LCRA’s Fayette Power Project is under legal attack by three anti-pollution groups who filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the coal-fired power plant located near La Grange, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.
The lawsuit was filed by the Environmental Integrity Project, Environment Texas and Texas Campaign for the Environment.
Claiming LCRA’s Fayette Power Project has violated the federal Clean Air Act thousands of times, the plaintiffs allege LCRA ramped up capacity and increased levels of dangerous particle pollution, which is not always visible to the eye but is linked to asthma and heart and lung disease.
In addition, the groups claim the company under-reported the amount of particulate matter emitted from the plant’s smokestacks, and therefore deprived the State of Texas of more than $500,000 in annual air pollution fees. Click here to access details of the lawsuit.
In addition to the lawsuit, the Texas Pecan Alliance, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, and other community and environmental groups have been calling on Austin City Council to commit to the promises of clean energy in line with the Austin Energy Generation plan and have asked for the closure of this plant.
![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
I live in Freestone County, Texas where the Big Brown mine is and we also have the coal fired energy plant. We live 6 miles South of the plant. I have watched a brand new powder coated metal fence completely rust out at the bottom (where the rain water collects) and we also had a heavy metal satellite pole crack at the base and fall over after only 2 1/2 years.
I am convinced that acid rain is falling and know for a fact that politians in the pockets of the dirty energy industry have let the plant get away with slow murder of a county. Reps like John Cornyn and Joe Barton have allowed this area to become a toxic health hazard. This plant is allowed to operate with no scrubbers.
I personally watched rep. Byron Cook lie through his teeth and tell a group of citizens that the air here is cleaner than its ever been in 20 years.
I called the TCEQ and told them about all of our metal objects corroding, they sent an investigator out a few months later. He took samples and the verdict came back that everything was at “acceptable” levels.
We are not convinced. I wish that the lawsuit could include all of the plants in Texas. We deserve clean air here too!
Sandy, We believe Big Brown should be shut down also. If you are interested in talking to us about our efforts to shut down old coal plants please contact us at Public Citizen’s Texas office. 512-477-1155