DETROIT, MI- Residents in Southeast Michigan have lived with unsafe levels of ozone pollution for nearly a decade, a dangerous problem that should have been addressed by Michigan's State Implementation Plan under the requirements of the Clean Air Act. However, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)--the state authority responsible for implementing plans that would reduce ozone pollution-hasn't followed through with its own plan. In response, the Sierra Club, on behalf of its impacted members, has filed a Notice of Intent (NOI)to sue Director Phillip Roos for the department's failure to act.

"EGLE's refusal to follow its own plan to lower smog pollution in Detroit is the latest in a long line of examples of the agency that is supposed to protect us from pollution putting company profits over community health, " said Dr. Delores Leonard, Sierra Club member and resident of Southwest Detroit."As a resident that lives near major sources of air pollution, our community desperately needs EGLE to stop ignoring the high levels of smog that are impacting my community and to follow through on their promise to do something about it."

Ozone exposure causes serious health problems, including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, while higher ozone levels are associated with increases in asthma medication use, the number of asthma hospitalizations, and risk of death. On the Eastside of Detroit, where the NOI highlights the worst air quality, residents are in the 98th percentile or above regarding asthma hospitalizations compared to the state average.

"Every step of the way, EGLE has put polluters over people," said Robert Shobe, Director of Justice for Beniteau. "They allowed Stellantis to build an auto plant less than 500 feet from my backyard even though asthma is a huge problem in my community. Then they blamed high levels of smog on the Eastside of Detroit on wildfire smoke. Now they aren't following their own pollution reduction plan. Meanwhile, my community has had to live with unsafe levels of air pollution for 10 years."

Background
In 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated a seven-county area in Southeast Michigan as failing to meet the ozone air quality standards set by Clean Air Act. By January of 2022, the State of Michigan had requested that the EPA redesignate the same area as safe, citing Canadian wildfires as the source of violations in the air monitoring. The EPA approved the change in May of 2023, however since then air quality monitors in the designated area have continued to show regular ozone levels beyond what is defined as safe in the Clean Air Act.

Sierra Club is a national nonprofit organization that works to protect the quality of the natural and human environment and safeguard the health of communities from environmental pollution. It currently has more than 17,000 members living in Michigan and an active state chapter.

Advocates hope to avoid litigation through discussions with EGLE that will lead to meaningful action to reduce ozone pollution.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.