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Game Over Formosa Plastics

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St. James Parish, in South Louisiana, is a historically black and now elderly community. Many of the residents trace their lineage back to enslaved families who worked the plantations along the banks of the Mississippi River. Today, 15.6% of residents live below the poverty line.

The communities of St. James are extremely overburdened by industrial pollution. The 258-square mile parish hosts 11 large industrial facilities, including refineries, a fertilizer plant, and steel, asphalt, and chemical companies. The toxic chemicals that are emitted into the surrounding air, water and soil include cancer causing dioxins, asbestos, chlorine, lead, mercury, acids, benzene, toluene, methanol, ethylene, and hydrogen sulfide, according to the EPA’s TRI database report.

Now, St. James are fighting to keep out yet another industrial facility: 2,500-acre project of Formosa Plastics, a Taiwan-based conglomerate. The massive petrochemical complex, named the Sunshine Project, is to be located just one mile from elementary school, and on top of a historic site of the unmarked graves of enslaved people. The proposed plant threatens to double toxic pollutants in the Parish.

On August 18, 2021 the US Army Corps of Engineers announced it would require a full Environmental Impact Statement for the Sunshine Project. The decision is a major victory for opponents of the plant, who sued to block the project in January 2020 and convinced the Army Corps to suspend its permit.

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will require that Formosa assess the impact of its proposed project, including the current environmental situation as well as air, water, historical and economic impacts. The EIS should also trigger a new comment period for community members. However, an EIS can take anywhere from 51 days to 3 years to conduct.

Thus, this project aims to regularly collect particulate matter and other air quality monitoring data in order to evidence the existing levels of pollution borne by the St. James Parish community. The information gathered will to be used to educate the community, and support the growing body of evidence as to why further pollution sources such as the Formosa Plastics would be catastrophic for the parish.

Title Author Updated Likes Comments
Open Call: "Game Over Formosa Plastics" Community Report Back Video @michelleiL over 1 year ago 1
Open Call: "Game Over Formosa Plastics" Report Back @michelleiL over 1 year ago 0
July PM 2.5 Data @tylerknight over 1 year ago 0
What do Workers Experience? Reflections from a coffee-talk with a lifelong employee of the petrochemical industry. @awoolverton1 over 1 year ago 0
Community Air Monitoring Highlighted in Media Clip; False Solutions Promised for Our State @awoolverton1 over 1 year ago 2
June PM 2.5 Data @tylerknight over 1 year ago 0
A Quick Look at the Health Impacts of Air Pollutants @awoolverton1 over 1 year ago 0
Rising PM 2.5 in St James @tylerknight almost 2 years ago 2
Organizing and Advocacy Happenings at Public Lab! @julia_e_masters over 1 year ago 0
What Does It Take to Get a Response? @awoolverton1 almost 2 years ago 3
One Month of PM 2.5 Data around St James @tylerknight almost 2 years ago 0
A Quick Note on Title VI @caitlion almost 2 years ago 0
Large flares, spikes on air monitors near Americas Styrenics facility @awoolverton1 almost 2 years ago 1
Find out what is planned for your state! @awoolverton1 almost 2 years ago 2
The Formosa's Air Permit Trial: Rise St. James vs. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) @TravisLondon about 2 years ago 1
A Public Statement Against Formosa Plastic's Air Permit Application @TravisLondon about 2 years ago 1
Zoning and Corruption in St. John the Baptist Parish @caitlion about 2 years ago 0
What are some good trouble shooting tips for installing/maintaining a PurpleAir? @stevie about 2 years ago 4
PurpleAir Installation Guide @tylerknight about 2 years ago 2
Timeline of Formosa Action and Resistance @caitlion over 1 year ago 1
Seeking a Documentation Fellow @stevie over 2 years ago 1
Seeking Technical Air Quality Fellow @stevie over 2 years ago 1
Seeking an Environmental Policy Fellow @stevie over 2 years ago 1
Announcing New Fellowship Team: Game Over Formosa! @stevie about 2 years ago 1

People Involved: @TravisLondon @tylerknight @CaitlionONeill @awoolverton1