Texas Clean Air Project

It's time for ExxonMobil to clean up its act

ExxonMobil has broken clean air laws at its Baytown oil refinery near Houston on more than 1,000 separate occasions during the past five years — compounding Texas' pollution problems and endangering the health of nearby residents.

With Gov. Rick Perry's environmental agency looking the other way, it's clear we need to take firm action to force one of Texas' biggest polluters to clean up its act.

A winning legal strategy

Backed by our members, Environment Texas is standing up to ExxonMobil and taking our case to federal court. Employing the same strategy that allowed us to force Shell Oil to clean up its Deer Park refinery in 2009, we're exercising our right under the Clean Air Act to demand compliance with the law.

Cleaning up our air, one polluter at a time

With our legal action against Shell Oil in 2009 and now against ExxonMobil, we're taking a powerful stand against Texas' biggest air polluters.

We're also creating precedent that will reverberate throughout the oil industry and put renewed pressure on the government to stand up for our health.

The latest in our court case

On June 7, 2011, Federal District Judge David Hittner denied a motion by ExxonMobil to dismiss a lawsuit by Environment Texas and the Sierra Club against the company for thousands of violations of the federal Clean Air Act at its Baytown refinery and chemical plant complex.

Click here to join our campaign, and urge the EPA to crack down on Texas' worst polluters.

Clean air updates

News Release | Environment Texas

Court rejects Exxon bid to dismiss citizen enforcement suit

HOUSTON – A federal court has rejected, for the second time, an attempt by ExxonMobil Corporation and two subsidiaries to get rid of a lawsuit filed against them by Sierra Club and Environment Texas. The lawsuit alleges thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act at the nation’s largest oil refinery and chemical plant complex, located in Baytown, Texas.

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News Release | Environment Texas

ExxonMobil Ends 2012, and Starts 2013, With More Unauthorized Air Pollution

ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, refinery and olefins plant began 2013 the same way they ended 2012: with large, unauthorized emissions of harmful air pollutants into the surrounding neighborhoods east of Houston. A citizen enforcement suit to end such instances of illegal emissions has been pending in federal court in Houston since December 2010. In the final weeks of 2012, ExxonMobil reported three large “emission events” – releases of air pollution not authorized by its federal Clean Air Act permits – to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). In one event alone, 57 tons of sulfur dioxide, a respiratory irritant, were released in just 18 hours beginning just before midnight on December 20, when a compressor “tripped” at the refinery’s Booster Station 4 unit.

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News Release | Environment Texas

New Obama Admin. Pollution Standards Will Save Lives

AUSTIN—Today the Obama administration will strengthen air quality standards for particulate matter or “soot” pollution. Soot pollution is the deadliest of the common air pollutants, causing thousands of premature deaths every year across the country through a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. It also contributes to haze that hangs over many of the country’s most scenic parks and wilderness areas. Sources of soot pollution include power plants and diesel trucks and buses. The strengthened standards, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, outline how much soot pollution can be in the air and still be safe to breathe, and better reflect the latest scientific research.

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Headline

Exxon Refinery in Baytown Releases Massive Amount of Chemicals

In an emissions event report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), ExxonMobil reports that there was shutdown of a unit at the refinery after a heat exchanger tube leaked, and the event is still ongoing.

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News Release | Environment Texas

Exxon Loses Bid to Halt Clean Air Act Suit

HOUSTON – A federal court yesterday rejected a motion by ExxonMobil Corporation and two subsidiaries to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by Sierra Club and Environment Texas. The lawsuit alleges thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act at the nation’s largest oil refinery and chemical plant complex, located in Baytown, Texas. According to the groups, millions of pounds of pollutants have been released in these violations.

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