States Sue EPA Over Soot Levels - AP

[Eugene]

Associated Press
States Sue EPA Over Soot Levels
By MICHAEL GORMLEY 12.18.06, 2:01 PM ET

More than a dozen states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday
to lower soot levels from smokestacks and exhaust pipes, a move the state officials
argue would save thousands of lives.

The states argue that the Bush administration is ignoring science and its own experts
in refusing to slightly reduce the allowed threshold for soot. The "fine particulate
matter" in soot contributes to premature death, chronic respiratory disease and
asthma attacks, said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The pollution also leads
to more hospital admissions and other public health costs, he said.

Officials from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of
Columbia joined New York in the action filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.

"It is unfortunate that this coalition of states must resort to legal action to get
the EPA to do its job - protect the environment and the public health," said Spitzer,
the Democratic governor-elect.

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Full article: http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/12/18/ap3264292.html