The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will host a public hearing Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Albert Cammon Middle School Gymnasium in St. Rose.
International Matex Tank Terminals, a bulk liquid storage company in St. Rose, has applied to renew its Part 70 Operating Permit, also known as a Title V permit. The permit is required every five years and requires facilities to monitor, report and maintain records of their emissions. IMTT must comply with federal and state air pollution laws.
In its request for a permit renewal, IMTT also requested multiple changes, including the addition of 26 storage tanks; these tanks were authorized in prior permitting actions but have not yet been constructed. IMTT is also seeking to add emission sources as part of its new ammonia storage system.
Longtime St. Rose resident Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh said she hopes St. Charles Parish residents show up to the hearing to tell their experiences and voice their opinion. She has advertised the hearing through flyers, emails and texts to other residents.
“We need residents’ help to protect the air, the health and future of St. Rose,” Kyereh said. “I hope they stand up for themselves, advocate for themselves and their families and their community.”
Kyereh is the founder and executive director of Refined Community Empowerment, a non-profit that seeks to address social injustices in vulnerable communities in St. Charles Parish. She has been a vocal critic of IMTT and said she smells chemicals in her home, which is on the fence line of the tank terminal. She said children are smelling the chemicals at the bus stop.
Richard Rainey, a spokesperson for IMTT, said IMTT has reduced emissions and odors at the facility significantly since 2021 with specialized vents that reduce tank emissions. He said this permit would lower IMTT’s permitted emissions at the St. Rose terminal by 10 percent. He also stressed that no new tanks can be constructed without additional approval processes to authorize construction.
IMTT’s Chairman and CEO Carlin Conner said in a statement that the permit renewal is a win-win for IMTT and the communities of St. Rose and St. Charles Parish.
“It will allow us to continue to reduce our emissions, maintain hundreds of good jobs, generate millions in tax revenues that fund parish services, and enable us to continue to invest in the educational and social priorities identified by our community,” he said.
In letters to the LDEQ, IMTT employees, business leaders and others voiced their support for IMTT’s permit application.
Parish President Matthew Jewell, for example, said in his letter that IMTT has been a responsible operator of its River Road terminal in the parish since 1961.
“Renewing this permit will allow the company to continue its substantial economic and community contributions while maintaining compliance with the highest environmental standards,” he wrote.
Jewell wrote that the company’s annual tax contributions of over $5.5 million directly support essential services in St. Charles Parish.
Some St. Rose residents and others, however, have criticized the permit application. Healthy Gulf, a conservation group pushing for reducing pollution in waterways and preserving Gulf wetlands, wrote in a letter to LDEQ that IMTT’s renewal permit was not just a renewal but an expansion of the IMTT facility that would allow for four new ammonia tanks and over 20 new storage tanks.
“The St. Rose community is already overburdened with toxic industry and the associated health risks,” the letter stated.
Last September, a public hearing on St. Charles Clean Fuels, an IMTT partner, was shut down by a fire department official because of overcrowding. That hearing was held at the St. Rose library despite Kyereh and others voicing concern about the venue’s small size. St. Charles Clean Fuels has announced plans to build a $4.6 billion ammonia plant in St. Rose.
According to the LDEQ, attendees at the Oct. 21 public hearing will have an opportunity to present oral statements, views, recommendations, opinions and information on the proposed permit. Written statements and other documents may be filed with the hearing officer at the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to gather facts and information. It will not include a Q&A.
The deadline for submitting a public comment about IMTT’s permit is Thursday, Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m. Residents can email comments to deq.publicnotices@la.gov.
