Highest toxic air emissions per square mile

 

Air Quality Regulators in ‘Cancer Alley’ Have Fallen Dangerously Behind

‘Louisiana has the highest toxic air emissions per square mile of any state’  

By Mark Schleifstein -- February 2, 2021

https://lailluminator.com/2021/02/02/air-quality-regulators-in-cancer-alley-have-fallen-dangerously-behind/?fbclid=IwAR10NAAck35vEFUAnU0Z6lQEyyRuYRgChFEEX6ugcGfU7wAq4mPLXYJ5l7c

"The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality needs to do a better job of identifying industrial polluters that don’t properly report emission violations, and it should enforce those violations more aggressively, according to a new management audit  by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office."

no where to hide

In the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane, a fire at BioLab chemical plant causes a chlorine leak in Westlake, Louisiana, a community surrounded by petro-chemical facilities. Smoke and chemicals flowed over Interstate 10, which was closed. Residents were instructed to turn off the air conditioning if they had electricity, and shelter in place. 

https://twitter.com/TheBradSowder/status/1298991534537203718

https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/08/27/lake-charles-i-10-bridge-fire-chlorie-leak-sulphur/5644167002/

https://www.kplctv.com/2020/08/27/fire-chemical-plant-westlake/

Earlier this year, Mossville residents petitioned Louisiana DEQ to reject increased emissions from another facility.   https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/press/2020/2/18/concerned-citizens-of-mossville-and-university-network-for-human-rights-urge-louisiana-deq-to-reject-sasols-request-for-increase-in-toxic-emissions-from-lake-charles-facility

Property Tax Referendum

Early voting ends Saturday for a local referendum to decide the future of drainage in St. Bernard Parish.

The election day is August 15th.

A yes vote provides for St. Bernard Parish Government to obtain, maintain and improve the pumping stations along the 40 arpent canal and about 60 miles of existing storm drainage canals.

A no vote retains the system "as is" with the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District [LBBLD] (aka Southeast Levee Protection Board).

There are two other property tax mills set to expire this year: The Hospital Service District 8 mills and a LBBLD 4.3 mills. Both will expire this year and are not being renewed. Should the 8 mills for Drainage pass, the property tax bills should remain the same.

St Bernard Parish Government recently settled lawsuits with the State agency(s) over maintaining and operating drainage assets . “This agreement allows for the flood authority to adequately maintain its hurricane protection responsibilities while enabling St. Bernard to assume responsibility for and properly fund its drainage system. https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_bb8fcf38-a8c3-11e9-b73e-671bd5df0ebd.html



Sample Ballot:

• Shall the Parish of St. Bernard, State of Louisiana (the "Parish"), levy a special tax of eight (8) mills on all property subject to taxation within the Parish (an estimated $3,053,300 reasonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the year 2021 and ending with the year 2030, for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, operating and maintaining drainage canals, pumps, pumping plants, dykes, small levees and other drainage works, including all necessary equipment, within and for the Parish?

Environmental Justice for All

Environmental Justice for All Act, introduced by U S Representative Grijalva in February 2020:

 H. R. 5986 : .      "To restore, reaffirm, and reconcile environmental justice and civil rights, provide for the establishment of the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice Compliance and Enforcement, and for other purposes.” 

“It would also require federal agencies to consider health effects that might compound over time when making permitting decisions under the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts.”    

  https://grist.org/justice/exclusive-kamala-harris-to-introduce-comprehensive-environmental-justice-bill-in-senate/

U S Senator Kamala D. Harris is joining Representative Grijalva, Representative McEachin, and dozens of congressional colleagues, environmental justice groups, and community leaders in introducing the Environmental Justice for All Act. https://www.harris.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/EJ%20for%20All%20Act%20-%201%20pager.pdf

its a problem for our health and environment

The rollback of regulations may be reversible, one day, but the toll on our health can not be.
Environmental rollbacks affect the world and the health of members of our most vulnerable communities.



Listen here                On Point :  NPR   WBUR



https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/07/01/environmental-regulations-under-attack-health

Taiwanese company attempts to block access to slave grave site

"A group of Black residents from St. James Parish, Louisiana, got the green light on Thursday to hold an hour-long Juneteenth prayer service on a burial plot containing the remains of formerly enslaved people. The ceremony, planned for Friday, has been a point of contention — not due to fears over coronavirus, which has hit the community particularly hard, but because the site technically belongs to Taiwanese plastics manufacturer Formosa."  --- Rachel Ramirez article on grist    https://grist.org/justice/juneteenth-formosa-st-james-parish-cancer-alley-black-burial-ground/


Stand with RISE St James
 https://www.facebook.com/risestjames/

past time for a different path

address to The Class of 2020 from a former POTUS   

 “No one does big things by themselves. Right now, when people are scared, it’s easy to be cynical and say let me just look out for myself, or my family, or people who look or think or pray like me. But if we’re going to get through these difficult times; if we’re going to create a world where everybody has the opportunity to find a job, and afford college; if we’re going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we’re going to have to do it together. So be alive to one another’s struggles. Stand up for one another’s rights. Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us — sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed — and set the world on a different path.”