Today, Sustainable Newton joined the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and other environmental non-profits to file a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia challenging two-year renewable exemptions the Trump administration issued in July to allow 40 commercial sterilizer facilities nationwide, including nine in Georgia, to bypass stricter ethylene oxide (EtO) regulations implemented in 2024.

EtO is a cancer-causing chemical classified as a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The stricter standards being bypassed were implemented by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after extensive scientific studies found EtO to be 60-times more toxic that previously thought. The 2024 rule has been shown to reduce EtO emissions by more than 90% and to reduce cancer risk by 92%.  Read more about EtO and reasons for filing the complaint on the SELC website.
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For Sustainable Newton, joining this lawsuit was an easy decision, given our history of working to encourage transparency, safety monitoring, and a science-based approach to public health. Through our Environmental Hazards Committee, we have made a commitment to do all we can to protect our Newton County community from harm through advocacy and education. As an organization, Sustainable Newton is "working to build a world where people and planet are as important as profit and future generations matter." Challenging this presidential exemption is a vital to that cause.

Hi! My name is Sherryn Lo, currently a freshman at Oxford College of Emory University. I’m an Oxford Service Leader, helping Sustainable Newton out wherever support is needed. I got to learn about the organization and its different committees, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to see how much thought and care go into making Newton County a more sustainable place to live. I wanted to use this post to share a little about who I am, where I’m from, and why sustainability matters to me!

I grew up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, a coastal city that feels alive all the time, from early morning to late at night. Going around the city, you can see tree-lined streets run alongside busy roads, and it’s normal to see parks, public bikes, night markets, and apartment buildings all sharing the same space. The weather is very warm most of the year, so people spend a lot of time outside. We love walking, eating, talking, and just being around each other. The city is very lively; neighborhoods feel close, and daily life happens in public and shared spaces. Growing up there made me used to paying attention to my surroundings and the people around me, because everything, such as nature, city life, and community, all exist side by side.