A group of St. Rose residents have banded together in the wake of a 10-day noxious chemical release from IMTT’s St. Rose facility in June that left more than 130 people in the area feeling sick.
Anne Rolfes, founding director of New Orleans-based environmental group the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), said the brigade had to file a public records request to receive the results of air monitoring that was ongoing by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) throughout the ordeal.
“LDEQ released the emissions report to us, but they weren’t publicizing it,” she said.
The results by LDEQ’s mobile air monitoring lab, which was parked in the area, found high levels of hydrogen sulfide were released into the neighborhoods surrounding the plant. The strong odor was caused by crude feedstock with a high sulphur content that the Shell plant, which is located on the IMTT campus, was using in their asphalt processing, according to Greg Langley, press secretary for LDEQ.
While Rolfes said the levels of pollutants were just at or below what is allowed by LDEQ, they exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s levels for when toxins are considered harmful. That means that those subjected to the emissions may have experienced health issues.
“Had they parked the monitoring unit right next to the Shell/IMTT plant rather than half a mile away, they probably would have received higher levels on their readings,” Rolfes said.
In June, LABB received complaints from more than 130 people living in neighborhoods near IMTT who said they felt ill while the smell was in the air. They reported nausea, headaches and respiratory issues, which is consistent with exposure to hydrogen sulfide.
The incident has inspired area residents to form a group to keep a similar chemical release from occurring again. The group, called St. Rose Community One Voice, gathered for the first time last week.
St. Rose Community One Voice member Martha Huckabay, who lives in a planned community of upscale homes in St. Rose, said she was ill for two days during the emissions release and suffered from dizziness, nausea, vomiting and migraines.
“We came outside and smelled a very distinctive smell that was toxic,” she said.
At the time of the incident she was worried about her health as well as that of her son, who was vomiting and had diarrhea. Huckabay said her husband also had chest pains.
Nikki Bolden, 43, is a St. Rose native who lives on 4th Street right behind the IMTT facility. She was a driving force behind the recently created community group.
Bolden said St. Rose Community One Voice hopes to prevent the dangerous situation she and her neighbors were put in while the emissions were being released.
“There was always a smell, but it was not to a point to where it was making your sick. In June the smell got unbearable to where you couldn’t stand it,” she said. “You couldn’t stay in your home, it would come into your house and your vent and anytime you walked outside you’d have to come back inside.”
The group held a community meeting on Aug. 27 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in St. Rose where they discussed the results of the LDEQ air testing.
In all, Bolden said about 125 residents who were affected by the emissions attended the event and are intent on protecting their community.
“We have the right to live comfortably in our neighborhood. We pay taxes just like IMTT and Shell do. Nothing is being done and nothing is being said and no one has come into our community and said anything,” she said.
Although some have called for a class-action lawsuit against Shell and IMTT due to the release, Bolden said she is more interested in putting protections in place to keep future emissions from harming people in the area.
“It is not really a money issue with us, but more about trying to breathe clean air. Right now we have a lot of elderly people who have trouble breathing and are on oxygen,” she said. “We just want to try and keep this away from us and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Community One Voice members were joined by Gen. Russel Honoré at Monday’s Parish Council meeting and asked the parish to continue to monitor IMTT.
Ron Perry, the parish’s Emergency Preparedness director, told the group that he would ask LDEQ to put a mobile air monitoring unit in the area.
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