Largest Polluter Plant in Northwest Requested Clean Air Act Exemptions

Washington, D.C. - The operators of Colstrip Power Plant have requested a presidential exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency's updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standard after Trump's EPA openly invitedthe fossil fuel industry to email the agency with requests for presidential exemptions from critical safeguards in the Clean Air Act.

Colstrip is the dirtiest coal-fired power plant in the Northwest. Colstrip releases soot pollution, which includes mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium which contribute to asthma, heart disease and cancer. In 2020, the Sierra Club successfully advocated for the retirement of two units at the power plant, but the remaining units continue to be some of the dirtiest units in the West. Right now, Unit 4 holds the record as the highest emitter of toxic emissions in the country.

NorthWestern Energy and Talen have refused to update its pollution-control technology-it is the sole plant in the country lacking modern particulate controls. As a result, the for-profit monopoly NorthWestern Energy has repeatedly violated the EPA's current MATS while unsuccessfully seeking judicial suspensionof the updated standards.

"While it is unsurprising that Colstrip would abuse the Trump Administration's giveaway to big polluters, it is still an appalling thing for these fossil fuel executives to ask Donald Trump for permission to release more deadly toxins into the air and water," said Sierra Club Director of Climate Policy Patrick Drupp. "We know that Colstrip does not qualify for a presidential exemption from the Clean Air Act, and if Donald Trump illegally grants the exemption, the Sierra Club will take any means necessary to stop the plant from further endangering public health."

"NorthWestern Energy has consistently faced public backlash in Montana for its high energy prices, lack of clean energy planning and obsession with the unreliable, expensive Colstrip power plant," said Sierra Club Montana Climate and Energy Organizer David Merrill."The Colstrip plant continues to violate air quality standards while NorthWestern Energy looks for loopholes to keep the shareholder gravy train rolling. People want clean energy solutions, not this ridiculous cronyism that takes hard-earned money from Montanans and puts it into the pockets of corporations at the expense of our public health."

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.