Gov. Landry accuses EPA of trying to close Denka plant in LaPlace

Cattle graze in a pasture next to the Denka Performance Elastomer facility in LaPlace, where U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leader Michael Regan announced proposed regulations Thursday, April 6, 2023, for toxic air emissions. The federal government has sued Denka for failing to reduce levels of chloroprene, a known carcinogen, coming from the plant. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

LAPLACE — Top Louisiana officials are lining up in support of a St. John the Baptist Parish petrochemical plant, in defiance of a federal regulation that Gov. Jeff Landry says is unfair.

As a show of support, Landry held a news conference Monday at the Denka Performance Elastomers facility in LaPlace flanked by Attorney General Liz Murrill and Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Auriella Giacometto.

Landry railed against a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that he says could shut down the plant and accused the Biden administration of targeting a single company. As a result, Louisiana jobs could be lost to China, the governor said.

Last week, a federal court in Washington, D.C., rejected Denka’s request to stall an EPA rule that gave the company 90 days to lower the amount of chloroprene and ethylene oxide it emits into the air. Both are potent air toxics that can cause cancer. The rule is scheduled to take effect July 15.

Last week’s court ruling prompted Landry to step up in defense of the company. Murrill filed a petition Monday in the D.C. court to challenge the EPA rule, while Giacometto announced DEQ is giving the company a two-year extension to comply with the new pollution standards. It’s unclear whether the state’s authority will be recognized in the federal case.

Denka, a Japanese company that acquired the elastomer plant from DuPont in 2015, has been at odds with federal authorities for over a year. In February 2023, the EPA and U.S. Justice Department filed suit against the company, alleging its neoprene operations “present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare” for the cancer risks its chloroprene emissions pose.

The government agencies demanded Denka reduce chloroprene emissions at its LaPlace plant, in the heart of Louisiana’s so-called “Cancer Alley” industrial corridor — named for having the highest rates of cancer and highest concentrations of industrial air pollution in the country.

The term ‘Cancer Alley’ has a long history in Louisiana — and even a history before Louisiana

According to the EPA-Justice complaint, air monitoring that EPA and Denka each conducted over the past several years consistently shows long-term chloroprene concentrations in the air near the facility that are as high as 14 times the levels recommended for a 70-year lifetime of exposure.

The federal government asked for an indefinite continuance of that case in order to publish the new rule that Denka is now challenging.

Denka and the Landry administration contend the facility has been voluntarily reducing its emissions over the past several years and accused the government of being unwilling to work with the company for an easier timeline to implement new operations to control the pollution.

Giacometto dismissed the EPA’s alarmist claims, saying no such imminent danger exists in LaPlace.

“Denka’s emissions have decreased dramatically,” she said.

The state officials accused the EPA of singling out Denka by giving it a 90-day deadline, while giving all other facilities two years to comply with the rule.

“No other facilities in the United States were granted such a short window,” Landry said. “All the other ones were granted a two-year extension, and yet this facility was singled out for a 90-day extension.”

According to state officials, the Denka plant is the only chloroprene producer in the country. Landry said the Biden administration’s attempts to shut down the plant would only backfire. It would force the country to rely on China, where neoprene is produced with little concern for the environment, he said.

There was no immediate response to Landry’s news conference from the Biden administration.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, said he supports the new EPA rule.

“Louisianians deserve to breathe clean air and drink clean water without fear for their health,” Carter said. “My district has the highest cancer risk of any place in the United States – that is unacceptable. We must pursue proper regulations. We must listen to the people who are impacted at home, who undoubtedly have suffered the cost of being near petrochemical plants — but not just chemical plants, chemical plants that don’t follow the rules.”

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