“Supreme Court denies ExxonMobil’s appeal against $14.3 million air pollution case”, 30 June 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to ExxonMobil by refusing to hear an appeal to overturn a lower court decision that ordered the company to pay $14.3 million for Clean Air Act violations at its oil refinery in Baytown, Texas. The decision brings to an end the decade-and-a-half-long legal battle between ExxonMobil and some of its Baytown neighbors…

The case, Environment Texas Citizen Lobby, Sierra Club v. ExxonMobil, resulted in the largest penalty ever imposed by a court in a citizen-initiated lawsuit to enforce environmental laws. In rejecting the appeal, the court refused to reconsider the underlying precedent that says when state and federal agencies have not adequately enforced environmental law, private citizens can take legal action against companies that have committed violations that led to proven harm…

The case started when Environment Texas, an Austin-based nonprofit, combed through emissions data and found excessive pollution based on information ExxonMobil reported to state and federal regulators. The organization found thousands of instances in which ExxonMobil exceeded the legal limits on air pollution specified in the Baytown refinery’s permits under the Clean Air Act…

...Environment Texas and the Sierra Club found Baytown residents to testify about how pollution impacted their health and livelihoods. ExxonMobil’s final appeal was heard before a full panel of 17 judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued its decision in December 2024. In the end, the court agreed that ExxonMobil committed 16,386 violations of its air permits between 2005 and 2013 and affirmed a lower court’s $14.3 million penalty, which is paid to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...

A spokesperson for ExxonMobil did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication…