NEW ORLEANS (AP), The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether Louisiana’s health and environmental agencies discriminated towards Black residents in relation to air pollution from existing or proposed facilities between New Orleans, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Lilian Dorka, director of EPA’s civil rights compliance officer, recently notified environmental organizations and the state about an investigation into Louisiana’s departments for health and environmental quality.
There are two complaints. Both complain that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is not paying enough attention on environmental justice. One also accuses Louisiana Department of Health.
The complaints relate to at least seven plants that are currently in operation and two planned large-scale projects in two parishes within the industrial corridor, which is located between Louisiana’s largest urban centers.
The two projects in the works are a $9.4billion Formosa Plastics facility in St. James Parish and an $800 million grain terminal at St. John the Baptist Parish. The Denka Performance Elastomers (which the Japanese company purchased in 2015 in St. John) is one of the existing plants.
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Gregory Langley, the press secretary for Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, stated that officials at the agency believe it is impartial in its permit process. Langley spoke to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. He added that LDEQ deals with all issues in a fair and equitable manner. “LDEQ will cooperate with EPA in this matter.
Steven Russo was the general counsel of the Louisiana Department of Health. We have received the entire complaint from EPA and we are looking into it carefully.
Administrator Michael Regan announced in January that EPA would surprise inspect industrial sites suspected to be causing health problems by air and water polluting.
Environmental groups have named the southeast Louisiana industrial corridor Cancer Alley.
Nearly all census tracts between Baton Rouge & New Orleans have… a higher cancer risk from air toxics than at minimum 95% of U.S. residents, according to a Tulane Environmental Law Clinic complaint against the environmental department.
Professor Lisa Jordan, director of law clinics, stated in an email to The Associated Press that the department must establish policies and procedures to address and prevent the disproportionate burden on air pollution suffered by Black communities.
The complaint claims that air emission permits for the grain terminal/chemical complex were approved in violation of a pattern that dates back to at least 2016 and includes permits for at least six plants.
The clinic represents several groups opposing plans for the grain terminal. They say it is likely to release fine particulate pollution.
Cal Williams, Greenfield’s Chief Executive Officer, stated to the newspaper Friday that terminals emissions would fall below the EPA’s strictest air quality standards.
Earthjustice, along with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have filed a complaint to both state departments. They claim that Denka’s plant continues to release the carcinogen and other nearby plants emit cancer-causing chloroprene.
According to the complaint filed by Concerned Citizens of St. John as well as the Sierra Club, the health department failed inform predominantly Black residents of St. John of health threats from Denka’s emissions.
They also complain that the Sunshine Project complex near Donaldsonville, planned by Formosa Plastics Group member FG LA LLC, would release particulate matter and volatile carbon monoxide.
“The Sunshine Project was thoroughly vetted, approved by parishes and state bodies because its design relied on sound science and met all regulatory requirements,” Janile Parks, spokesperson, stated in an email to the AP.
Jim Harris, Denka’s spokesperson, stated that the state tumor registry statistics don’t show a high number of cancers in St. John the Baptist Parish.
He stated that state agencies are more interested in real science than sensational pseudo-studies.”
According to the EPA’s 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment, the lifetime cancer risk from both ethylene oxide and chloroprene was at the rate 2,000 cases per 1,000,000 people. This rate is the highest near the Denka plant.
Since Denkas agreed to install new equipment, chloroprene levels have fallen dramatically. However, levels at several monitoring sites in the area have been well above the EPA’s cancer risk level of 0.2 micrograms/cubic meter for the past year.
Denka has asked EPA for reconsideration of its listing of chloroprene, a probable human carcinogen, as a result of a peer-reviewed company study.
Dorka said that her office will investigate whether DEQ conducts its air pollution control program in a way that could lead to individuals being subject to racial discrimination. She also inquired into the handling of Denkas permits by the states.
She wrote that the committee will also examine whether the health department provided any information regarding health threats from Denka or other nearby sources of polluting substances.
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