ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20171
No(s). 3:13-CV-01214 (W.D. Ky. Jul 17, 2014) (McKinley Jr., J.)

A district court held that a group of residents may go forward with their state tort law claims against a Kentucky power plant. The residents alleged that the plant emits dust and coal ash into the air and onto their homes and properties several times a month. According to the residents, not only are the ash, dust, and coal combustion byproducts annoying, but they are also composed of dangerous elements, including arsenic, silica, lead, and chromium. The plant argued that the state tort law claims should be dismissed because they are preempted by the CAA. But courts have increasingly interpreted the CAA’s savings clause to permit individuals to bring state common-law tort claims against polluting entities. The residents, therefore, may go forward with these claims. But the court dismissed the residents' RCRA claims and all but one of their CAA claims in which they alleged the plant was operating its facility without a valid permit.