The Newman Generating Facility, operated by EPE, is one of the largest sources of ozone-forming pollution in the El Paso-Las Cruces area and the chief nitrous oxide emitter.
The new Newman 6 Power Plant proposed by EPE, if built, would increase ozone emission to 1,335,500 tons per year. To put it into perspective, the designation is worse than New York, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. The designation for 2021 was the same the area had received in 2020. In its 2021 State of the Air report by the American Lung Association, Las Cruces and El Paso areas were ranked 13th in the country for worst air in terms of ozone. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to address smog pollution in and around El Paso and southern New Mexico. The Sierra Club and Familias Unidas del Chamiza filed a lawsuit in 2018, and as a result of that lawsuit, the D.C. Amid the community uproar about unacceptable levels of air pollution in the Las Cruces and El Paso areas, the Lone Star and the Rio Grande chapters of the Sierra Club submitted over 1,000 public comments calling for action from the EPA to bring EPE into compliance with federal health-based standards for ground-level ozone pollution. Community members from Texas and New Mexico affected by smog coming from El Paso Electric (EPE) are ready to hold the Environmental Protection Agency’s feet to the fire in an effort to get something done about ozone pollution.
