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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact: Hamlet Paoletti, NRDC at 310/434-2317 (office), 310/877-4686 (cell), hpaoletti@nrdc.org
If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at nrdcinfo@nrdc.org or see our contact page
Press Conference and Rally with Community Advocates Calling on the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to Reject Massive Pollution Initiative

What:       Press conference and rally with over 100 community and clean air advocates to brief reporters, provide background information and community perspectives on the massive pollution initiative contemplated by the AQMD and its impacts to residents in the Los Angeles region.
 
When:       Friday, August 3, 8:40 a.m. PDT
 
Where:      The South Coast Air Quality Management District Headquarters at 21865 Copley Dr, Diamond Bar, CA 91765
 
Who:        Darryl Molina , Communities for a Better Environment
                Tim Grabiel, Environmental Justice Attorney, NRDC
                Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics     
                Jesse Marquez, Coalition for a Safe Environment
 
Why:        This Friday, August 3, AQMD will vote on two rules that could allow dozens of highly polluting facilities to be built in Southern California. If the District approves the rules, it would allow the construction of numerous fossil fuel power plants in densely populated areas already burdened by too much air pollution. The facilities – including 11 power plants – will generate over 81 million pounds per year of new emissions associated with asthma and cancer, and allow in excess of 35 billion pounds per year of CO2 (a greenhouse gas) – approximately 5 percent of California’s current CO2 inventory.
 
This is the third time these rules have come before AQMD’s Governing Board. On September 8, 2006, it approved similar rules. Last month, it decided to postpone the decision because the members were given only two days to review the staff’s proposal. 
 
In October 2006, the coalition filed a lawsuit for violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The lawsuit is still pending in state court. The coalition asserts that the current versions of the rules do not address the underlying state law violations.
 

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

Communities for a Better Environment is a nonprofit organization which works to achieve environmental health and justice by building grassroots power in and with communities of color and working-class communities.


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