Biweekly Engagement Calls

 EPA Now Hosting Biweekly National Environmental Justice Community Engagement Calls

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites Environmental Justice (EJ) advocates and the public to participate in the agency’s National Environmental Justice Community Engagement Calls, now happening biweekly, to discuss and receive feedback on all aspects of EJ at EPA with partners and communities. 

“The voice of communities is what centers and drives our efforts to advance environmental justice at EPA,” said Office of Environmental Justice Director Matthew Tejada. “Our mission to protect the health and environments of everyone in the United States can only be achieved if we listen to and engage with communities who have not received the same level of protection. Given the historic mandate of the Biden-Harris Administration and Administrator Regan’s leadership, these calls are a direct line for EPA to hear from communities.”

By increasing the community engagement calls from quarterly to biweekly, EPA will further encourage an open dialogue with EJ leaders and advocates. These meetings not only serve as an opportunity to give an update on EPA’s EJ work and its resources, but also to listen and learn from communities, partners, and stakeholders. Additionally, the biweekly community engagement calls speak to the agency’s commitment to Justice40, an initiative announced by President Joe Biden, to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities. 

The next national EJ community engagement call is Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. 

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/epa-national-environmental-justice-community-engagement-call-sep-28-2021-registration-173740832507. 

To see the calendar for upcoming calls, register for upcoming calls, and view meeting materials for past calls, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/national-environmental-justice-community-engagement-calls. 

You can also follow the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice on Twitter (@EPAEnvJustice) and subscribe to the EPA’s EJ listserv by sending a blank email to join-epa-ej@lists.epa.gov.

the shrinking forest

 

World Climate change Organisation - WCCO

mmtSponsohr1el8hd  · 

The forest was shrinking

but the trees kept voting for the axe,

for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.

(Turkish proverb) #turkishproverb

air pollution equivalent to cigarette smoking

 

New study compares increases in ambient Ozone levels over tens years, and concludes that ambient Ozone level increases of just three parts per billion (3 ppb) over ten years is the equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes daily for 29 years!!

So what increase in ground level Ozone has already occurred in St. Bernard Parish, what increase is expected from recent air permits, and what increase will the PONO international container port bring to our community?

The amount of Emphysema progression found in the study is equal to 29 pack-year of smoking. In other words, if your ambient Ozone level increases three ppb over ten years, that is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes daily for 29 years. It sounds [more] terrible than smoking !

https://reviewsofairpurifiers.com/new-study-air-pollution-is-equivalent-to-cigarette-smoking/

air quality post IDA St Bernard Parish

 

Air Quality in St Bernard Parish post-Hurricane IDA has reached levels which are unhealthy for: 

Children, Asthmatics, People with heart or lung disease, and People who are active outdoors. 

On September 7 Ground Level Ozone levels reached "RED LEVEL", when the Meraux Site reached Ozone average of 97 parts per billion.

Later on the same day, September 7 Sulfur Dioxide one-hour health standard reached "ORANGE LEVEL", when the Meraux Site reached Sulfur Dioxide concentrations of 86.1 parts per billion one hour average.

The Meraux Site is located adjacent to the Joe Davies Elementary School Playground.

According to the EPA, ground level ozone can cause permanent lung damage. Repeated short-term ozone damage to children’s developing lungs may lead to reduced lung function in adulthood. In adults, ozone exposure may accelerate the natural decline in lung function that occurs with age.

The following groups should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion: • People with lung disease, such as asthma • Children and older adults • People who are active outdoors Everyone else should limit prolonged outdoor exertion

https://www.airnow.gov/sites/default/files/2020-02/ozone-c.pdf

https://www.airnow.gov/sites/default/files/2018-03/common-air-pollutants-2011-lo.pdf

https://www.epa.gov/so2-pollution/sulfur-dioxide-basics

Greenwashing

 

The Intercept

StueprghttembSpehstoucssnsrse o5 ortremineat 7:S04 aPdMc  · 

As Hurricane Ida wrought destruction throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, the companies that own the oil rigs and refineries in the storm’s path — and helped fuel this and the other natural disasters now upending life in every region of the world — said very little. While a highway collapsed, people died, homes flooded, power grids shattered, and more than 1 million homes and businesses lost power, the Twitter feeds of Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Valero, Phillips 66, Chevron, and Shell remained notably inactive.⁠
⁠
That silence contrasts with the steady patter of positive PR the big oil and gas companies usually spout about their roles as stewards of the environment. Ida — whose power stemmed from the unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, turning it into the “poster child” for climate change-driven disasters — made Big Oil’s usual pledges to help us cope with the climate crisis ring impossibly hollow.⁠
⁠
⁠
Such greenwashing — or perhaps false advertising — is par for the course for big energy companies, according to Karen Sokol, a professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. ⁠
⁠
“They frame themselves not as a major source of the problem, but instead a key part of the solution.”⁠
⁠
Read the full story: https://interc.pt/3zQ3g6G
⁠
Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images 

another failed project of Port NOLA

 

Oppose the 9th Ward Lock Expansion

Demand they put people before profits

Stay informed #NOLALockDoc 

Locked - a true story as told by the Elektrik Zoo and Dr. Josh Lewis Urban Ecologist 

https://vimeo.com/337393583?fbclid=IwAR3ST3_anGzQpXS1ZZDR8UoAFtbwDA91hDlNCLjwMf6qFPDbkHtF7_T4M-A

The Port of New Orleans' industrial canal; this was one of the biggest failures in urban planning in American history; it is costly, with limited benefits and immense human suffering.

In the spring of 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers will submit their Lock replacement proposal to Congress for approval and ask for $1bn in funding. The idea that we should make a decision right now to re-leverage in a system that has caused so much suffering, so much environmental degradation, the idea that we would sink a billion dollars into that and then neglect to deal with the problems that that entire system created is madness.

With sea level rise, with our exposure to storms here, with the survivability of this city..... 

If we want to survive into the next century, we want our communities to thrive, we want our landscape to be whole, we got a lot of work to do that is going to cost a good bit of money and that's got to happen before we start talking about replacing something like this lock

RISE St James STOP Formosa

 The US government has placed further delays on a proposed multibillion dollar plastics plant in south Louisiana, marking a major victory for environmental activists and members of the majority Black community who have campaigned for years against construction.

The planned $9.4bn petrochemical facility, owned by Formosa Plastics, would roughly double toxic emissions in its local area and, according to environmentalists, release up to 13m tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, the equivalent of three coal-fired power plants, to become one of the largest pollution-causing plastics facilities in the world. [Oliver Laughland]

The 14 separate plastic plants, spread over a gargantuan 2,300 acres of land in St James Parish, could also emit up to 15,400 pounds of the cancer causing chemical ethylene oxide [which would make the plant the second largest air emitter of ethylene oxide in the state and third largest in the nation, according to TRI data and DEQ permit filings. For benzene, Formosa would be allowed to release 73,160 pounds per year, which would make it the second largest air emitter in the state, only behind the Shell Norco chemical facilities.-- David Mitchell].

Oliver Laughland in New Orleans

@oliverlaughland

Wed 18 Aug 2021 20.31 EDT

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/18/louisiana-plastics-plant-toxic-emissions-cancer-alley?fbclid=IwAR1sg2E7bukCLV6ltgVoEFYAbqW4K-z2ApblDw3Bn4ZE01kIz4_l5ZHeVxw

David Mitchell

The Advocate

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_c30d4620-a1be-11e9-837c-13f09466bb79.html