File Photo NEWTON COUNTY — Sustainable Newton has banded together with three environmental activist groups to sue President Donald Trump and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over an exemption given to commercial sterilizer facilities that applied to Covington’s Becton-Dickinson (BD) plant. On July 17, 2025, Trump announced that 40 commercial sterilizer facilities across the United States would receive a two-year exemption from a 2024 EPA rule that aimed to reduce ethylene oxide emissions. Ethylene oxide is a colorless gas often used in sterilizer facilities. It has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the EPA since December 2016. The EPA’s website notes that studies have found that extensive exposure to the gas has been associated with increased risk of blood and breast cancer. One of the 40 facilities that received an exemption is Becton Dickinson (BD) in Covington, formerly known as Bard Manufacturing. In recent years, the sterilization plant has been the target of multiple lawsuits from employees and nearby residents who received cancer diagnoses and blamed the ethylene oxide emissions. Many lawsuits allege that BD allowed ethylene oxide to leak into the
