According to a press release from Dan Millis of the Sierra Club in Tucson, an Environmental Protection Agency ruling Friday declared that Tucson Electric Power must address our haze (go up Tumamoc in the morning and you'll see what the fuss is about, but imagine living near the sources) and end coal combustion at the Sundt Generating Station by the end of 2017.
From the Sierra Club:
Locals, doctors and conservationists are celebrating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to clean up the Sundt Generating Station, a polluting coal-fired power plant on Tucson’s south side.
According to a 2010 study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, air pollution from coal combustion at Sundt causes 68 asthma attacks, 6 heart attacks, and 4 deaths every year.
“Growing up we didn’t even know about all the poisons coming from the plant, but lots of kids had asthma and breathing problems,” said Claudio Rodriguez of Tierra Y Libertad Organization, whose childhood home is only a few blocks away.
Tierra Y Libertad
"Our desert community used to be a haven for those seeking clean air to breathe, and now it is the opposite, with children requiring treatment for asthma at a higher rate in Arizona than the national average. Coal is a significant contributor to this suffering," said Dr. Barbara Warren, a trained community medicine physician and public health expert.
“Coal is literally making Tucson sick,” said Dan Millis, Beyond Coal Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “This plant has been impacting a neighborhood where three out of four people are people of color, and the average income is less than $11,000 a year. Sierra Club is glad to see this injustice coming to an end.”
