
The refineries also collectively discharged 60,000 pounds of selenium, an element that can mutate fish, and 15.7 million pounds of nitrogen, which contributes to water-fouling algae blooms and dead zones in important fisheries such as the Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. The lawsuit aims to force industrial plants to install modern controls to reduce the volume and toxicity of the pollution being discharged.
Environmental advocates say the lack of regulations harms low-income communities and communities of color, which bear a disproportionate burden of industrial pollution.
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