September, 20 2022, 02:50pm EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Erin Fitzgerald, efitzgerald@earthjustice.org
Tricia Cortez, 956-319-4374, tricia@rgisc.org
EPA Faces Lawsuit as Inaction Exposes Millions to Carcinogenic Ethylene Oxide Every Day
Groups demand immediate stronger air standards from agency after it repeatedly missed deadlines, despite knowing the serious health risks.
WASHINGTON
Today, Earthjustice, on behalf of environmental and health advocacy groups, sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency's inaction to regulate harmful carcinogenic air emissions from ethylene oxide facilities as the law required. The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to review its ethylene oxide standards every eight years but the agency has repeatedly missed this deadline; first in 2014 and again in April 2022. The EPA admits the chemical is 60 times more toxic than previously estimated and that facilities that emit ethylene oxide, including commercial sterilizers and chemical manufacturers, pose an elevated cancer risk to nearby communities. Children are particularly sensitive to ethylene oxide when exposed.
Ethylene oxide is a colorless, typically odorless, flammable gas used to sterilize medical equipment and in the production of chemicals needed for antifreeze, plastics, detergents and adhesives. It is one of the most toxic air pollutants EPA regulates. This toxic chemical is a known carcinogen to humans, especially when+ inhalation. Facilities that emit ethylene oxide are typically found in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, many already grappling with elevated toxic exposure and health risks from multiple forms of industrial pollution. Last month, EPA released a list of 23 high risk ethylene oxide facilities across the country, which includes facilities near communities in Laredo, TX, and Lakewood, CO.
"EPA has delayed for too long to update sterilizer rule while communities suffer unnecessary toxic exposure and unacceptable cancer risks," said Earthjustice attorney Marvin Brown. "Congress passed the Clean Air Act to protect communities from the harmful effects of air pollution, and tasked EPA with ensuring that industry emissions do not threaten public health. By failing to timely revise its sterilizer rule, EPA has left communities to fend for themselves against a deadly, cancer-causing chemical. We are calling on the EPA to finally remedy this injustice without further delay."
Laredo is home to Midwest Sterilization, the largest private sterilizer facility in the United States. According to EPA data, cancer risk in the immediate vicinity of this facility is 1 in 10,000, which EPA admits is unacceptable under the Clean Air Act. Earlier today in Laredo, community advocates from Rio Grande International Study Center and Clean Air Laredo Coalition, along with representatives from Earthjustice, held a press conference to demand that EPA and local leaders finally take action to protect their community, and others like it, from the harmful effects of ethylene oxide.
"People often make the mistake of underestimating Laredo, but don't realize that we have a fierce and passionate group of community advocates that will take a stand, hold the line, and not back down. We will hold every level of government accountable until the people of Laredo are safe from ethylene oxide," said Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center and co-founder of the Clean Air Laredo Coalition. "We need the EPA to authorize and fund immediate fenceline air monitoring around Midwest Sterilization Corp in Laredo, which has emitted thousands of pounds of these cancer-causing emissions in our air each year since they opened in 2005. Air monitors is the only way for us to have any trust in the self-reported data."
As each day passes, ethylene oxide threatens the health of many communities, like Laredo, that continue to wait on EPA to fulfill its legal obligations under the Clean Air Act. Today's letter provides notice that community and environmental groups cannot wait any longer - and will sue EPA to compel the agency to enact stronger, science-based standards that are protective of public health.
"Excuse after excuse has led to death after death and EPA refuses to act. The agency waited more than eight years after the first deadline, and now missed a second deadline to properly regulate ethylene oxide, even as it recognized that the chemical was causing cancer to people in communities across the country," said Raul Garcia, Legislative Director of Healthy Communities at Earthjustice."Our letter intends to compel long overdue protective action from EPA, but should also serve as reminder to state and local officials that their inaction is leaving people exposed to severe risk of cancer and other illnesses in the very communities they serve. Cancer-causing chemicals must be properly regulated at every level of government immediately."
Earthjustice filed the Notice of Intent on behalf of Rio Grande International Study Center, Clean Power Lake County, California Communities Against Toxics, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Sierra Club.
Today, Earthjustice, on behalf of environmental and health advocacy groups, sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency's inaction to regulate harmful carcinogenic air emissions from ethylene oxide facilities as the law required. The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to review its ethylene oxide standards every eight years but the agency has repeatedly missed this deadline; first in 2014 and again in April 2022. The EPA admits the chemical is 60 times more toxic than previously estimated and that facilities that emit ethylene oxide, including commercial sterilizers and chemical manufacturers, pose an elevated cancer risk to nearby communities. Children are particularly sensitive to ethylene oxide when exposed.
Ethylene oxide is a colorless, typically odorless, flammable gas used to sterilize medical equipment and in the production of chemicals needed for antifreeze, plastics, detergents and adhesives. It is one of the most toxic air pollutants EPA regulates. This toxic chemical is a known carcinogen to humans, especially when+ inhalation. Facilities that emit ethylene oxide are typically found in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, many already grappling with elevated toxic exposure and health risks from multiple forms of industrial pollution. Last month, EPA released a list of 23 high risk ethylene oxide facilities across the country, which includes facilities near communities in Laredo, TX, and Lakewood, CO.
"EPA has delayed for too long to update sterilizer rule while communities suffer unnecessary toxic exposure and unacceptable cancer risks," said Earthjustice attorney Marvin Brown. "Congress passed the Clean Air Act to protect communities from the harmful effects of air pollution, and tasked EPA with ensuring that industry emissions do not threaten public health. By failing to timely revise its sterilizer rule, EPA has left communities to fend for themselves against a deadly, cancer-causing chemical. We are calling on the EPA to finally remedy this injustice without further delay."
Laredo is home to Midwest Sterilization, the largest private sterilizer facility in the United States. According to EPA data, cancer risk in the immediate vicinity of this facility is 1 in 10,000, which EPA admits is unacceptable under the Clean Air Act. Earlier today in Laredo, community advocates from Rio Grande International Study Center and Clean Air Laredo Coalition, along with representatives from Earthjustice, held a press conference to demand that EPA and local leaders finally take action to protect their community, and others like it, from the harmful effects of ethylene oxide.
"People often make the mistake of underestimating Laredo, but don't realize that we have a fierce and passionate group of community advocates that will take a stand, hold the line, and not back down. We will hold every level of government accountable until the people of Laredo are safe from ethylene oxide," said Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center and co-founder of the Clean Air Laredo Coalition. "We need the EPA to authorize and fund immediate fenceline air monitoring around Midwest Sterilization Corp in Laredo, which has emitted thousands of pounds of these cancer-causing emissions in our air each year since they opened in 2005. Air monitors is the only way for us to have any trust in the self-reported data."
As each day passes, ethylene oxide threatens the health of many communities, like Laredo, that continue to wait on EPA to fulfill its legal obligations under the Clean Air Act. Today's letter provides notice that community and environmental groups cannot wait any longer - and will sue EPA to compel the agency to enact stronger, science-based standards that are protective of public health.
"Excuse after excuse has led to death after death and EPA refuses to act. The agency waited more than eight years after the first deadline, and now missed a second deadline to properly regulate ethylene oxide, even as it recognized that the chemical was causing cancer to people in communities across the country," said Raul Garcia, Legislative Director of Healthy Communities at Earthjustice."Our letter intends to compel long overdue protective action from EPA, but should also serve as reminder to state and local officials that their inaction is leaving people exposed to severe risk of cancer and other illnesses in the very communities they serve. Cancer-causing chemicals must be properly regulated at every level of government immediately."
Earthjustice filed the Notice of Intent on behalf of Rio Grande International Study Center, Clean Power Lake County, California Communities Against Toxics, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Sierra Club.
Quotes from our Clients:
"It's been years since the EPA determined that exposure to ethylene oxide can cause cancer. It's well past time to act. The science is clear: ethylene oxide is causing real harm to people who live, work, or attend school near sterilizer facilities--and that burden is falling disproportionately on people of color. The EPA must urgently issue strong, science-based, and enforceable rules that protect the people who today are in danger from ethylene oxide exposure," said Genna Reed, director of policy analysis in the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"The EPA's mission is to protect human health and the environment. They are failing my community and communities across the country with their inaction to regulate harmful air emissions from ethylene oxide facilities. It's unacceptable that everyday community members have been forced to file this suit in order for the EPA to be accountable and update their standards as required by law. Our rights have been violated and the EPA must do its job," said Celeste Flores, steering committee member with Clean Power Lake County.
"EPA needs to protect frontline communities hosting sterilizers and act quickly to reduce the emissions which are causing harm. By taking this action, we are supporting USEPA in its efforts to set strong emission limits on these dangerous facilities and limit ethylene oxide emissions," stated Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics.
"It's been years since the EPA determined that exposure to ethylene oxide can cause cancer. It's well past time to act. The science is clear: ethylene oxide is causing real harm to people who live, work, or attend school near sterilizer facilities--and that burden is falling disproportionately on people of color. The EPA must urgently issue strong, science-based, and enforceable rules that protect the people who today are in danger from ethylene oxide exposure," said Genna Reed, director of policy analysis in the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"The EPA's mission is to protect human health and the environment. They are failing my community and communities across the country with their inaction to regulate harmful air emissions from ethylene oxide facilities. It's unacceptable that everyday community members have been forced to file this suit in order for the EPA to be accountable and update their standards as required by law. Our rights have been violated and the EPA must do its job," said Celeste Flores, steering committee member with Clean Power Lake County.
"EPA needs to protect frontline communities hosting sterilizers and act quickly to reduce the emissions which are causing harm. By taking this action, we are supporting USEPA in its efforts to set strong emission limits on these dangerous facilities and limit ethylene oxide emissions," stated Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Warren to Trump Treasury Chief: Did You Give Wall Street Execs Insider Info on Trade Talks?
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Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for answers following reports that officials inside President Donald Trump's White House have been providing Wall Street executives with advance notice about potentially market-moving trade talks with other nations, including China and India.
In a letter to Bessent dated April 25, Warren points to a Bloombergstory noting that Bessent "told a closed-door investor summit" that the "tariff standoff with China cannot be sustained by both sides and that the world's two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate."
The summit, which took place last Tuesday, was hosted by the Wall Street behemoth JPMorgan Chase in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg observed that the S&P 500 rose nearly 3% after Bessent's comments were leaked.
CNN additionally reported that Bessent's private assessment of the U.S.-China standoff "gave a boost to a Wall Street rally that had taken shape earlier on Tuesday, with all three major U.S. stock indexes hitting their highest levels of the day after Bessent's remarks were made public."
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Warren sent the letter a day after Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino reported that unnamed officials inside the Trump White House have been "alerting Wall Street execs they are nearing an agreement in principle on trade with India," heightening concerns that the administration is effectively encouraging insider trading.
Trump told reporters Friday that he "can't imagine" anyone in his administration tipping off Wall Street executives about nonpublic trade developments.
"I have very honorable people, that I can say," the president said. "So I can't even imagine it."
On Monday, a group of congressional Democrats warned the White House of "potential violations of federal ethics and insider trading laws by individuals close to the president with access to nonpublic information."
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As U.S. President Donald Trump nears the 100-day mark of his second term, a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows that his approval rating now sits at a historic low of 39%, a nadir that prompted one prominent progressive to remark that the negative public sentiment comes as "the resistance is just beginning."
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A whopping 72% of respondents said that they believe it is "likely" that Trump's policies—such as sweeping tariffs—will cause an economic recession in the short term.
What's more, 53% say the economy is worse since Trump took office and 62% said that the prices for things they rely on have gone up.
Trump's overall approval on immigration policy, one of his core campaign issues, is also less than 50%. When it comes to his handling of immigration—an area where Trump has moved to roll back birthright citizenship, deported U.S. citizens, and invoked a rarely used wartime authority to deport Venezuelan nationals to a megaprison in El Salvador, among other measures—his approval rating sits at 46%, according to the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
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In reporting piece published Monday, the Post noted that Roosevelt's push in the first 100 days led to major new laws, while Trump largely relies on executive order.
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New NYT/Siena Poll: —Trump's approval rating is 42% vs. 54% disapprove —59% of voters think Trump's 2nd term in office is "scary" —54% say Trump is "exceeding the powers available to him" —Trump has negative approval in all policy areas www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...
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— Yonah Freemark (@yonahfreemark.com) April 25, 2025 at 3:35 PM
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