The Conservation Law Foundation alleges that people walking by the company’s idling buses complained about inhaling the vehicles’ exhaust. Exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to health conditions like respiratory illnesses and asthma as well as worsen existing heart and lung disease, especially in children and the elderly, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A New England environmental law firm is suing Greyhound Lines, alleging that their buses are violating the Clean Air Act by repeatedly leaving their engines on and emitting “unnecessary” diesel exhaust when stopped around South Station.
“We have members who walk by the buses and breathe in the exhaust and that kind of evidence is actually more persuasive than air-quality monitors,” said Chelsea Kendall, a foundation staff attorney. “It is compelling to hear people’s lived experiences, especially when talking about environmental harm.”
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Massachusetts Anti-Idling Law prohibits motor vehicle operators from leaving their engine running for longer than five minutes without moving. Violators risk a $100 fine, with a $500 fine for succeeding violations. A provision of the Clean Air Act allows citizens or groups like the foundation to file a federal lawsuit against organizations that they believe have repeatedly broken the law.
A Greyhound spokesperson said the company does not comment on litigation matters.
The Conservation Law Foundation’s civil complaint said it found more than 60 instances of Greyhound’s buses idling “extensively” at the South Station bus terminal. One bus was seen idling for over two hours, according to the complaint.
“Our goal is to address the solution, improve people’s health, and work with them to get Greyhound back in compliance,” said Clare Soria, an associate attorney at the foundation.
According to legislation collected by the American Transportation Research Institute, 31 states have varying anti-idling laws and exemptions.
This is the ninth lawsuit the Conservation Law Foundation filed since 2019 against transportation companies for consistently violating anti-idling laws in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Soria said that inhaling diesel exhaust from unnecessary idling is something that people experience all the time but not something they often put a name to.
“With our idling campaign, the more we spread that this action is just unnecessary, the more people can notice it,” said Soria.
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Earlier this month, the Conservation Law Foundation reached a $1.4 million settlement with the school bus company Durham School Services over Clean Air Act violations in Holyoke and Worcester. On top of spending $1 million on its transition to electric vehicles, Durham will also pay almost $300,000 to community organizations in the two cities that promote electrification and fund urban greenspaces.
The latest lawsuit comes amid a wider recent effort across Boston to address air pollution in urban and environmental justice communities through regulation. The state Bureau of Community Health and Prevention reports that about one out of every eleven people in Massachusetts has asthma, or about 10 percent of adults and 13 percent of children.
Soria and Kendall said that the goal of the foundation’s anti-idling campaign is to have a productive discussion with companies and use their knowledge to reduce pollutants in the air.
Greyhound was the defendant of a similar 2020 idling suit filed by Karl Racine, then attorney general for the District of Columbia. The transportation company settled the suit for $125,000. The settlement required Greyhound to hire a supervisor who monitors idling at D.C.’s Union Station.
After the settlement was reached, company spokesperson Crystal Booker said in a 2020 statement that Greyhound was “pleased to have reached a resolution and is committed to following the District’s environmental regulations.”
Izzy Bryars can be reached at izzy.bryars@globe.com. Follow her @izzybryars.
