By MATTHEW DALY (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency will force over 200 chemical plants across the country to lower toxic emissions that could cause cancer. This rule is in line with President Joe Biden's promise to achieve environmental justice and protect communities from industrial pollution involving chemicals like ethylene oxide and chloroprene.
The new rule will bring health protections to communities affected by industrial pollution, particularly those near the Denka Performance Elastomer facility in Louisiana. This facility is the largest source of chloroprene emissions in the country, and the rule will significantly reduce these emissions, according to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
EPA Administrator Regan emphasized the importance of delivering clean air to all communities, particularly those like St. John the Baptist Parish, where residents have suffered from toxic air pollution for too long. The rule aims to fulfill the promise of listening to impacted communities and taking action to protect them.
Officials stated that the new rule, combined with a previous one targeting ethylene oxide emissions, will lead to an overall 80% reduction in ethylene oxide and chloroprene emissions.
The rule will impact 218 facilities across the US, with over half of them located in Texas or Louisiana. Other affected states include Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and several Southern states. This action updates regulations that have not been revised for almost 20 years.
Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, representing the district where the Denka plant is situated, praised the new rule as a significant measure to protect public health and the environment.
Rep. Carter highlighted the importance of proper regulation to ensure the safety of communities living near chemical plants. He stressed the need for these facilities to adhere to regulations in order to protect the impacted neighborhoods.
Carter expressed the critical importance of demonstrating measures like this to maintain the trust of the American people.
The new rule is expected to reduce over 6,200 tons of toxic air pollutants annually and implement fenceline monitoring, addressing health risks in surrounding communities and promoting environmental justice in Louisiana and other states, according to the EPA.
The Justice Department took legal action against Denka last year, claiming that it had been releasing dangerous levels of chloroprene near residential areas and schools. Federal regulators had determined in 2016 that chloroprene emissions from the Denka plant were causing the highest cancer risk in the United States.
Denka, a Japanese company that purchased the former DuPont rubber-making plant in 2015, stated that it strongly opposes the EPA’s latest action.
“EPA’s rulemaking is another effort to push a policy agenda that is not supported by the law or the science,” Denka said in a statement, adding that the agency has accused its facility of being a threat to its community, despite the facility complying with federal and state air permitting requirements.
The Denka plant, which produces synthetic rubber, has been the focus of protests regarding pollution in mostly Black communities and EPA efforts to reduce chloroprene emissions, particularly in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, an 85-mile (137-kilometer) industrial area informally known as Cancer Alley. Denka stated that it has already spent over $35 million to reduce chloroprene emissions.
Under pressure from local activists, the EPA agreed to conduct a civil rights investigation of the plant to determine if state officials were putting Black residents at a higher risk of cancer. The agency initially found evidence of discrimination, but in June it ended its investigation without releasing any official findings or securing commitments from the state to change its practices.
Regan stated that the rule issued on Tuesday was separate from the civil rights investigation. He described the rule as “very ambitious,” and noted that officials ensured “we protect all of these communities, not just those in Cancer Alley, but communities in Texas and Puerto Rico and other areas threatened by these hazardous air toxic pollutants.”
While it focuses on toxic emissions, “by its very nature, this rule is providing protection to environmental justice communities — Black and brown communities, low-income communities — that have suffered for far too long,” Regan said.
Patrice Simms, vice president of the environmental law firm Earthjustice, referred to the rule as “a victory in our pursuit for environmental justice.”
“There’s always more to do to demand that our laws live up to their full potential,” Simms said, “but EPA’s action today brings us a meaningful step closer to realizing the promise of clean air … safe and livable communities and … more just and more equitable environmental protections.”
Fenceline monitoring for six toxic air pollutants — ethylene oxide, chloroprene, vinyl chloride, benzene, 1,3-butadiene and ethylene dichloride — will be crucial to ensure accountability and transparency, Simms and other advocates said. The new rule marks just the second time that EPA has mandated fenceline monitoring in air toxics standards under the Clean Air Act.
“For years, we’ve watched our families and neighbors suffer from disease, like cancer, due to underregulated emissions,” said Robert Taylor, founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John, a local advocacy group.
Taylor said that after the EPA dismissed their civil rights complaint, they lost hope in government's ability to protect them from industry. However, Regan's pledge to address chemical emissions and the announcement of the final rule have given them new hope. He believes this is just the beginning of reducing toxic emissions and safeguarding the children in their community.
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Associated Press writer Michael Phillis in St. Louis contributed to this story.
