The pollution from this coal fired power plant, located in the center of Colorado Springs, affects all citizens who live in the path of its plume.  Several hundred thousand that is, including 41 schools within a 5 mile radius of the polluting source.  

Citizens learned of three separate and independent pollution modeling studies, in which all three showed egregious violations of SO2 levels in the air we breathe.  The legal limit of 75 parts per billion can damage lungs after just 5 minutes, especially those of young children and the elderly.  Yet the models showed levels of 112 to 525 ppb at ground level where people live, or 1.5 to 7 times the legal limit.

We reported these studies to the EPA, and over 500 community members signed a petition to the EPA calling for strong action.  But instead the EPA designated the pollution as "Unclassifiable" even though all three studies showed Non-compliance with the 2010 National Ambient Air Quality Standards.  We are asking the DC Court of Appeals to force the EPA to revisit this air quality designation ruling so that closer oversight is required to reign in the polluting source -- the urban coal fired power plant.

Our goal is that Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) shut down the plant whenever the new scrubbers are not running.  With the scrubbers, the plant is legal.  The scrubbers are not always running, yet CSU continues to run the plant, polluting and damaging our lungs. WE MUST have oversight to prevent this.

We have a superb environmental lawyer, who has performed all of his research and preparation work pro-bono, but we need funds for the hard costs to file documents in court, for a plane ticket to DC, hotel, food and expenses for just a couple of days while he presents the case in court.  

Your help takes us the final step to seek justice and end this pollution affecting citizens' lungs.