Jan 9, 2023 | Press Releases, The Latest News
NEW ORLEANS: Following the EPA’s announcement on a proposal to strengthen a key national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution also known as PM2.5, to better protect communities, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), released the following statement:
Black people are exposed to PM2.5 air pollution at a rate that is 1.54 times higher than the population at large. The recent announcement by the EPA on a proposed standard for PM2.5 does not address this racially disproportionate pollution burden, which causes premature deaths and damages the heart and lungs. We need the EPA to follow the science showing public health benefits can be achieved by reducing the annual level of PM2.5 to 8 micrograms per cubic meter.
As we near the second anniversary of the Biden Administration’s policy to “deliver environmental justice,” we are encouraged by EPA Administrator Regan’s efforts to ensure that communities whose everyday lives are impacted by pollution are heard. We urge the EPA to hold public hearings on its draft PM2.5 regulation in communities overburdened with pollution, in particular the fine soot particles emitted from smokestacks and tailpipes.
The time for debating whether or not to reduce PM2.5 is over. Now is the time for action that sets and enforces a standard protective of environmental justice communities.
Dec 2, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, The Latest News
From the Nile to the Mississippi, petrochemicals are the next big climate fight around the world
Commentary by Dr. Beverly Wright – December 2, 2022
Recently I returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties, known as COP27, in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, where I joined global leaders, advocates and NGOs who are charting the global path forward on climate. As I met with people from around the world to highlight the importance of environmental justice on a global scale, my thoughts never left the climate fights back at home.
Born and raised in New Orleans, I have witnessed the polluting effects of Cancer Alley – an 85-mile stretch of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. For decades, since the 1950s, it’s been part of our landscape and our shared reality and the effects have been devastating – from corrosive air, and dead birds, to sick relatives and neighbors.
Attending COP27 reminded me that if we are going to meet the goals outlined by the Paris agreement and chart a sustainable future for all communities, we need to take action locally. World leaders can work together to raise global climate ambition, but petrochemical hubs in local communities such as Louisiana are where the fight starts.
Today, petrochemical expansion continues to be rubber-stamped in Louisiana, and many of these companies are making plans for a massive buildout of new and existing plants in Louisiana, Texas and Ohio. By 2050, petrochemical applications will account for nearly half of the growth in oil demand. If unchecked, this rapid expansion of petrochemical production will be devastating to climate progress and public health.
Today, petrochemicals account for 10% of global emissions, which will increase by 20% by 2030 as production increases, making it nearly impossible for the U.S. to meet its Paris Agreement climate goals.
This would also be devastating to Black, brown and poor communities living near petrochemical facilities in Louisiana.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently made headlines after reporting the harmful effects of the Mississippi River chemical corridor on Black and brown communities. The EPA found an increased risk of cancer when you live near a chemical plant. Eighty-percent of Black people in Louisiana live within 3 miles of a petrochemical facility.
Even more concerning, negligence from Louisiana state officials allowed air pollution to remain high leading to decades of filthy air and water and high rates of cancer amongst its residents, nearly all of whom are Black.
Earlier this year, Shell admitted to moving high-emitting facilities to regions such as Louisiana with poor environmental regulations. The well-being of these communities continues to be neglected due to a history of policies rooted in systemic racism and an unwillingness from policymakers to stand up to the industry.
It is critical for climate and environmental justice advocates to stand united in pushing for policies that cut carbon emissions and address the historical and ongoing legacy of pollution in our most vulnerable communities.
That’s why we have joined forces with other local groups as part of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $85 million effort to stop the expansion of more than 120 petrochemical plants in Louisiana, Texas and the Ohio River Valley. This partnership is working to foster a prosperous future full of climate progress. Now more than ever we need legislation to prioritize the safety of our people, our planet, and our future.
As the environmental justice movement has grown, fence line communities, such as the ones in Louisiana, have become more active in using our voice to speak out about the impact these plants have in our communities. With the help of community partners, we can ramp up efforts to organize and end petrochemical pollution and build a cleaner, safer and more prosperous future.
We have the historical evidence of wrongdoing by the petrochemical industry, the data showing how harmful their operations are to our health, and now there are resources to do something about it. It is time to break the cycle of continuing to put dirty, nasty, polluting facilities in our neighborhoods.
We need solution-based policies that address climate change and environmental justice from a racial equity lens. It’s time to transition to an equitable and renewable energy economy, including workforce training for the clean energy jobs of the future. Some effects of climate change cannot be reversed, but we have a responsibility to take actions now that will improve the quality of living for those who are disproportionately affected.
Dec 2, 2022 | Community Engagement News, DSCEJ General News, The Latest News
Four New Orleans high school students participating in the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice’s (DSCEJ) Environmental and Climate Justice Storyteller (ECJS) internship program completed a tour of Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. ECJS Interns, Langston Bishop, St. Augustine High School, Lael Tolbert, Mount Carmel High School, Re’Kal Hooker, The Living School, and Victoria Cager, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts met with community leaders throughout the corridor to learn more about the environmental injustices that have been occurring for decades in their own backyard.
Concerned Citizens of Gordon Plaza
New Orleans, LA
The students kicked off the Cancer Alley Tour in in the Gordon Plaza Community of New Orleans, LA, which sits on top of a municipal landfill. For forty years, residents in Gordon Plaza have complained of exposure to toxic waste in their yards, pipes corroding underneath their homes, and high rates of cancer in their community. Re’Kal Hooker interviewed community leader Shannon Rainey about her experience living in Gordon Plaza. Ms. Rainey spoke about the challenges she has experienced living in her community, such as seeing friends and neighbors succumb to cancer due to exposure to toxins in the soil. Although residents in this community have spent years in court fighting for relocation, many are hopeful that things may be different this time. Ms. Rainey said that “they are currently negotiating with the City of New Orleans for a fully funded relocation of residents living in Gordon Plaza.” She is hopeful and looks forward to a victory for the Gordon Plaza Community soon.
The next stop on the Cancer Alley Tour was St. John The Baptist Parish in Reserve, LA, where the students met with community leader and President of Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish Robert Taylor. During his interview conducted by Langston Bishop, we learned that Mr. Taylor started Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish in 2016 after his wife became ill from exposure to toxic chemicals coming from the nearby Denka/Dupont Plant.
“The odors from the plant caused my wife to become extremely ill,” said Mr. Taylor. “After this incident, I reached out to the Environmental Protection Agency, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and St. John Parish Homeland Security. I also reached out to local representatives from St. John the Baptist Parish and the local school board for help. The Fifth Ward Elementary School is only 1500 feet from Denka/Dupont.”
Mr. Taylor shared with Bishop that “Denka emits chloroprene levels over 400 times the Environmental Protection Agency safety standard for long term exposure,” which is why “it’s hard to find a family in Reserve, LA who hasn’t been touched by cancer.”
As a senior in his 80’s, Mr. Taylor’s advice to the next generation is to continue the fight for environmental justice with great allies.
“Unity is the key to fighting industry,” he said.
Rise St. James
St. James Parish
The final stop was in St. James Parish, where Victoria Cager had the distinct honor of interviewing Sharon Lavigne, the 2021 Goldman Environmental Award recipient and President of Rise St. James. In 2018, Ms. Sharon Lavigne smelled odors in the air and began work with the Help Association. Over the last four years, Rise St. James has prevented plants from coming to St. James Parish.
Ms. Lavigne said, “the local officials don’t represent the community, they represent the industries. They have let us down.” Rise St. James has hosted town hall meetings and distributed flyers to raise awareness about plants coming into their community. Unfortunately, residential homes, the sugar mill, and St. James High School were sold to industry.
There are twelve plants on the West Bank and seven plants on the East Bank of St. James Parish. Additionally, Lavigne built storage plants next to homes in the community. As a result of the long-term exposure to toxic chemicals and high cancer rate in her community, Ms. Lavigne encourages the next generation to get their education and do their research so that they can come back to St. James Parish with ways to help their community. She would also like the federal government to declare a public health emergency in St. James Parish.
ECJS Interns look forward to continuing their work with these communities as they develop creative ways to chronicle their story as they demand the right to clean air, water, and soil for all.
About the Environmental and Climate Justice Storyteller Internship program
ECJS is a program funded by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). The $1.25 million, five-year grant awarded to the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is dedicated to equipping the next generation of environmental and climate justice leaders with the technical skills to chronical the stories of marginalized communities along the Gulf Coast Region in LA, FL, MS, AL, and TX.
Nov 28, 2022 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, International Connection News, The Latest News
Dr. Wright, Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Talks Climate Justice Pavilion at COP27
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 28, 2022
New Orleans, LA – Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) penned an op-ed in Ms. Magazine bringing attention to the first-ever Climate Justice Pavilion inside the Blue Zone at COP27, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The Climate Justice Pavilion was created in collaboration with DSCEJ, WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT), and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ).
In her piece, COP27’s Newest Headliner: Environmental Justice, Dr. Wright discussed how the environmental movement pushed for more equitable solutions to tackle the world’s biggest problems. The Climate Justice Pavilion was successful in its efforts to address the risk of carbon capture and storage technology to front-line communities and the need for just solutions to reduce carbon, assess the damage to underserved communities due to years of colonialism and environmental racism, and rethink climate reparations for poor communities burdened by the world’s richest people.
The COP27 Climate Justice Pavilion is a collaboration effort from Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice; Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT For Environmental Justice; Dr. Robert Bullard, Director of Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, Texas Southern University; Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund, Abigail Dillen, President of Earthjustice; Dr. Deb L. Morrison, CLEAR Environmental; Marina Macal, Instituto Clima e Sociedade; Cathy Eatock, Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform; and Mithika Mwenda, PACJA, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.
See below for excerpts from the op-ed, or read it in Ms. Magazine here.
COP27’s Newest Headliner: Environmental Justice
Dr. Beverly Wright, November 18, 2022
“This year, as I traveled to COP for the 13th time, my organization, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in partnership with WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT), and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ) hosted a Climate Justice Pavilion designed to foster environmental justice conversations between diplomats, policymakers, businesses and professional advocates.
This first-of-its-kind pavilion brought together people from the Global South, the U.S. environmental justice movement and Indigenous peoples to highlight the voices of communities disproportionately impacted by our climate crisis. The pavilion focused on historically overlooked sectors of climate policy, including the risk of carbon capture and storage technology to front-line communities and the need for just solutions to reduce carbon.”
***
“Environmental justice must be at the forefront of every conversation about climate change and what our country and others will do to reverse the dangerous path we are on. From the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States to the significance of hosting a climate conference on the content of Africa, we welcome the opportunity to make bolder strides toward environmental and climate justice.”
Click here to read the full op-ed.
Nov 15, 2022 | DSCEJ General News, Press Releases, The Latest News
Deep South Center of Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, and Healthy Gulf hope to prevent further construction of a fracked gas export facility that will further harm Black and Indigenous communities in Southern Louisiana without the proper environmental precautions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 15, 2022
(New Orleans, LA) – PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA – Last week, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, and Healthy Gulf filed a petition for judicial review against the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR). This petition follows the LDNR’s decision in a one-page letter to illegally exempt Venture Global Plaquemines LNG, LLC from obtaining a Coastal Use Permit for further development of a fracked gas export facility under construction in Southern Louisiana. The LDNR’s decision provides no analysis, finding of facts, or any showing that it considered the data and scientific reports showing the immense damage that can result from the Venture Global Plaquemines LNG facility.
Located 35 miles south of New Orleans in the Plaquemines Parish coastal zone, the Venture Global LNG facility will contribute to the climate crisis and cause irrevocable damage to surrounding communities of color. Construction of the site will destroy nearly 400 acres of vulnerable wetlands that serve as a storm buffer for nearby communities including New Orleans.
An affidavit by Dr. Ivor Van Heerden concludes that the existing and proposed levees around the LNG site are inadequate, risking surge flooding and levee failure for major hurricanes and other severe storms. “Substantial design flaws in the proposed storm wall and construction process pose substantial risk of a levee failure. Failure of any levee and especially the I-wall ring dike will result in catastrophic release of chemical contaminants towards Barataria Bay impacting wetlands as well as the waters of the Bay. The impact to wetland fauna and flora would be immense,” according to Dr. Van Heerden’s affidavit.
Just last year, Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm, flooded the site for over a month. With an operational LNG facility at the location, a similar storm would release pollution into homes, businesses, farmland, and coastal waters. Further disruption to these coastal lands continues an unjust pattern of people of color bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite contributing to it the least.
By not requiring Venture Global to obtain a Coastal Use Permit, the LDNR has put the priorities of a large corporation ahead of the safety of families in Plaquemines Parish. Despite input from the scientific community and lessons from previous natural disasters, the LDNR unlawfully ignored the damaging effects of the facility. When presented with facts and data necessitating Venture Global Plaquemines LNG apply for a Coastal Use Permit, Thomas Harris, Secretary of the LDNR, said, “. . . I do not find that conditions have changed sufficiently for me to reopen this matter.”
“The LDNR continues its track record of failure to execute its duty as a public trustee under the Louisiana Constitution which harms Black and Indigenous communities and damages our coast,” said Monique Harden, Assistant Director of Law and Public Policy at Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “Venture Global is not above the law that requires companies to minimize harm in a coastal zone.”
“The LDNR’s refusal to require a Coastal Use Permit for Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility puts frontline communities and precious Louisiana coastal waters at severe risk, and we look forward to the court’s review,” said Lisa Diaz, attorney for Sierra Club.
“The people of Louisiana have to endure enough with natural disasters threatening our coast and way of life. We absolutely do not need the compounded risk of environmental damage caused by facilities in the aftermath of detrimental storms, yet we see this happen time and time again,” said Jessi Parfait, a citizen of the United Houma Nation and Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Representative. “In the face of evidence, LDNR is refusing to do what is right and are instead choosing to risk the lives and health of communities who are already vulnerable because as a resident of coastal Louisiana, we know it isn’t a matter of if we will get another big storm but when.”
“The LDNR’s decision that a Coastal Use Permit isn’t required runs contrary to what we know about this Environmental Justice community in Plaquemines Parish that already had a backlog of wetlands restoration needs before the impacts of Hurricane Ida,” said Scott Eustis, Community Science Director for Healthy Gulf.
Contact:
Ginger LeBlanc | gingerl@dscej.org
Valerie Keys | vkeys@skdknick.com
About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
