Group Sues EPA Over PVC Plant Emissions

A nonprofit group says it wants the Environmental Protection Agency to get moving on efforts to tighten pollution standards for PVC manufacturing plants. Earth Justice has sued the EPA for what it says is a failure to set the bar higher when it comes to plant emissions of polyvinyl chloride and other toxic pollutants. Earth Justice lawyer Katie Renshaw says the group believes the technology exists for plants to control emissions further without costing too much.“They can control however they want. But they just need to be at a level that other plats have reached effectively. So it shouldn’t shut people down," says Renshaw.The EPA issued its vinyl chloride rule in 1976 and has not revised it since. And the agency says toxic emissions from PVC plants have declined steadily since then. In 2006, the agency settled with the nation’s largest PVC manufacturer, OxyVinyls, which is located in Louisville. The settlement required OxyVinyls to spend more than $1.2 million on projects to decrease emissions.