Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took part in a press conference on the steps of Kalamazoo City Hall Thursday, organized with the nonprofit group the Environmental Defense Fund.
The outdoor event on energy affordability went ahead despite extremely poor air quality in the city.
Before the event, Nessel spokesperson Kimberly Bush said the organizers attempted to secure an indoor location, but were unsuccessful.
"Instead EDF has truncated the program to 20 minutes," Bush wrote in an email. "Today’s Air Quality Advisory is a glaring, living example of why stopping nuisance polluters, like the JH Campbell Coal Plant, is so important."
City of Kalamazoo spokesperson Neal Conway said the city denied organizers’ request to move the press conference inside city hall to avoid disrupting city operations.
"City leadership considered the request but ultimately determined that hosting the event inside would be too disruptive to normal city operations," Conway wrote in a text to the station.
Conway did not respond to a request to clarify which operations would be disrupted.
Nessel acknowledged the hazardous air quality during the press conference.
