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Thursday, October 3, 2024

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Hurricane Helene death toll tops 200 as search and rescue efforts continue in North Carolina, community health centers in Florida struggle to serve patients as storm recovery strains resources, a new program offers Ohioans relief from medical debt, and voter advocacy groups say poor maintenance has led to inaccurate voter rolls in Indiana.

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Biden voices concerns over Israeli strikes on Iran, Special Counsel Jack Smith details Trump's pre-January 6 pressure on Pence, Indiana's voter registration draws scrutiny, and a poll shows politics too hot to talk about for half of Wisconsinites.

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Cheap milk comes at a cost for residents of Washington's Lower Yakima Valley, Indigenous language learning is promoted in Wisconsin as experts warn half the world's languages face extinction, and Montana's public lands are going to the dogs!

Plastics production highlighted during Pollution Prevention Week

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Monday, September 16, 2024   

This is Pollution Prevention Week and advocates are renewing their call on one plastics manufacturer to clean up its act.

An August demonstration at Formosa Plastics' New Jersey headquarters saw protesters demanding the multinational company compensate victims of a 2016 environmental disaster in Vietnam, restore the affected land and cancel proposed expansions in Texas and Louisiana. Activists from around the country participated including representatives from GreenFaith, a multifaith climate justice organization.

Rev. Fletcher Harper, executive director of GreenFaith, said many Formosa Plastics manufacturing locations have a long and well documented record of toxic contamination.

"The pollution has severe health impacts on residents of communities," Harper pointed out. "The company does nothing to respond in terms of changing the way that it operates, increasing its commitment to safety."

In a statement via email, Formosa Plastics U.S.A. said it is committed to conducting business in a manner which is environmentally responsible and in compliance with applicable U.S. regulations.

Expansion plans in Louisiana involve a new petrochemical complex with 14 individual plants covering more than 2,000 acres along the Mississippi River. The $9.4 billion complex would be located in Saint James Parish.

In a June letter to Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality, environmental law advocates said the department must deny Clean Air Act-mandated operating permit renewals to Formosa Plastics based on its own emissions data. The letter cited data-based air modeling showing the complex would exacerbate violations of the recently updated Environmental Protection Agency air quality standards for fine particulate matter or soot.

Harper noted the human and environmental toll taken by such facilities is huge.

"You see different forms of cancer; you see air pollution that fails to meet health and safety standards," Harper outlined. "You see water pollution, contamination of soil that impacts food that people grow. So you see this at a widespread level, in the communities adjacent to the Formosa Plastics petrochemical plants and in the surrounding areas as well."

Saint James Parish is already considered to be part of "Cancer Alley," an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi where rates of cancer are significantly higher than the national average. The area is home to more than 200 petrochemical plants.

Disclosure: GreenFaith contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, and Environmental Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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