WASHINGTON (AP), The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday a series of enforcement measures to address air pollution and unsafe drinking water in three Gulf Coast states. This announcement was made following a Journey to Justice tour led by Administrator Michael Regan. last fall.
Regan stated that the agency will conduct unannounced inspections at chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial sites that are suspected of polluting water and causing health problems for nearby residents. To improve enforcement at Louisiana’s plastics and chemical plants, the agency will install air monitoring equipment. This region is home to many cancer hotspots that are well above the national average.
The EPA also sent a notice to Jackson, Mississippi, stating that its aging and overloaded drinking water system is in violation of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The order directs the city’s to develop a plan to address the significant deficiencies identified by the EPA within 45 days.
Separately, Regan appealed to state and city officials to use nearly $79 Million in funding that Mississippi received under the bipartisan infrastructure billTo solve the most urgent water problems in Jackson and other areas across Mississippi.
These actions were just a few of the many announced in response to Regans’ November tour. Regan visited communities of low income, mostly minorities in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, as part of an effort by the federal government to pay more attention to communities negatively affected by decades of industrial pollutants.
According to the EPA’s Toxics Release Indicator, 56% of those who live near toxic sites like chemical plants, landfills, refineries and landfills are African Americans. Negative effects include chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma and diabetes.
Regan stated that in every community I visited during the Journey to Justice Tour, the message was clear. Residents have suffered for far too long, and that local, state, and federal agencies must do better.
He stated that unannounced inspections at chemical plants and other sites will keep these facilities on their toes.
Regan said that inspections are done on a scheduled basis or with advance notice. However, this is about changing. He said that we are increasing our aggressiveness to use a tool in our toolbox that has been there for quite a while.
He said that if facilities are found to not be complying with regulations, the EPA will use all its tools to hold them responsible.
Three parishes in Louisiana, St. John the Baptist and St. James will start a pilot project that combines high-tech monitoring of air pollution with additional inspectors. These three parishes are home to many industrial sites and have been plagued by water pollution and pollution for a long time.
President Joe Biden made it a priority to address racial inequalities, including those related the environment. He has pledged to ensure that at least 40% in new climate and environmental spending goes to the poor and minority communities. Two key environmental justice appointees have resigned, putting the administration’s commitment to the issue under renewed scrutiny. Cecilia Martinez, a top White House official on the Council on Environmental Quality, along with David Kieve, who facilitated outreach with environmental justice organizations, both left the White House, highlighting the many promises still to be fulfilled.
Regan, a former North Carolina environmental regulator, has made environmental justice a top priority ever since he assumed the helm of the EPA.Last year. He explained to The Associated Press that he is the first Black man to head the agency.
He said Tuesday that he would do more for people who have been suffering for too long.
The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure legislation signed by Biden will help historically marginalized communities like St. John, St. James, and other cities such as New Orleans Jackson and Houston., Regan said. The law includes $55 Billion for water and wastewater infrastructure. A comprehensive climate and social policies bill is also included.Senate funding would allow EPA to pump more than twice the amount into programs that clean up the environment and address water-related justice issues.
Regan stated that the EPA has ordered a former DuPont petrochemical facility in La Place, Louisiana to install fence-line monitors in order to detect emissions from the site as part of its enforcement action. Denka, a Japanese conglomerate now owns the plant.
The agency also stated it will increase scrutiny of the proposed expansion at Formosa Plastics in St. James. Additionally, it issued a notice to Nucor Steel for releasing hydrogen sulfide or other harmful chemicals.
Regan stated that he spoke with LaToya Cantrell, the Mayor of New Orleans.Gordon Plaza is a neighborhood in the city built on top of a former toxic waste dump. Gordon Plaza was declared a Superfund Site in the 1990s. However many families, mostly Black, still live there.
Regan stated that the EPA will begin reviewing the site in March and will add nine new homes to the area. This is in order to assist families in moving. Officials hope to use money from infrastructure law to relocate families, and to build a solar farm.
EPA said that it has completed a review to determine the best actions to clean up creosote pollution from a Houston site owned by Union Pacific Railroad. The site is located in the city’s Fifth Ward in Kashmere Gardens. It has been linked with higher than usual cancer rates in the historically Black neighborhood.
EPA stated that it will work with Texas officials in order to address community concerns.
Sylvester Turner, Houston Mayor, said Wednesday that it was encouraging that federal officials shared our concerns and knew the names and faces for those affected.
Sharon Lavigne, president and founder of Rise St. James, a grassroots group that has fought petrochemical plants throughout Louisiana, stated that the EPA’s actions were only the beginning of what must be done to combat pollution from the petrochemical sector.
Lavigne stated that it was important that EPA acknowledges the need for science and that no other harmful chemical plants should be allowed in the community. I’m hopeful that he will actually get some things done.