Two companies sued over pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’

Two petrochemical giants, which were located behind a facility in “Cancer Alley” of Louisiana, have been sued by the US justice department for increasing the risk of cancer by causing air pollution in a major federal lawsuit which aims to substantially curb the emissions of the plant in the United States.

On Tuesday it was unveiled that the lawsuit stated that the emissions at the Pontchartrain Works facility in Reserve, Louisiana broke the Clean Air Act and caused “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare”.

The move reflects a significant escalation in the enforcement action of the Biden administration in the Cancer Alley region and was instantly appreciated by the members of the Black community living around the plant, who claimed it to be a major victory in their campaign for clean air.

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The justice department sued the companies on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is now looking out for a federal court order to force Denka (DPE) to “immediately take all necessary measures” to curb emissions of the chloroprene, which has been labelled as a human carcinogen by the EPA.

Founder of Concerned Citizens of St John Parish Robert Taylor said, “This will have a tremendous impact on our struggle here. Over the six years we have been fighting this fight we haven’t had anything as great as this to happen in terms of getting concrete action on emissions.”

“The state government has totally ignored us – marches on the capitol, rallying – they wouldn’t even give us an audience. And for the administration to come in and do this, it just validates our efforts,” he added.

In a statement, EPA administrator Michael Regan said that he had promised that “strong action” will be taken when he was on a site visit to Reserve in November 2021.

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“This complaint filed against Denka delivers on that promise. The company has not moved far enough or fast enough to reduce emissions or ensure the safety of the surrounding community. This action is not the first step we have taken to reduce risks to the people living in St John the Baptist Parish, and it will not be the last,” Regan said.

Denka issued a statement on Tuesday which said that the company “strongly disagrees” with the legal action and appealed to the EPA to look into the findings on chloroprene exposure.

“DPE is in compliance with its air permits and applicable law. EPA is taking an unprecedented step – deviating from its permitting and rulemaking authorities – to allege an ‘emergency’ based on outdated and erroneous science the agency released over 12 years ago,” the statement added.

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