DENVER— The Center for Biological Diversity sued Gov. Jared Polis’ administration today for failing to ensure corporate agriculture giant Cargill is complying with state and federal clean-air laws at the company’s cattle slaughterhouse northeast of Denver.

As one of the largest slaughterhouses in Colorado, Cargill’s facility in Fort Morgan is a large source of toxic air pollution. Thousands of cattle are processed daily, causing air pollution from boilers, wastewater treatment, flaring, cookers, and dryers. As a result the facility has the potential to release hundreds of tons of harmful pollutants every year, including particulate matter, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and carbon monoxide.

“It’s critical that industrial agriculture polluters in Colorado are held accountable for their toxic air pollution,” said Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate at the Center. “The Polis administration needs to stop its foot dragging, update Cargill’s air-pollution permit, and ensure the company is reining in the toxic stew it sends into our air.”

Today’s lawsuit, filed in Morgan County District Court, targets the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division’s failure to meet a legally required deadline for reviewing and updating the air pollution operating permit for Cargill’s slaughterhouse. Large sources of air pollution like Cargill’s slaughterhouse are required to obtain updated permits every five years. These permits must set forth conditions that ensure large sources of air pollution comply with state and federal clean air laws.

Cargill’s permit was last updated in 2019. Although the company applied for a new permit in late 2022, the state Air Pollution Control Division has yet to act on the application. By law the division was required to grant or deny the application within 18 months.

Today’s lawsuit aims to secure a deadline by which the Air Pollution Control Division must act on the permit and ensure Cargill’s slaughterhouse complies with state and federal clean air laws. If an air-pollution source fails to comply with those laws, its operating permit must be denied.

The Center is represented in the lawsuit by the University of Denver Sturm College of Law Environmental Law Clinic.

More information about the Center for Biological Diversity’s fight against air pollution is available at Protecting Air Quality Under the Clean Air Act.