Subject: #615: Environmental Justice in Louisiana
. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN LOUISIANA .
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN LOUISIANA
by Charlie Cray and Monique Harden*
Alongside the Missisippi River in southern Louisiana, a tiny,
predominantly African-American community called Convent
(population 2052) is locked in struggle with a giant Japanese
chemical corporation called Shintech. In 1996, Shintech
announced plans to spend $700 million building 3 chemical
factories and an incinerator next to homes and schools in
Convent, but the local people are just saying No. Each year, the
Shintech plant in Convent would produce 1.1 billion pounds of
polyvinyl chloride (PVC, better known as vinyl). Shintech
officials acknowledge that their "state of the art" plant would
be permitted to emit 611,700 pounds of toxic air contaminants
each year, many of them known to be potent carcinogens. That's
almost 300 pounds of industrial poisons for each man, woman and
child in Convent each year. The people of Convent see Shintech's
plan as a continuation of years of race, class and environmental
injustice --more disadvantaged people being dumped on by the
chemical industry. The chemical industry sees it as a
continuation of past triumphs.
What began as a local struggle to stop Shintech in Louisiana has
grown into a national and international debate over (a) the power
of civil rights laws to stop polluting industries from locating
in communities of color, and (b) the need for a phase-out of PVC.
Under Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, residents
of Convent have filed a complaint with U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), charging that their civil rights were
violated by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's
[LDEQ] 1997 decision to issue air permits to Shintech. EPA's
regulations under Title VI prohibit racial discrimination either
as an intent or consequence of state environmental agency
actions. The civil rights law gives EPA the authority to
intervene in state permitting decisions. Living with over 16
million pounds of toxic air releases every year from ten
surrounding industries, Convent residents make a very strong case
that the state of Louisiana has been guilty of environmental
racism for years.[1]
Convent is located in St. James Parish, in the heart of "Cancer
Alley," the 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between
Baton Rouge and New Orleans where there are presently over 140
petrochemical and other industrial plants. (In Louisiana,
counties are called parishes.) Convent is over 80%
African-American, and 40% of its 2052 residents live at or below
poverty level.[2] According to EPA's ongoing Title VI
investigation, Shintech would expose the African-American
population in St. James Parish to anywhere from 71% to 242% more
airborne industrial poisons than the white population.[3] In
1995, 10 facilities within 4.5 miles of the two elementary
schools in Convent emitted over 16 million pounds of toxic air
pollutants, an average of 250,000 pounds of industrial poisons
per square mile; the national average is 382 pounds per square
mile.[4] A recent study examining cancer deaths in St. James
Parish found an excess mortality of 41% for whites and 59% for
African-Americans for the years 1979-1992.[5]
Four years before Shintech announced its plans for Convent, the
Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights issued a report on environmental racism in
Louisiana. The Committee concluded that, "many black communities
located along the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New
Orleans are disproportionately impacted by the present State and
local government system for permitting and expansion of hazardous
waste and chemical facilities.... In spite of the
disproportionate impact upon certain communities, the State and
local governments have failed to establish regulations or
safeguards to ensure such communities are reasonably protected
from a high concentration of hazardous waste and industrial
facilities and risk associated with living in and around such
facilities."[6]
During more than two years of battle, Convent area residents have
been steadfast in their opposition to Shintech. Some residents
say they oppose Shintech because they want a healthy future for
their children and grandchildren. Others base their opposition on
the environmental degradation of their community that has already
occurred as a result of massive industrial development.
Under the banner cry "Enough is enough!" residents have joined
together to form St. James Citizens for Jobs and the
Environment.[7] Reaching out to a diverse coalition of
supporters, residents have gained the help of the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC,
founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), EPA's National
Environmental Advisory Committee (NEJAC), and all of the members
of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus. Residents are united in
their opposition to Shintech and their unity crosses racial
lines. As one newspaper reported, "Had the Romeville Elementary
School [where a Shintech permit hearing was held in January] been
a boat it would have capsized. One side was filled with Shintech
opponents, the other side a small group of Shintech
supporters."[8]
In March of this year, EPA issued its INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR
INVESTIGATING TITLE VI ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS challenging new
pollution permits.[9] EPA's GUIDANCE document was intended to
help EPA's Office of Civil Rights process a backlog of citizens'
complaints that allege discrimination resulting from the issuance
of environmental permits. As of August, 58 Title VI complaints
had been filed with EPA. EPA has acknowledged that the Shintech
case is shaping its Title VI policy.[10]
A corporate backlash has developed against EPA's Title VI
initiative, led by the National Association of Manufacturers. The
Environmental Council of States (an association of state
environmental agencies), the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and a
number of corporate-funded think tanks such as the Washington
Legal Foundation have been vocal in criticizing the emerging
Title VI guidance or calling for its elimination.
Corporate critics charge that EPA's efforts to enforce the civil
rights law will derail other federal programs, such as
brownfields, which is EPA's plan to find new uses for Superfund
dump sites in rundown urban areas. The Congressional Black
Caucus says there is no conflict between Title VI and
brownfields. They say the brownfields program requires meaningful
community participation. A well-run brownfields project would not
violate the civil rights of people of color because they would be
involved in the program's design and implementation, the Caucus
says. Nor would citizens object to a project if they saw that it
provided jobs without threatening their health or environment. As
Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) put it, "dirty industries
are not the only option for revitalizing poor communities."[11]
None of the 58 Title VI complaints filed with EPA has involved a
brownfields project.
EPA was expected to issue a decision on the Shintech civil rights
case this summer. However, in June, EPA asked its Science
Advisory Board (SAB) to review its techniques for assessing
disproportionate "burden." The SAB review has delayed further
action. EPA's assessment of disproportionate "burden" combines
1990 census data and industry-reported air emissions estimates.
Unfortunately, EPA has never independently assessed the quality
of the industry-reported emissions data. An initial response
from the SAB is expected in October. By deferring to its Science
Advisory Board, EPA evidently hopes to appear scientific in its
reasoning, not political. However, EPA has played politics in
numerous attempts to offer residents lower emission levels from
surrounding industries in exchange for the construction and
operation of Shintech's chemical behemoth.[12] Residents have
consistently refused such offers, demanding that area industries
should be reducing overall emissions even if Shintech is sent
packing.
Lawyers describe the Shintech case as a BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION for the environmental justice movement. (BROWN VS.
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA was the federal lawsuit that ended
the official policy of apartheid in U.S. schools, in 1954.) The
ultimate decision by EPA or the courts will answer the $700
million question: can environmental regulators say "no" to
Shintech in defense of an African-American community already
enduring significantly elevated levels of industrial poisons in
the air?
The failure by Louisiana state government to protect the
environment of communities of color, as reported by the state
Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has
turned ugly. Louisiana authorities and corporations have
launched --there is no other word for it --VICIOUS attacks
against Convent residents and their supporters. Louisiana
Governor Mike Foster first claimed the community favored the
Shintech proposal. When that failed, Foster brutally maligned
the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic for providing legal
assistance to Convent residents and threatened to revoke Tulane
University's tax exempt status. Foster's threats, multiplied by
contributions from allied corporations, led the Louisiana Supreme
Court in June to set draconian new rules that prohibit the Clinic
from ever again representing a client group like the St. James
Citizens for Jobs and the Environment --a stunning setback for
any group that needs an attorney and can't afford one. The
Foster administration has also investigated and threatened to
take away the non-profit tax status of organizations that have
opposed Shintech at public hearings (such as Louisiana
Environmental Action Network [LEAN], Louisiana Communities
United, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and others).
Governor Foster has pledged to devote the resources of his entire
administration to locating the Shintech PVC plant in Convent. As
the Governor explained to a New Orleans newspaper columnist, the
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's (LDEQ) job is "to
go out and make it as easy as they can within the law" for
Shintech to get their permits.[13]
Shintech Vice President of Manufacturing Erv Shroeder says,
"Shintech's siting decision has been based upon its assessment of
basic economic factors such as availability of raw materials,
direct access to deep water and access to rail transportation. At
no point during the site selection process did Shintech consider
the racial composition or income-earning composition of the
surrounding residents."[14] But that is exactly the point. The
people of Convent, just like many other communities that face the
same kind of malign neglect, are tired of being treated as
invisible by transnational corporations that are blind to
everything except the local resources they can exploit. They
say, "Enough is Enough!"
[To be continued next week.]
===============
* Charlie Cray is with the Greenpeace Toxics Campaign
[charlie.cray@green2.greenpeace.org] and Monique Harden is an
attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund [400 Magazine St.,
Ste. 401, New Orleans, LA 70130]. Telephone (504) 522-1394;
E-mail: mharden@earthjustice.org.
[1] 1995 EPA Toxics Release Inventory.
[2] Maxine Waters and 37 other Congressional Representatives'
letter to Carol Browner, Administrator, US EPA, July 16, 1998.
[3] U.S. EPA, "Draft Revised Demographic Information Re:
LDEQ/Shintech" (April 1998).
[4] 1995 EPA Toxics Release Inventory.
[5] ST. JAMES PARISH CANCER MORTALITY DATA QUERY, 1979-1992 (New
Orleans: Xavier University Deep South Center for Environmental
Justice).
[6] Louisiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights, THE BATTLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN LOUISIANA.....
GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY, AND THE PEOPLE, September 1993.
[7] Contact: St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment,
P.O. Box 331, Convent, LA 70723.
[8] Mike Dunne, "Foes cite pollution, injustice," BATON ROUGE
SUNDAY ADVOCATE, January 25, 1998, pg. 1b, 2b.
[9] U.S. EPA, INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR INVESTIGATING TITLE VI
ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS CHALLENGING PERMITS, March, 1998.
Available for purchase from EPA; see www.neis.com/justice.htm.
[10] Ann E. Goode, Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. EPA,
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
of the Committee on Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives,
August 6, 1998.
[11] Joan McKinney, "Jefferson joins fight opposing Shintech,"
THE [BATON ROUGE] ADVOCATE, July 17, 1998, page A1.
[12] Ann E. Goode, U.S. EPA Office of Civil Rights, Letter to J.
Dale Givens, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality, and others, June 19, 1998.
[13] Lolis Eric Elie, "A call from the governor," NEW ORLEANS
TIMES-PICAYUNE, September 4, 1998.
[14] Shintech News Release, March 28, 1997.
Descriptor terms: shintech; pvc; plastics; chlorine; dioxin;
citizen groups; la; convent; lean; charlie cray; monique harden;
air pollution; vinyl; civil rights; civil rights act of 1964;
epa; sab; african-americans;
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