BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Opponents of several proposed ethanol plants are clearing the air about health hazards they said the plants pose.

Members of the Association of Irritated Residents, or AIR, have filed suit to stop a corn ethanol plant proposed near Famoso.

They said toxic air emissions from both the plant and trucks going to and from the plant weren't properly analyzed in the environmental impact report.

They've also filed suit against $200 million plant proposals for Wasco and Hanford, which AIR claims would use Mid-western and not central valley-grown corn.

AIR is a central valley-based group. The president of the group is Tom Frantz of Shafter, who is a Wasco High math teacher.

Their April lawsuit against the proposed Hanford ethanol plant may delay the construction of the facility, which was to begin during the summer, according to the Fresno Bee.

Officials argue the facility will be “the cleanest plant in the industry,” but AIR disagrees.

"This issue is addressing the EIR, but what I really hope can happen is they also have more time to take another look at the big picture," Frantz said in an interview with the Fresno Bee.

A new May 1 report from the American Lung Association claims California's central valley, a more than 300-mile area in Central California that stretches from Sacramento to Bakersfield, is one of the most polluted areas in the U.S. They ranked Bakersfield as the second-most polluted U.S. city, while also giving high pollution rankings to Fresno, Visalia-Porterville and Hanford-Corcoran -- all central valley cities.

In 2007, Arvin, Calif., which is just 25 miles south of Bakersfield, was touted as having the poorest air quality in the U.S.