*NEWS RELEASE*

*Lawsuit Targets Air Pollution at Aging CEMEX Cement Plant in Lyons*
*Pollution Threatens Public Health and Damages Rocky Mountain National Park*

*For Immediate Release*:
August 15, 2008

*For More Information*:
Jeremy Nichols Director of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action/Climate and
Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians, (303) 454-3370 or cell
(303) 437-7663

*Denver*—Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and WildEarth Guardians filed suit
today against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its
failure to overturn a state-issued air pollution permit for the aging CEMEX
cement plant near Lyons in north Boulder County. The cement plant burns
coal to fire a kiln, releasing significant amounts of smog forming
pollution, mercury, dioxin, and other compounds that are harmful to public
health and special places like Rocky Mountain National Park.

At issue is the failure of the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment to limit harmful nitrogen oxide pollution, or NOx, from the
smokestack of the cement plant. NOx can damage lungs and react to form
ozone air pollution, the key ingredient of smog. The Front Range region,
including Boulder County, is currently in violation of federal health limits
for ozone. NOx is also leading to nitrogen deposition in nearby Rocky
Mountain National Park, acidifying streams and degrading this magnificent
mountain ecosystem that every year attracts more than three million
visitors.

"CEMEX's cement plant is poisoning our air, endangering our children, our
families, and a crown jewel of our National Parks ," said Jeremy Nichols,
Director of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action. "We need safeguards from this
harmful air pollution and our lawsuit gets us one step closer to the clean
air we all need."

Every year, the cement plant spews up to 5.2 million pounds of NOx from its
smokestacks, equal to the amount released by over 130,000 cars (according to
the EPA a car releases 38.2 pounds of nitrogen oxide a year,
www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/f00013.htm).

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has notified CEMEX, the EPA, and the State
of Colorado that CEMEX's NOx pollution is illegal. The Lyons cement plant
was built in 1969 and at the time exempt from clean air laws. However,
between 1980 and the present, the plant was upgraded several times,
triggering a Clean Air Act requirement that up-to-date controls be used to
reduce NOx pollution. Ignoring this, CEMEX continues to operate the Lyons
cement plant without up-to-date NOx pollution controls, endangering public
health and Rocky Mountain National Park.

In 2007, both the EPA and Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action cited CEMEX for
illegally failing to reduce NOx pollution. Despite documented violations,
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment renewed CEMEX's air
pollution permit, allowing them to continue to operate without requiring any
limits on NOx pollution.

Because states cannot issue an air pollution permit that allows polluters to
violate clean air laws, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action last March filed a
petition with the EPA to overturn CEMEX's permit. Under the Clean Air Act,
citizens can petition the EPA to veto state-issued permits. By law, the EPA
was required to respond in 60 days, but has so far failed to issue a ruling.

"Sadly, the EPA's footdragging has delayed protection for our clean air, our
health, and our environment," said Nichols. "We can't wait around for clean
air to happen, there's too much at stake to simply allow CEMEX to keep
polluting."

If the petition is successful, CEMEX may ultimately be required to install
up-to-date NOx pollution controls. An engineering report commissioned by
Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action found that a technology called selective
catalytic reduction, which is similar to a catalytic converter on a car,
could cost-effectively reduce NOx emissions by 90% or more.

This same technology could also help to reduce mercury emissions. According
to the CEMEX's own data, the Lyons cement plant releases 53 pounds of
mercury annually. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is especially harmful
to developing babies. The amount of mercury released by the CEMEX cement
plant is enough to contaminate a lake with a surface area of more than
353,000 acres, or nearly 75% of Boulder County.

Today's lawsuit, which was filed against the EPA Administrator in
Washington, D.C., challenges the EPA's failure to respond to Rocky Mountain
Clean Air Action's petition to overturn CEMEX's air pollution permit. The
petition can be downloaded at
http://ourcleanair.org/uploads/2008-3-20_Title_V_Petition.pdf. The lawsuit
can be downloaded at
http://ourcleanair.org/uploads/COMPLAINTCEMEXTITLEVFINAL_080813.pdf.

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action is partnering with WildEarth Guardians to
protect and restore wild places, wildlife, and wild rivers in the American
West.