Laramie, WY-Local citizens' groups Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and the Sierra Club today put the Mountain Cement Company on notice that they intend to file suit to address air pollution violations at the Company's coal-fired cement plant south of Laramie.

According to records on file with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Mountain Cement has violated its air pollution permit over 6,000 times in the last two years alone. The violations are the result of excessive opacity - or the density of pollution - coming from one of the Company's two smokestacks. Small, breathable particulate matter is a large component of opacity. Particulate matter is closely linked to respiratory ailments and the incidence of asthma (see, www.epa.gov/airtrends/pm.html)

"Clean air is vital to the health of our community, especially here in Laramie where the quality of life is so dependent upon the quality of our outdoors," said Bob Strayer, Laramie resident and member of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance (BCA). "To say the least, this is alarming."

"As a parent of a young child, this is very disturbing," said Jeremy Nichols with BCA. "As if dealing with the lead paint in our old house wasn't enough, now we discover that Mountain Cement is polluting our outside air. The children of Laramie deserve better than this."

According to Mountain Cement's own records, more efficient pollution control measures could be installed to stop the violations at Mountain Cement's Kiln #2. For instance, in 1996-97 Mountain Cement's installation of a "baghouse" essentially stopped opacity violations at Kiln #1. The baghouse was required to be installed by a 1996 DEQ order.

"This is about common sense solutions," said Connie Wilbert with the Sierra Club. "These violations are preventable. Is it too much to ask Mountain Cement to comply with the law and do its part to protect the health of our town?"

Under the 'citizen suit" provision of the Federal Clean Air Act, citizens may take legal action to stop violations of pollution limits. The Laramie citizens state they will ask the court to require Mountain Cement to take all necessary measure to stop its air pollution violations and to pay civil penalties to the government. Under the Clean Air Act, polluters can be fined up to $32,500 per violation per day.

Mountain Cement, a subsidiary of Texas-based Eagle Materials, Inc., is one of Laramie's biggest air polluters. According to the Company's own records:

• Mountain Cement releases 382 tons of particulate matter, 2,886 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 876 tons of sulfur dioxide. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the annual nitrogen oxide emissions from the cement plant are equivalent to the emissions of over 150,000 cars each driven 12,500 miles per year. Exposure to nitrogen oxides can cause respiratory illnesses (see, http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/nitrogen.html).
• Mountain Cement discharges 65,869 pounds of formaldehyde, 53,422 pounds of hydrochloric acid, 353 pounds of lead and 110 pounds of mercury into the air every year. The amount of mercury that Mountain Cement discharges into Laramie's air every year is equivalent to the mercury in approximately 71,000 household thermometers. The amount of mercury in one household thermometer is enough to contaminate all of the fish in a lake with a surface area of 15 acres (According to Health Care Without Harm, www.noharm.org). Mercury is also exceptionally toxic and can cause brain damage (see, http://www.epa.gov/mercury/health.htm).

Records on file with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality show Mountain Cement violated air quality rules many times in the past. In 1994, for example, Mountain Cement was fined $50,000 for violations and was required to spend $40,000 on pollution control measures. Pollution from the cement plant often blows over Laramie residents and those living in close proximity to the plant.