IN A MAJOR VICTORY FOR CITIZEN enforcement of environmental laws, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today reinstated a citizen suit that charges Crown Central Petroleum Corporation with serious and longstanding violations for the federal Clean Air Act at its Pasadena, Texas refinery. The appeals court reversed a lower court ruling that had dismissed the suit on the ground that it impermissibly duplicated state administrative orders against Crown.

"This decision prevents polluters from using sweetheart out-of-court deals with industry-friendly state regulators to block citizen enforcement of their obligation to comply with air pollution laws." said lead counsel Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Attorney for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a Washington-D.C. based public interest law firm. "Crown will now be held accountable in court for its violations."

A coalition of environmental groups and citizens represented by TLPJ filed suit against Crown in July 1997 for thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act at Crown's Pasadena, Texas refinery. The coalition includes Texans United Education Fund, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and two individuals (Texans United) who live near the Crown plant. The complaint alleges that Crown repeatedly violated federal air pollution limits for sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, sending massive amounts of these pollutants into the surrounding community, which has schools and hundreds of homes within one mile from Crown's refinery. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that sulfur dioxide is acutely toxic and can cause serious harm to human health. Overall, Crown exceeded federal pollution limits for sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide during more than 15,000 hours between May 1992 and March 1998. During that time, Crown released over 1,000 tons of excess sulfur dioxide into the nearby community, exposing nearby residents to overpowering and dangerous odors. The releases are caused by frequent shutdowns and other problems with the refinery's antiquated pollution control equipment.

A study completed by Texans United and PACE International Union, whose members have been locked out of the Pasadena refinery since February 1996, showed that the refinery's pollution increased almost three-fold after skilled union workers were replaced by contract workers. PACE and Texans United maintain that ending the lockout is critical to reducing Crown's pollution problems.

In response to the suit, Crown and the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) agreed on an administrative order in 1998 requiring Crown to study the causes of its actions and to pay a penalty for its past violations. The TNRCC is the Governor-appointed state agency charged with enforcing the Clean Air Act in Texas. Texans United objected to this order because it did not contain a compliance deadline, did not require Crown to replace its inadequate pollution control equipment, and did not force Crown to disgorge the money it had saved by delaying its pollution control expenditures.