Key facts
- Louisiana's air monitoring system is inadequate, with many monitors located miles from major industrial polluters.
- The state does not test for key cancer-risk chemicals like ethylene oxide, chloroprene, and formaldehyde.
- A new law, supported by industry, restricts the use of community-collected air quality data.
- A 2023 refinery leak exposed delays in state monitoring and response, with residents evacuated over 15 hours after the initial leak.
- Researchers found cancer risks from toxic emissions in Louisiana's industrial corridor often exceed EPA figures.
Residents in Louisiana's industrial corridor, an 85-mile stretch between Baton Rouge and New Orleans with high cancer rates due to toxic air pollution, are often unaware of the chemicals they are breathing. A Floodlight/Guardian analysis revealed that the state's public air monitors are frequently located miles from major industrial polluters and fail to test for some of the most dangerous substances.
Ten of Louisiana's top 25 industrial air polluters, based on self-reported EPA data, operate without a public air monitor within a five-mile radius. For instance, Dow Chemical's plastics factory in Plaquemine is about eight miles from the nearest station, which only measures ozone, despite the plant releasing toxic pollutants like ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen. Similarly, CF Industries' Donaldsonville plant emits over 7 million pounds of ammonia annually, yet no public monitors test for this hazardous chemical. The three chemicals most responsible for the area's high cancer risk—ethylene oxide, chloroprene, and formaldehyde—are not monitored by the state at all.
Industry groups have actively opposed proposals for enhanced monitoring and were instrumental in drafting a 2024 Louisiana law that restricts the use of community-collected air monitoring data in enforcement actions. This legislative environment has led residents like Kimbrelle Kyereh, who lives near chemical storage tanks and collected air samples, to stop their efforts due to the new restrictions.
A leak at Marathon's Garyville refinery in August 2023 underscored the system's deficiencies. Naphtha leaked for over six hours before the state began monitoring, and a subsequent fire led to evacuation orders more than 15 hours after the initial leak. The nearest state monitor, which measures ozone, did not detect the volatile organic compounds released. Experts like environmental chemist Wilma Subra and atmospheric scientist Peter DeCarlo of Johns Hopkins University state that the current monitoring network is insufficient to protect public health, with researchers finding cancer risks in many areas significantly exceeding EPA figures.
Furthermore, the state has seen a retreat from monitoring in recent years. A temporary monitor in New Orleans's Irish Channel neighborhood was shut down in 2022, despite hundreds of resident complaints and EPA recommendations for a permanent station. The LDEQ's monitoring plan removed 'environmental justice considerations' and specific monitors in communities like St. Rose. While the LDEQ maintains its network is robust and meets regulatory requirements, the agency acknowledges it is not designed for fenceline communities.