After a state agency did not respond to at least three request to move a public hearing on the proposed ammonia plant in St. Rose to a larger venue, the Sept. 26 meeting at the St. Rose Public Library was shut down by a fire department official because of overcrowding, according to Kimberly Terrell, an environmental scientist at Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, who attended the hearing.
Before the hearing was canceled, St. Rose residents continued to enter the small room at the library despite the room reaching capacity at 60 people, said Dani Huffman, a St. Charles Parish resident who attended the meeting. Huffman said residents were told they would have to leave if they did not have a seat, but residents who were waiting outside came into the room anyway.
Huffman said she feels the agency underestimated how many people would show up to fight against the ammonia plant. More than 200 people were there to protest the $4.6 billion facility proposed by St. Charles Clean Fuels, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
In a statement, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, which is tasked with reviewing the minor use air permit for the ammonia plant, said the events of Sept. 26 were unacceptable.
“The disruption at the St. Charles Clean Fuels air permit meeting was an organized attempt to hinder economic growth and prosperity for the state and local communities,” the statement read. “While we welcome public comments and questions, it is essential to maintain a peaceful environment during proceedings to ensure the safety of our staff and attendees.”
The agency’s statement did not answer specific questions about how many people they expected at the hearing or whether a larger venue was considered. The agency said it was working to reschedule the meeting.
On Sept. 20, five days before the hearing, the agency was made aware by St. Rose resident Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh that more than 60 residents would likely attend the hearing, according to email exchanges shared with the Herald-Guide. Kyereh told LDEQ in one email that word about the plant was spreading in the neighborhood.
“The strong objection of more toxic pollution is our neighborhood is deepening,” she wrote. “It will be difficult to comfortably support a public hearing with such great community interest [at the St. Rose Public Library].”
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. Kyereh was born and raised in St. Rose and lives on the fence line of International Matex Tank Terminals, a bulk chemical storage company. The smells and emissions from IMTT wake her in her sleep and cause headaches, she said.
IMTT is partnering with St. Charles Clean Fuels on the reduced-carbon ammonia plant. In a press release, St. Charles Clean Fuels said the ammonia facility would use hydrogen fuel and carbon capture technology to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent. The company expects to offer about 216 direct jobs with an average salary of more than $90,000. But for Kyereh, the risks of high ammonia emissions, which can cause respiratory illness, and the risks of a major carbon dioxide leak, which can cause drowsiness and suffocation, outweigh the economic impacts of the facility.
Her goal, she said, is to keep St. Charles Clean Fuels out of the backyards of St. Rose residents. Her goal is not to shut industry down, or for industry to leave the area, even if she thinks people would be safer if industry left. Instead, she wants no new chemical companies in the parish and much stricter government regulations over the industry that is already here.
“I believe there is a way a community can live rather peacefully with industry if industry was truly held accountable for their chemical releases and emissions,” she said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to hold toxic chemicals so close to our community.”
Kyereh said she is not optimistic that LDEQ will deny St. Charles Clean Fuels’ air use permit.
“A lot of harm and a lot of neglect has already taken place,” she said. “LDEQ was made aware that there was a lot of interest in this permit [hearing] and they did not grant us a larger space.”
The Sept. 26 hearing ended with a request: a larger space for a public hearing. The hearing began with a prayer.
For Kyereh, her faith keeps her going.
“God wants his people protected,” Kyereh said. “God wants his land protected and he wants his air and water protected. He requires us to be good stewards.”
