Apr 9, 2024 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, HBCU Climate Change Consortium News, Press Releases, Research and Policy News
Federal Agency Cuts to Petrochemical Pollution Shows Change Is Possible in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2024) – Today, Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, joined US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to announce groundbreaking requirements for reduced air pollution at petrochemical facilities concentrated in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, the Texas Gulf Coast, and operating throughout the U.S.
“Today’s action by Administrator Reagan to significantly cut toxic pollution and cancer risk is an historic breakthrough that can change Cancer Alley,” said Dr. Wright. “We are thankful for his leadership and commitment to environmental justice.
”Louisiana community advocates, Robert Taylor, Executive Director of Concerned Citizens of St. John, and Sharon Lavigne, Executive Director of RISE St. James, spoke of their struggles with governmental inaction on industrial pollution, and expressed their gratitude for this historic moment.
The new EPA regulations force the Denka (formerly DuPont) neoprene facility in St. John Parish and other petrochemical plants to reduce chloroprene emissions by 80 percent. Overall, the required reductions include 6,200 tons of chloroprene, ethylene oxide and other toxic air emissions each year, which are expected to lower cancer risks in fenceline communities. The significantly lower emission requirements would also apply to Formosa if it pursues renewals of air permits next year. Communities and the public will have access to data from new fenceline air monitoring imposed by the EPA rule which establishes action levels for robust environmental enforcement.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA established new HON regulations requiring significant reductions of chloroprene, ethylene oxide, and volatile organic compounds. HON stands for Hazardous Organic NESHAP, and NESHAP stands for National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Long-term exposure to ethylene oxide and chloroprene can increase the risk of certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer, and liver cancer. EPA expects the rule to better protect children, who are more exposed and more susceptible to the effects of these toxic chemicals.
The EPA announcement follows the EPA’s Journey to Justice in Louisiana that brought Administrator Regan to communities in St. John Parish and St. James Parish, where he promised to hold polluting industries accountable for their actions in overburdened communities.
“For decades, regulating agencies have completely abdicated their responsibility to the communities they are supposed to protect,” said Dr. Wright. “Unfortunately, that meant generations of families losing loved ones to cancer. Administrator Regan promised community members that he would take action and today is a major step in fulfilling that promise. There is no doubt that the EPA’s HON rule will save lives.”
Read Dr. Wright’s Official Statement
Read the EPA Press Release
Watch the EPA Press Conference
Apr 4, 2024 | Community Engagement News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
From Louisiana Against False Solutions
Emergency Plans Are Not in Place for Residents’ Safety
Sulphur, Louisiana — Last night, there was a leak in a high-pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline owned by Denbury Inc. and ExxonMobil, in Sulphur, Louisiana. Pipeline operator representatives arrived at the scene almost two hours after Calcasieu Parish’s Ward 6 Fire Department. This pipeline is just one of a multitude of proposed CO2 pipelines that threaten Louisiana communities as part of a rapid build-out of the dangerous carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry. Carbon dioxide displaces oxygen and can cause asphyxiation in high concentrations, yet sufficient safety and emergency preparedness plans are not in place in communities that are located near dangerous pipelines.
James Hiatt, a resident of Calcasieu Parish and Executive Director of For a Better Bayou, said, “Last night’s carbon dioxide (CO2) leak from an ExxonMobil-owned pipeline in North Sulphur reiterates grave concerns about carbon capture and storage infrastructure’s safety. Coupled with a previous serious incident in Satartia, Mississippi, which necessitated evacuations and medical treatments due to a similar pipeline failure, these events underscore the perils tied to handling and moving CO2 in large volumes.”
“This wasn’t the first incident at the North Sulphur site, highlighting a troubling pattern of safety lapses,” Hiatt continued. “Given the proposals for extensive new CO2 pipelines across South Louisiana, these repeated incidents serve as a stark warning. It’s crucial that these risks not be ignored or minimized, especially when the stakes for public safety and health are so high.”
When firefighters arrived at the scene, a high-pressure leak of carbon dioxide was discovered at the pumping station. A shelter-in-place was issued by the Calcasieu Police Jury for residents within 1/4 miles of the incident. Despite carbon dioxide’s tendency to travel at ground level, no warning was given to residents to seek higher ground in their homes. The shelter-in-place was lifted at 9:15 p.m. when the readings suggested the area was clear.
“This pipeline represents just a small fraction of the massive number of CO2 pipelines that are proposed to slice through our communities in Louisiana,” said Breon Robinson, organizer with Healthy Gulf. “If we’re already having these dangerous incidents such as last night with existing CCS infrastructure, we must pump the breaks on this industry before we subject even more people to even more danger.”
Roishetta Sibley Ozane, founder and CEO of The Vessel Project of Louisiana, said, “I never imagined that my own home in Sulphur, Louisiana, would become a dangerous place to be due to a CO2 leak, but I’m not surprised. As an environmental justice leader, I have been fighting against the constant threat of new fossil fuel buildout in our community, including the newly proposed false solutions of carbon capture. This CO2 leak was a stark reminder of the environmental injustices we face daily.”
“Sheltering in place became not only a matter of personal safety but also a symbol of our ongoing struggle,” Ozane continued. “We were not only dealing with the immediate danger of the leak but also the long-term impacts of living in an area heavily burdened by industrial pollution. It felt like we were trapped, both physically and metaphorically, as the very air we breathed posed a threat to our health.”
This morning, the Louisiana House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment was hearing a discussion on two bills on carbon capture and storage. The bills, HB 289 and HB 398, respectively, are related to whether carbon dioxide injection wells should be permitted in certain areas. One of the bills specifically included a provision on emergency response — an area that lawmakers are grappling with as dozens of carbon capture projects and pipelines are proposed across Louisiana.
Monique Harden, Director of Law and Public Policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, said, “Industrial releases of carbon dioxide not only warm the planet but are also hazardous to communities. We can expect more CO2 disasters in communities with plans for more and more gas plants, CO2 pipelines, and underground injection of CO2 waste. The only effective protection is a transition away from dirty energy that ensures environmental justice.”
“Southwest Louisiana is once again the victim of two realities,” said KD Minor, Founder of Forever Calcasieu and Community Solutions Coordinator at the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “While the White House announces billions of dollars in industry investments, the people still recovering from record-breaking hurricanes are now faced with sheltering in place for toxic emissions from those same industries. It is long past time that we put our priorities in the people that make this state great, and begin our transition away from the practices that continue to decrease the quality of our lives.”
###
Media Contacts:
Eloise Reid, LAFS Manager
504-249-8748
eloisereid@gmail.com
Stephannie Kettle, Healthy Gulf Communications Manager
407-361-9432
skettle@healthygulf.org
Louisiana Against False Solutions (LAFS) is a coalition of more than 20 organizations leading in Louisiana and nationally for environmental, racial, and social justice. LAFS includes expertise across a range of disciplines: law, environmental science, geology, steel and materials scientists, traditional and Indigenous knowledge-holders, experienced campaigners, fisherfolk, and frontline communities. Learn more at https://www.lagainstfalsesolutions.org
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is a member of the LAFS Coalition.
Feb 24, 2024 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, HBCU Climate Change Consortium News, Press Releases, Research and Policy News
NATIONAL (February 29, 2024) – Today leaders within the environmental justice movement responded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to tackle emissions from existing gas plants in a supplemental rulemaking to the “New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel–Fired Electric Generating Units (EGU); Emissions Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel–Fired Electric Generating Units.”
“We are pleased to learn that EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the White House are responding to our individual and collective concerns about the treatment of existing gas plants in the current iteration of its carbon rule proposal. Our organizations have repeatedly sounded an alarm about the lack of environmental justice analysis and cumulative impacts considerations in the proposal, and we see this reconsideration as an important step for allowing a more thoughtful and comprehensive plan for regulating this critical segment of the power sector.
We strongly believe that climate pollution mitigation and environmental justice for communities go hand in hand. Any rulemaking to address the existing gas sector can and must achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gasses while also improving local air quality and the public health of overburdened communities. In addition, a supplemental rulemaking for existing gas plants opens up the possibility of considering a diverse range of policy and practice options, from multiple sources within the Federal family, to improve pollution mitigation and environmental justice outcomes and to respond to the climate crisis.
Our request is that the EPA have a clear timeline and transparent process for proposing and implementing a supplemental rulemaking for existing gas plants as we are prepared to work collaboratively with the Agency on this new phase.”
Signatories:
Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
Dr. Ana Baptista, Co-Director of the Tishman Environment & Design Center at The New School and Associate Professor at The New School University.
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Ph.D, MPP, Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University.
Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus
Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corporation
Melissa Miles, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice stated,
“We are grateful to have EPA’s leadership to reduce power plant pollution in a way that is protective of nearby communities. Power plants are disproportionately located near Black and other communities of color, and release massive amounts of pollution that cause asthma and contribute to climate change. Allowing these existing plants to employ carbon capture and storage or hydrogen co-firing would increase health risks and set back progress on renewable energy. We look forward to participating in regulations for existing power plants that advance environmental and climate justice.”
Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice stated,
“We are pleased to see that the voices and considerations of environmental justice communities are being factored into this monumentally impactful area of environmental rulemaking. The EPA has a responsibility to our communities and to our future – the power sector is one of the top sources of carbon emissions and pollution – we have a limited amount of time to not only create an energy transition but also to do it the right way with clean and renewable sources and communities in mind. With this pause to take a deeper dive into developing the most comprehensive and thoughtful rulemaking for existing gas plants, we have an opportunity to do this work correctly and effectively to protect the human and environmental health of the most overburdened, neglected, and vulnerable people across the country – which in turn benefits everyone. We are wholly appreciative of the EPA’s leadership in demonstrating the need for further review, and at the same time request a clear and transparent process as we look forward to collaborating for its improved realization. Only when this rule is finalized can we truly know we are on a path to resilience and justice. Our movement being recognized and included in the EPA’s process will indeed create a world in which we don’t have to dare to breathe, but instead live and breathe more easily today and tomorrow.”
Dr. Ana Baptista, Co-Director of the Tishman Environment & Design Center at The New School and Associate Professor at The New School University shared,
“US EPA’s decision to address existing natural gas plants in a supplemental rulemaking process is a critical opportunity to take up the substantive environmental justice concerns voiced by communities in the comment period. A large majority of natural gas plants contribute to the existing, disproportionate burdens already faced by environmental justice communities. This decision allows for a more comprehensive approach to tackling both climate change and the cumulative impacts that these plants pose to overburdened communities.”
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Ph.D, MPP, Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University shared,
“In addition to fighting climate change, climate change mitigation policy should be used to improve the health of communities by improving local air quality. Re-considering the portion of the power plants rule that applies to existing natural gas plants will provide EPA with more opportunity to ensure that overburdened environmental justice communities are not sacrificed as the nation fights climate change. We need to make sure the rule does, in fact, improve local air quality in these communities and does not make it worse.”
Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University stated,
“We applaud EPA for taking an important step toward mitigating pollution from the fossil fuel power generation sector, and we implore the agency to go further down this path. Curtailing pollution is of the utmost urgency as communities of color and low-wealth struggle under the weight of historical and continued pollution and injustice. We call on the EPA to continue enacting anti-racist policies that result in real justice for real people. We don’t need any false solutions like hydrogen and carbon capture that will add to the pollution burden that already exists in our communities. Instead, we need only those solutions that improve environmental conditions for the most vulnerable people.”
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus shared,
“The rule as proposed did not address the concerns of environmental justice communities. Therefore, it is encouraging to see the EPA and Biden Administration pause to reflect on environmental justice needs rather than push out regulations that do not address the climate crisis, as it is a racial justice matter. We look forward to continuing to engage on this existing gas plant rule and others to ensure community concerns are uplifted and harmful impacts are addressed.”
Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corporation shared,
“Environmental Justice communities can breathe a little bit easier with this delay in the release of the ‘New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel–Fired Electric Generating Units (EGU); Emissions Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel–Fired Electric Generating Units.’ We are hopeful that this delay will allow a reconsideration that fully embraces Environmental Justice in order to ensure healthy outcomes for our communities.”
Melissa Miles, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance stated,
“Delaying the existing natural gas plants part of the power plants rule will give EPA a better opportunity to make sure the rule helps environmental justice communities in their fight to improve local air quality. There needs to be protections in the rule to ensure that environmental justice communities already overburdened by air pollution are not further burdened by this rule.”
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ashley Sullivan, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, ashley.sullivan@weact.org
Angelica Salazar, Tishman Environment & Design Center at The New School, salazara@newschool.edu
Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Ironbound Community Corporation, 201-978-6660
Dr. Beverly Wright, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, beverlyw@dscej.org
Joseph Pate, Hip Hop Caucus, joseph@hiphopcaucus.org
Nicky Sheats, Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, 609-558-4987
Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University, drrobertbullard@gmail.com
Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, melissa@njeja.org
###
Jan 20, 2024 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Press Releases
Dr. Beverly Wright to Gov. Jeff Landry: “Meet with us and learn about our achievements and challenges in Louisiana.”
Jan 30, 2024
The Honorable Jeff Landry
Governor, State of Louisiana
Office of the Governor
PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Dear Governor Landry:
It has come to my attention that, as Louisiana State Attorney General, you filed a Freedom of Information Act request for communications between the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Please know that you should feel free to contact me for this information. As the founder and executive director of the Center, I can share with you the work we do to make Louisiana a better place for families and future generations to live, work, and thrive.
The Center provides opportunities for communities, scientific researchers, and decision-makers to collaborate on projects that promote the rights of all people to be free from environmental harm as it impacts health, jobs, housing, education, and quality of life. Our work is centered on education, research, community and student engagement, as well as health and safety training for environmental careers. We strive every day to build the capacities of community-based organizations to advance environmental justice and equitable climate solutions.
I invite you to meet with us and learn about the achievements we have made and the challenges we experience in Louisiana.
Sincerely,
Beverly Wright, PhD
Founder and Executive Director
Dec 29, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, Research and Policy News
Dec 29, 2023
From the Desk of Dr. Beverly Wright:
The Path Forward with EPA and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Yesterday, the EPA granted Louisiana the authority to create underground carbon capture wells following the state’s application. DSCEJ and the entire environmental justice movement have fought carbon capture and storage every step of the way and this recent news does not end our fight against this unproven and dangerous technology. CCS is one of the biggest threats to communities of color being harmed by the polluting industries that exacerbate our climate crisis and by the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be protecting them.
We have had an ongoing dialogue with the EPA and state officials about CCS and have voiced our opposition at every opportunity, including at a public hearing this past June and during Administrator Regan’s visits to Louisiana over the last 3 years. While this decision is not what we tirelessly advocated for, or is in the best interest of Cancer Alley communities, our next steps all center around accountability for EPA and Louisiana officials.
The EPA’s Memorandum of Agreement with the State of Louisiana includes environmental justice provisions requiring the state act to protect communities from current or future environmental hazards associated with CCS. The inclusion of these environmental justice provisions is encouraging and must be enforced and referenced at every step of the process.
With a history of unjust environmental policies, we proceed cautiously. Communities across Louisiana are depending on these provisions to protect them from decades of environmental policy that put these very communities at risk from illness, pollution, and death. Louisiana’s most vulnerable cannot be left exposed to an untested pollution control technology without accountability.
I look forward to working with each of these communities to make sure state and federal officials hold up their end of the bargain. While our frustration with the overall decision is unwavering, we want to keep the dialogue ongoing and harness our frustration into measures of accountability.
We will be sharing more information in the new year about our next steps and actions.
Thank you for continuing to be part of this important work and not relenting in the ongoing fight against CCS.
Dr. Beverly Wright
Dec 13, 2023 | DSCEJ General News, Funding News, Press Releases
For Immediate Release
December 13, 2023
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Receives $825,000 Grant from The Kresge Foundation
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an $825,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation to strengthen its organization as a resource for education, research, community and student engagement, and technical training, with innovative programs for community capacity building in the Gulf Coast Region to respond to the impact of systemic inequities, and the devastating impact of climate change and water quality/water justice issues. Activities for this project have begun and will conclude in October 2026.
The DSCEJ will employ its unique “Communiversity Model,” which has effectively fostered meaningful collaborations between communities and academic researchers, to help its partner CBOs learn about policies governing flood protection, to develop strategies to identify and prioritize common and recurring flood risks that threaten their communities and region, and to identify practical solutions to mitigate these flood risks.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant from The Kresge Foundation,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of DSCEJ. “This funding will bring critical capacity-building support to Black communities who are significantly vulnerable to flood events caused by increasingly frequent rainfall and major storms.” Flood hazards in Black communities in the Gulf Coast Region have deep roots in systemic racism in zoning, housing, and community development. The DSCEJ anticipates that the increased knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in communities across the Gulf Coast are expected to have long-term impacts on legal decisions, targeted actions, and policy development at the local, state, and national level.
Since 2017, The Kresge Foundation has generously supported DSCEJ community engagement projects with $2.95 million in grants.
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.
About The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress. Today, Kresge fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities, seeking to dismantle structural and systemic barriers to equality and justice. Using a full array of grant, loan, and other investment tools, Kresge invests more than $160 million annually to foster economic and social change. For more information visit kresge.org.
Dec 12, 2023 | International Connection News, Newsletter News
Dec 12, 2023
DSCEJ COP28 Recap Newsletter
Dr. Beverly Wright Joins Global Leaders, Experts, and Activists in Dubai for COP28
Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, traveled to Dubai to participate in the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) . . .
READ THE NEWSLETTER
Nov 29, 2023 | CIRC News, DSCEJ General News, Funding News, Press Releases
Nov 29, 2023
The Community Investment & Recovery Center (CIRC) Will Help More Than 250 Regional Organizations Secure Vital Federal Funding for Environmental Justice Concerns
New Orleans, LA – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) announces the launch of an online resource for its Community Investment & Recovery Center (CIRC), one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice Thriving Community Technical Assistance Centers (TCTAC). Over the next five years, DSCEJ will assist more than 250 community-based organizations in rural and underserved communities in applying for and accessing $50 to $100 million in grants to address their community’s environmental challenges.
Through the CIRC, DSCEJ will provide technical assistance and help build capacity for the community-based organizations to put them in the best possible position to secure federal funding through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 initiative, a whole-of-government approach to ensuring 40% of climate investments flow to underserved communities that are overburdened by pollution.
The launch of the online resource is a part of the CIRC information and outreach hub to serve communities in EPA Regions 4 and 6, which span 13 states and 72 tribes. Community-based organizations interested in accessing technical assistance services provided by DSCEJ’s CIRC program can go online to complete the CIRC Capacity Assessment.
“The historic investments made by the Biden-Harris Administration in environmental justice are coming to bear. We are looking forward to serving communities to build their capacities and secure funds now available to them through the administrations’ Investing in America agenda to improve environmental conditions and reduce climate risks,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “We have spent decades building the relationships and capacity needed to have an impact on this scale. While our goal is ambitious, we know the most effective solutions are those closest to the community, and now is the time to act on them.”
In August, the EPA awarded DSCEJ a $13 million grant over five years to remove barriers and improve accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns. DSCEJ is among 16 entities selected nationally through a partnership between the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to house Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) and receive $177 million in grant funding.
The EJ TCTAC program is part of the Federal Interagency Thriving Communities Network. The new technical assistance centers will help ensure communities with environmental justice concerns can access President Biden’s historic investments in America to address generational disinvestment, legacy pollution, and infrastructure challenges and build a clean energy economy that will lower energy costs, strengthen our energy security, and meet our climate goals.
###
Nov 17, 2023 | DSCEJ General News, HBCU Climate Change Conference News, Student Engagement News
Nov 17, 2023
Our Largest Conference Yet!
Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the DSCEJ, and Dr. Robert D. Bullard, founder and executive director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University co-convened the 9th Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference in New Orleans, October 11 – 15, 2023
Themed “Looking Back to Move Forward: Building a Climate Resilient Future with Vulnerable Communities,” the conference addressed the need to provide space for reflection and evaluation of where we are now and what paths we should take moving forward in our quest to fight climate change and to build climate-resilient communities.
READ MORE IN THE RECAP REPORT
Nov 17, 2023 | Dr. Beverly Wright News, DSCEJ General News, International Connection News
November 17, 2023
Beyond Petrochemicals Hosts Environmental Justice Delegation at Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Nairobi (INC-3)
Nairobi, Kenya – As part of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign, Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, joined local leaders and community advocates from Texas, Louisiana, and the Ohio River Valley in Nairobi, Kenya this week to participate in the third session of the United Nations global plastics treaty process (INC – 3).
The delegation aims to elevate the invaluable role and experiences of frontline communities in the negotiation process. The communities included know firsthand the harm caused by the petrochemical industry and will provide an important perspective to the treaty process.
“The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, or Cancer Alley produces one-fifth of the United States’ petrochemicals, and generations of Black and brown families have been exposed to these deadly chemicals due to the unchecked pollution of these neighboring industrial plants,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. “Cancer Alley facilities remain Louisiana’s top pollution producers, and these negotiations are a bold step in the right direction to ensure all families can live and thrive in a healthy and pollution-free environment.”
“Those closest to the problem are usually the ones that have the solutions,” said Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director of Beyond Petrochemicals. “We are honored to support these leaders and the work they are doing to protect the air, water and health of the places they call home.”
Petrochemicals are the building block for plastic production and account for 10 percent of global GHG emissions, which if left unchecked, will increase by 20 percent by 2030. Plastic pollution is both a global and a local issue. Communities in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley live with a 95 percent higher cancer risk than the rest of the country. Petrochemical facilities use and emit toxic chemicals linked to not only cancer but other health problems like respiratory and cardiac illnesses, which disproportionately affect people of color and low-income communities.
