Two environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for delayed action to curb air pollution from the oil and gas drilling industry.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health say the EPA under President Donald Trump has allowed smog pollution from the oil industry to create unhealthy air for people in 11 states—including Arizona and California.
The conservation groups want the EPA to ensure that areas violating air-quality standards for smog have mandated plans in place to clean up air pollution that they blame on oil companies that use fracking.
The groups claim the smog also harms wildlife and plants including Arizona’s Ponderosa Pine and the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl habitat in Arizona and New Mexico.