The meatpacking plant in Greeley is operating under an expired federal air pollution permit, and Colorado regulators have failed to issue a new one under a timeline mandated by federal law, an environmental group alleges in a new lawsuit.
The on Tuesday sued the and its in Weld County District Court for taking too long to process the plant’s application, which should have been finalized in October 2023. The division is supposed to finalize air permits within 18 months of receiving an application.
This lawsuit claims the JBS-owned Swift Beef Co.’s Greeley Integrated Rendering Plant was late to file its application for a renewed permit for the meatpacking plant and is not eligible under federal law to continue operating under its old permit.
That would mean the Greeley plant has operated without a Title V permit since Jan. 27, 2021, the lawsuit stated. But the state is allowing the plant to continue to operate and to spill pollutants into the air.
JBS is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit conservation group, said his organization filed the lawsuit to urge the state health department to do its job and to send a message to JBS that it should not be allowed to operate above the law.
“The state knows they’re operating out of compliance,” Nichols said. “They’re just choosing not to do anything about it. That’s a concerning message for air quality regulators to send to polluters.”
Zachary Aedo, an Air Pollution Control Division spokesman, said department officials would not comment on the lawsuit.
In an email, JBS spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said the company was committed to compliance with all air quality regulations. She acknowledge the permit application was late but did not offer an explanation as to why.
“Since then, we have worked collaboratively and in good faith with CDPHE and believe we are meeting all current expectations,” Richardson said. “We remain committed to providing any additional information needed to support their review and determination.”
The center argues that lagging air-permit approvals harm the environment and public health by allowing companies to operate under outdated permits, which potentially allows them to pollute more than an updated permit with tighter controls would authorize.
“The state just seems to be, well, whatever, we’ll get to your permit at some point,” Nichols said. “It’s concerning to us that there don’t seem to be consequences for not being timely.”
The Swift plant’s renewal application was due Jan. 27, 2021, but the company did not file it until April 20, 2022. Under the Clean Air Act, which dictates timelines for the Title V air permit renewals, the state health department should have completed it by October 2023. That makes the permit at least two-and-a-half years overdue.
Companies that emit more than 100 tons of any pollutant in one year must apply for Title V permits. Those permits dictate how much of any pollutant the companies are allowed to release. The permits are written by state agencies and sent to the Environmental Protection Agency for approval.
The Greeley meatpacking plant releases particulate matter, which are fine particles that can be inhaled, and in the past has exceeded state limits on how much dried blood it can emit, the lawsuit stated. The plant also emits nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, ammonia and other hazardous pollutants.
All of those pollutants can make people sick if they are exposed to them at high levels or over long periods of time.
Volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide are the key ingredients in ground-level ozone pollution, which combine on hot days to create a smog that fouls the air. Controlling those chemicals is important because the Front Range, including Weld County, violates federal air quality standards for ozone pollution.
“Air pollution from the Greeley Integrated Rendering Plant also harms Plaintiff’s members’ interests in using and enjoying the natural environment. Ground-level ozone, which the air pollution emitted by the facility causes, harms human health, and damages plant and animal life and natural ecosystems, thus harming Plaintiff’s members’ recreational and aesthetic interests in the areas at issue in this Complaint,” the lawsuit states.
Tuesday’s lawsuit is similar to two others that the Center for Biological Diversity has filed since September against the Department of Public Health and Environment and its Air Pollution Control Division for delayed permit approvals.
The center sued the state over permit delays in September for two oil and gas facilities in Adams County and, in December, over the permit for Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan. Those permits were issued after the lawsuit was filed, Nichols said.
The two oil and gas permits are finalized. The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission is hosting an on at 6 p.m., April 28. To register, visit .
