Federal officials sued a Louisiana chemical maker on Tuesday, alleging that it presents an unacceptable cancer risk to the nearby majority-Black community and demanding cuts in toxic emissions.
\nDenka Performance Elastomer LLC makes synthetic rubber, emitting the carcinogen chloroprene and other chemicals in such high concentrations that it poses an unacceptable cancer risk, according to the federal complaint. Children are particularly vulnerable. There is an elementary school a half-mile from the plant.
\nThe former DuPont plant has reduced its emissions over time, but the Justice Department, suing on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the plant still represents \u201can imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare,\u2033 including elevated cancer risks.
\n\u201cThe company has not moved far enough or fast enough to reduce emissions or ensure the safety of the surrounding community,\u201d EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
\nDenka, a Japanese company that bought the rubber-making plant in 2015, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A company spokesperson said in September that advocates described a crisis that \u201csimply does not exist.\u201d
\nDenka\u2019s facility makes neoprene, a flexible, synthetic rubber used to produce common goods such as wetsuits, laptop sleeves, orthopedic braces and automotive belts and hoses. Chloroprene is a liquid raw material used to produce neoprene and is emitted into the air from various areas at the facility.
\nAssociate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said every community, no matter its demographics, should be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water. \u201cOur suit aims to stop Denka\u2019s dangerous pollution,\u201d she said in a statement.
\nThe lawsuit demands that Denka eliminate dangerous emissions of chloroprene. Air monitoring consistently shows long-term chloroprene concentrations in the air near Denka\u2019s LaPlace plant as high as 15 times the levels recommended for a 70-year exposure to the chemical, the complaint says.
\nThe complaint is the latest move by the Biden administration that targets pollution in an 85-mile stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge officially known as the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, but more commonly called Cancer Alley. The region contains several hot spots where cancer risks are far above levels deemed acceptable by the EPA. The White House has prioritized environmental enforcement in communities overburdened by long-term pollution.
\nRegan visited the parish in 2021 during a five-day trip from Mississippi to Texas that highlighted low-income, mostly minority communities adversely affected by industrial pollution. A Toxics Release Inventory prepared by EPA shows that minority groups make up 56% of those living near toxic sites such as refineries, landfills and chemical plants. Negative effects include chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.
\nLast year, the EPA said it had evidence that Black residents face an increased cancer risk from the chemical plant and that state officials allowed the pollution to remain too high. The agency\u2019s letter was part of an investigation under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says anyone who receives federal funds cannot discriminate based on race or national origin.
\nLocal activists have long targeted the plant, arguing that nearby air monitoring demonstrates the plant is a danger to St. John the Baptist Parish residents.
\nThe Justice Department, in its complaint, agreed, saying the plant is exposing thousands of people to lifetime cancer risks \u201cmultiples of times higher than what is typically considered acceptable.\u201d
\nMary Hampton, president of Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish, said emissions at the plant need to drop quickly.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a positive move in the right direction,\u201d she said of the federal lawsuit. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming.\u201d
\nBeverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, said the DOJ\u2019s lawsuit helps ensure that Black communities in Louisiana don\u2019t have to live with deadly pollution.
\n\u201cFor decades Black families have been human experiments for the petrochemical industry in Louisiana,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Apnews<\/p>\n
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