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carcinogens
Senate Dems Elevate Farmers' Calls for Relief From Toxic Train Derailment
"The farmer shouldn't be penalized for this unfortunate and unique situation," said John Stock of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. "It's going to have an impact on these farms, and it's a reality that impacts all of us."
Mar 08, 2023
Just over a month after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, a trio of U.S. senators on Wednesday wrote to a pair of Biden administration leaders that "we are hearing from farmers and agricultural producers who are concerned about the impacts of the derailment and associated release of hazardous materials on their livelihoods."
After train cars derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, the rail giant conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on February 21 ordered Norfolk Southern to identify and clean up contaminated soil and water; facing local pressure, the EPA on Friday told the company to test for dioxins, while maintaining the position that based on agency testing, it is unlikely those toxic chemical compounds were released.
"Dioxins are some of the most potent carcinogens on Earth—there's no 'safe' dose for humans, and pregnant women and young children are especially vulnerable to their effects," Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator now on the Bennington College faculty and president of the group Beyond Plastics, noted in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday. In addition to cancer, dioxins—which persist in the environment for long periods—are tied to developmental, reproductive, and immune system issues.
However, so far, despite fears of various pollutants, neither the EPA nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) "or any other federal or state agencies have provided clear guidance to either our agricultural producers in the region or consumers of those products," according to the letter from Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
"As these farmers prepare for planting and marketing efforts, they are left wondering what impacts the derailment and chemical release will have on the safety of their products and the viability of their farms."
"The 2023 planting season is quickly approaching, followed by spring harvest of overwintered crops, such as alfalfa and winter wheat, that are typically sold as feed to dairies in the region," they wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "As these farmers prepare for planting and marketing efforts, they are left wondering what impacts the derailment and chemical release will have on the safety of their products and the viability of their farms."
"Producers are concerned not only over the lack information about the safety of their crops and livestock but also whether they will be able to market them due to market and consumer concerns about the safety of their products," the senators continued, noting that "farmers in the region are already reporting receiving requests to cancel orders due to these very concerns."
The lawmakers are calling on the EPA and USDA to work with state agricultural departments and academics to provide farmers with relief, including the rapid deployment of resources for "any necessary testing of their soils, plant tissue, and livestock and to interpret the results of those tests as they pertain to the safety and marketability of their crops and products."
Given that some consumers will likely be nervous about buying from the region regardless of test results, the senators are also requesting a review of disaster assistance that can be deployed as well as technical assistance for language to include in the next farm bill to expand aid for "producers who have been impacted by man-made disasters, including chemicals spills."
Alarm about the pontential impact on local farming as well as criticism of how Norfolk Southern and various government figures and agencies have handled the environmental and public health disaster have mounted since the derailment last month.
"I have a part ownership in a farm, so I'm concerned about that," Eloise Harmon, of East Palestine, told WHIO on Friday. "The soil at the farm: Can we plant? Can we not plant? Will anybody buy it, if we do plant?"
"We could, of course... probably go find some grass somewhere else, but why should we have to because of something that was not our fault?"
Rachel Wagoner—whose family's Tall Pines Farms in Darlington, Pennsylvania specializes in grass-fed beef and lamb—toldWTEA in late February that "it feels like you don't have a lot of options, so you've just gotta deal with it."
"In farming, you're tied to the land," she said. "We could, of course... probably go find some grass somewhere else, but why should we have to because of something that was not our fault?"
Since the train derailed just a few miles away, the family has not had any issues with their animals. Wagoner said that "it's been fairly normal, which feels sort of weird for how everyone in the community is experiencing things."
However, Wagoner—like so many other farmers and other residents of the region—is worried about pollutants including dioxins. She also expressed frustration with the difficulty in accessing information, including about testing.
If soil testing reveals contaminants, "the door opens to another question," as Lancaster Farming pointed out Friday:
"What happens is these people can no longer make a living from that farm. Will these farms be bought out at a fair price?" asked John Stock, sustainable agriculture educator with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. "It would be great to have transparency with testing, but a lot of farms don't have a baseline for these contaminants."
If airborne contaminants are found in a soil test, Stock said it's unlikely the finding would jeopardize organic certification standards. The farmer didn't intentionally apply the contaminants, he said, and the occurrence was out of their control.
As for contaminated water used for irrigation, Stock said an affected farmer may have to change water sources or use filtration.
"The farmer shouldn't be penalized for this unfortunate and unique situation," Stock said. "It's going to have an impact on these farms, and it's a reality that impacts all of us."
Another issue is a lack of trust. Slate's Ellin Youse, who grew up not far from the derailment site, explained Tuesday that "so many people affected by this accident feel distrust toward the agencies in charge of dealing with the situation, toward the transportation companies responsible, and toward the national reporters who only seem to come around for close national elections and disasters, that it quickly felt almost impossible to communicate accurately."
After speaking with Jason Blinkiewicz, who owns a trucking company and repair shop just over a mile from where the train derailed, Grist's Eve Andrews wrote last week that "he, like most of his neighbors and employees, doesn't trust Norfolk Southern and assurances from the Environmental Protection Agency that the air and water have been safe to breathe and drink."
According to Andrews:
"It's normalized to some degree because there's already low air quality in the area," Blinkiewicz said. "The cracker plant is putting out volatile organic compounds, or what's the nuclear power plant doing, or how about the coal plant right behind it that they shut down not that long ago? What about the mills in Midland and the steel plant in Koppel?"
But all of those facilities are far enough from Blinkiewicz's home and workplace that he hasn't felt their impacts nearly as acutely as those of the derailment. "I think it's the first time, in my 46 years on this planet, in this area, that it gives you an uneasy feeling about everything," he said.
"And as much as it pains me to say, my trust has to lie in our government. Which is hard to do, right? But we have to rely on those government agencies to protect us. That's what they're there for."
The EPA administrator said Friday that "over the last few weeks, I've sat with East Palestine residents and community leaders in their homes, businesses, churches, and schools. I've heard their fears and concerns directly, and I've pledged that these experiences would inform EPA's ongoing response efforts."
"In response to concerns shared with me by residents, EPA will require Norfolk Southern to sample directly for dioxins under the agency's oversight and direct the company to conduct immediate cleanup if contaminants from the derailment are found at levels that jeopardize people's health," Regan continued. "This action builds on EPA's bipartisan efforts alongside our local, state, and federal partners to earn the trust of this community and ensure all residents have the reassurances they need to feel safe at home once again."
The EPA's statement added that the agency "will also continue sampling for 'indicator chemicals,' which based on test results to date, suggest a low probability for release of dioxin from this incident."
As The Washington Postreported:
Asked why EPA is delegating dioxin testing to Norfolk Southern, as opposed to conducting the sampling itself, agency officials said the railroad is required to submit its plans to the government and that EPA can modify them or step in and complete the work itself...
Railroad officials said in a statement Friday they are aware of EPA's directive on dioxin testing and "are committed to working with the agency to do what is right for the residents of East Palestine."
"We will continue to listen to the concerns of the community as restoration work moves forward," the statement continued.
It was not immediately clear how widely the railroad would be required to test for dioxins. EPA officials said more details would become available once the railroad submits its work plans.
In her piece for the Times, Enck argued that the EPA "should have ordered comprehensive testing the very day of the burn. It should have told residents, especially pregnant women and families with young children, not to return home until it was safe to do so. Instead, it timidly stood back, leaving local authorities, corporate interests, and rumors to fill the void."
Now, the EPA "needs to conduct comprehensive environmental testing for dioxins in and around East Palestine," wrote Enck, who was a regional director during the Obama administration. The agency also "needs to establish federally funded medical monitoring for everyone along the plume. Even those who appear healthy now should be offered baseline testing."
Additionally, she said, "for effective enforcement of our environmental laws, Congress needs to approve more funding for this crucial agency."
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Biden Admin Sues Petrochemical Giants Over Deadly Chemical Pollution in Cancer Alley
"This will have a tremendous impact on our struggle here," said one local activist. "Over the six years we have been fighting this fight we haven't had anything as great as this to happen in terms of getting concrete action on emissions."
Mar 01, 2023
The Biden administration on Tuesday sued two corporations behind a petrochemical plant in Louisiana, arguing that the facility poses "unacceptably high cancer risks" to the low-income and predominantly Black residents of nearby communities and demanding significant cuts in toxic pollution.
On behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint asserting that carcinogenic chloroprene emissions from Denka Performance Elastomer's neoprene manufacturing activities at the Pontchartrain Works Site in St. John the Baptist Parish "present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare."
Under Section 303 of the Clean Air Act, the DOJ asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to compel Denka, a Japanese company that purchased the plant from DuPont Specialty Products in 2015, to "immediately reduce its chloroprene emissions to levels that no longer cause or contribute to unacceptably high cancer risks within the communities surrounding the facility."
The White House's lawsuit stems from an emergency action petition that Earthjustice and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law submitted on behalf of Concerned Citizens of St. John, a local advocacy group.
Earthjustice attorney Deena Tumeh welcomed the Biden administration's intervention as "a long-awaited answer to the community's repeated calls for immediate action."
"EPA is finally treating this health crisis for what it is—an emergency," said Tumeh. "We hope this complaint will lead to a swift and significant reduction in chloroprene emissions."
"We are grateful that the EPA is finally taking the first steps to protect this community. For too long, St. John has been failed by every layer of government and we are now facing a dire health emergency and the highest cancer risk from air pollution in the nation as a result."
Denka makes neoprene, a synthetic rubber used to produce wetsuits, orthopedic braces, automotive belts, and other common goods, at the plant. Chloroprene, a chemical used to produce neoprene, is emitted into the air at the facility in LaPlace and travels to other towns in the parish, including Reserve and Edgard. Pontchartrain Works Site is the only place in the U.S. where the compound is emitted.
Average chloroprene concentrations in the air near the facility are up to 14 times higher than the levels recommended for a 70-year lifetime of exposure to the chemical, according to monitoring data cited in the complaint. More than 15,000 people live within two-and-a-half miles of the plant. Fifth Ward Elementary School is located a half-mile west and East St. John High School is about a mile-and-a-half north.
"In the aggregate, the thousands of people breathing this air are incurring a significantly higher cancer risk than would be typically allowed, and they are being exposed to a much greater cancer risk from Denka's air pollution than the majority of United States residents face," says the complaint. The risk "is especially grave for infants and children under the age of 16."
Noting that the DOJ's "environmental justice efforts require ensuring that every community, no matter its demographics, can breathe clean air and drink clean water," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement that "our suit aims to stop Denka's dangerous pollution."
Robert Taylor, director of Concerned Citizens of St. John, said in a statement, "We are grateful that the EPA is finally taking the first steps to protect this community."
"For too long, St. John has been failed by every layer of government and we are now facing a dire health emergency and the highest cancer risk from air pollution in the nation as a result," said Taylor. "EPA must continue to advance environmental justice, as promised."
EPA Administrator Michael Regan reiterated the agency's commitment to doing so, describing Tuesday's move as an escalation in an ongoing fight launched after he spent five days visiting heavily polluted Gulf Coast communities in 2021.
\u201cBREAKING: @EPA has asked a federal court to compel Denka to immediately reduce chloroprene emissions from its chemical facility in St. John the Baptist, Louisiana. This is a needed win for an area with one of the highest cancer risks from toxic air pollution in the nation.\u201d— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) 1677622332
"When I visited Saint John the Baptist Parish during my first Journey to Justice tour, I pledged to the community that EPA would take strong action to protect the health and safety of families from harmful chloroprene pollution from the Denka facility," Regan said in a statement. "This complaint filed against Denka delivers on that promise."
"The company has not moved far enough or fast enough to reduce emissions or ensure the safety of the surrounding community," said Regan. "This action is not the first step we have taken to reduce risks to the people living in St. John the Baptist Parish, and it will not be the last."
As The Associated Pressreported: "The complaint is the latest move by the Biden administration that targets pollution in an 85-mile stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge officially known as the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, but more commonly called Cancer Alley. The region contains several hot spots where cancer risks are far above levels deemed acceptable by the EPA. The White House has prioritized environmental enforcement in communities overburdened by long-term pollution."
Last year, EPA concluded that Black residents of St. John the Baptist Parish are disproportionately harmed by toxic air pollution after Concerned Citizens of St. John and the Sierra Club accused the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Department of Health of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to equally protect people of color. EPA is currently pursuing an agreement with the two state agencies, which have denied the allegations.
"This is a positive move in the right direction... This brings us hope. It's been a long time coming. We need action now for our children and want this to be put in place immediately."
Denka, which has lobbied the federal government for years in a bid to undermine peer-reviewed research revealing the cancer-causing properties of chloroprene, claimed Tuesday in a statement that it "is in compliance with its air permits and applicable law."
"EPA is taking an unprecedented step—deviating from its permitting and rulemaking authorities—to allege an 'emergency' based on outdated and erroneous science the agency released over 12 years ago," the Japanese petrochemical firm said.
Tuesday's lawsuit also names DuPont, which built the Pontchartrain Works Site in the 1960s and produced neoprene there for more than 50 years. The U.S.-based petrochemical giant still owns the land beneath the facility. As Denka's landlord, DuPont may need to provide "permission or cooperation to comply with the court's orders," says the complaint.
As The Guardianreported, "DuPont sold the plant to Denka in 2015 in a secretive deal, which The Guardianlater revealed was motivated by concerns from DuPont that it would face heavier regulation after the EPA's decision to classify chloroprene as a likely human carcinogen."
EPA is expected to propose a new rule for chloroprene emissions on March 31, according to Earthjustice, which said the agency has not updated the rule since it determined in 2010 that the compound is a likely carcinogen capable of causing irreversible damage to people's nervous, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and immune systems.
Speaking to The Guardian about Tuesday's lawsuit, Taylor from Concerned Citizens of St. John said: "This will have a tremendous impact on our struggle here. Over the six years we have been fighting this fight we haven't had anything as great as this to happen in terms of getting concrete action on emissions."
"The state government has totally ignored us—marches on the capitol, rallying—they wouldn't even give us an audience," he added. "And for the administration to come in and do this, it just validates our efforts."
The group's president, Mary Hampton, echoed that sentiment.
"This is a positive move in the right direction," Hampton said in a statement. "This brings us hope. It's been a long time coming. We need action now for our children and want this to be put in place immediately."
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175 Groups Urge Banks Not to Fund Massive 'Cancer Alley' Chemical Plant in Louisiana
"We want clean air, water, and soil. It is incumbent on any responsible corporation to listen to our community and cease all business relationships with Formosa Plastics Group."
Apr 27, 2021
Calling a planned petrochemical manufacturing complex in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" a "textbook case of environmental racism," 175 organizations from around the world sent a letter to financial institutions Tuesday urging them not to fund, underwrite, or invest in the project, which could cost up to $12 billion.
"Formosa Plastics will destroy our land, our homes, and the lives of our community. We're saying enough is enough, and we're standing up for a better, cleaner future for ourselves and our children."
--Sharon Lavigne,
RISE St. James
The letter--led by the faith-based grassroots group RISE St. James--says that Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group's 2,400-acre Sunshine Project, which is slated to be built in a vulnerable floodplain amid intensifying climate-driven hurricanes and tropical storms,"presents an unnecessary burden for our already-polluted community."
"We are fighting to protect ourselves from Formosa Plastics' disastrous environmental and human-rights record in the United States and around the world," the letter states.
Residents of St. James Parish--nearly half of whom are Black--and environmental advocates strongly oppose the plant, which, if built as planned, will release carcinogenic chemicals and, according to one environmental watchdog, produce 13.6 million tons of planet-heating emissions annually.
Formosa Plastics has also come under fire for failing to follow through on a promise to alter the plant's layout to lessen the exposure of nearby residents and schoolchildren to toxins, and for its failure to notify the community of the discovery of a burial ground for enslaved Black people.
\u201cBREAKING: We're joining 175 orgs to tell banks not to finance Formosa Plastics' plant \u2014\u00a0which would spew 13.5M tons of GHG emissions into a predominantly Black community that has literally already been dubbed Cancer Alley due to industrial air pollution.\n\nhttps://t.co/dKCs3I3a2o\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1619534409
St. James Parish sits in the middle of an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known as Cancer Alley or Death Alley due to its nearly 150 oil refineries and plastics and chemical plants.
According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the cancer risk in predominantly Black areas of St. James Parish is as high as 105 per million, compared with 60 to 75 cases per million in majority white areas. The EPA's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators database reported an 800% cancer hazard increase due to petrochemical facilities in the parish between 2007 and 2018.
The Sunshine Project has drawn the attention and condemnation of environmental and racial justice groups, United Nations human rights experts, progressive lawmakers, and others. Last month, Democratic U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva (Ariz.) and Donald McEachin (Va.) urged President Joe Biden to deliver on his campaign promises to reduce pollution in frontline communities by blocking the project.
\u201cIn defense of the state\u2019s seafood industry, restaurants, tourism, and workers in those sectors, the New Orleans City Council recently voted to oppose Formosa\u2019s construction. Without those industries, our unique culture would experience irreparable damage. https://t.co/ExYwdHyfLq\u201d— Louisiana Bucket Brigade (@Louisiana Bucket Brigade) 1619300142
Signatories of the RISE St. James letter urged banks and asset managers to avoid financing, underwriting, or investing in Formosa Plastics projects, and to divest from the "serial environmental offender."
The letter continues:
In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Formosa Plastics' plan to construct a facility that would double or triple the toxic levels of cancer-causing pollutants in communities in St. James Parish represents a stunning, potentially devastating increase in our community's environmental burden. In addition to elevating residents' risk of cancer, asthma, and other serious diseases, this increase in toxic air pollution places residents at a higher risk from respiratory infections including a higher risk of death from Covid-19.
Study after study has demonstrated inextricable links between air pollution exposure and Covid-19 death rates. As of July 2020, three out of Louisiana's five parishes with the highest Covid-19 death rates were located in Cancer Alley, including St. James Parish, with averages up to 3.8 times the state's median. Our community simply cannot afford more air pollution--our survival depends on it.
It notes that Formosa Plastics has been hit with over $650 million in fines and penalties for violations at more than a dozen facilities around the world, including a 2016 spill of cyanide and other deadly chemicals that devastated marine life and livelihoods along a 125-mile stretch of the central Vietnamese coast--the country's worst-ever environmental catastrophe.
"High-profile disasters have caused at least two dozen deaths, dozens more injuries, and tens of thousands of disrupted lives and livelihoods from evacuations, shelter in place orders, and long-lasting damage to ecosystems that communities depend on," Tuesday's letter states.
The letter urges its recipients to follow the examples of financiers and entities like Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund that have divested from or rejected investment in Formosa Plastics.
"Formosa Plastics is not welcome by the local people of St. James," the letter declares. "We want clean air, water, and soil. It is incumbent on any responsible corporation to listen to our community and cease all business relationships with Formosa Plastics Group and its constituent entities, to avoid any association with the severe and unjust impacts its operations would have on us."
\u201cLearn about the evolution of an environmental justice warrior in this article about Sharon Lavigne, resident of "Cancer Alley" and fierce opponent of the polluting Formosa Plastics company. https://t.co/E0uUkBk0lp\u201d— Center for Biological Diversity (@Center for Biological Diversity) 1614348128
Sharon Lavigne, founder and president of RISE St. James, said in a statement that "Formosa Plastics will destroy our land, our homes, and the lives of our community. We're saying enough is enough, and we're standing up for a better, cleaner future for ourselves and our children."
"Banks shouldn't finance this level of pollution," she added, "and if they want to show that they can be responsible then they need to say no to Formosa."
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