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Industry routinely sends the contemptible message that profits are more important than public health, and Public Citizen has joined two other public interest groups - Environmental Defense and Neighbors for Neighbors – in seeing that one of the worst violators is held accountable. Alcoa’s Rockdale, Texas smelter is being charged with flagrant violations of the Clean Air Act in a suit filed on December 26, 2001, which represents central Texas residents against the aluminum giant in a federal district court in Austin. The suit charges that in a mid-1980s "Betterment Project," Alcoa extensively rebuilt the boilers that power its smelter but failed to install modern air pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act. The result, say the groups, is that over the years the plant has illegally spread thousands of tons of air pollution across the state, increasing the risk of harm to public health by pumping out more than 100,000 tons of pollution annually, including sulfur dioxide emissions of some 60,000 tons. See the press release for more information. |