RESERVE — Robert Taylor of LaPlace and his family have long struggled with positional vertigo, rashes and health challenges doctors couldn’t link to any definite diagnosis.

Over the years, he’s witnessed friends and neighbors fall ill with cancer and other afflictions, conditions he’s since linked to 49 years of exposure to chloroprene emissions from DuPont Plant in Reserve, currently operated by Denka Performance Elastomer (DPE).

“People all around me are dying of cancer,” Taylor said. “My family is suffering. I finally moved my wife 2,000 miles out to southern California, and her condition is improving.”

Taylor heads the Concerned Citizens of St. John, a community action group that has fought for better air quality since 2016. Members wear shirts with the rallying cry, “Only 0.2 will do,” reflecting the upper limit of micrograms per cubic meter of chloroprene deemed safe for emission by an Environmental Protection Agency study.

The battle hasn’t come without adversity, Taylor said.

According to John J. Cummings III, one of the leading forces in a lawsuit against DPE, an amended suit was filed against the plant last week.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman requested an amendment to the original suit, which he said did not portray representatives’ health challenges in enough detail to conclude DPE emissions were at fault.

Despite the setback, Taylor said Concerned Citizens felt optimistic during a recent meeting at Tchoupitoulas Chapel in Reserve, where EPA Region Six deputy regional administrator David Gray was in attendance.

“I was very gratified that EPA accepted the invitation to come down and have promised to work with us,” Taylor said.

“After two years of being ignored, and worse, attacked by local government, it does a lot for our morale.”

Concerned Citizens member Shondrell Perrilloux said the fight against chloroprene emissions has become a fight against industry, politics and local leadership.

“We are so grateful the federal government and the world have been paying attention and making note of the injustices our community has been facing,” Perrilloux said.

“Our environment determines our population. We are simply being voices in our community so someone in leadership will take the courageous role to stand with and for the people.”

According to Perrilloux, the lawsuit is not intended to take Denka out of business, but to force compliance with EPA standards.

DPE spokesperson Jim Harris said the 0.2 ug/m3 recommendation is not scientifically founded, adding the refinery has always operated within LDEQ guidelines.

“Though the facility has historically emitted only around half the amount of chloroprene allowed in permits designed along that standard, we recognized opportunities to invest in equipment and technology that could further reduce its emissions and contribute to the peace of mind of any of those in the community who were concerned,” Harris said. “There is no evidence to suggest our operations pose an increased risk of health impacts to local residents.”

According to Harris, DPE voluntarily installed $35 million of equipment in 2017 to reduce emissions by close to 85 percent.

Cummings said DPE failed a “smoke stack test” conducted this summer, signaling emissions continue to hover above the EPA’s safe range.

Background

A 2010 EPA National Air Toxics Assessment, released in 2015, identified chloroprene as a likely carcinogen linked with the following forms of cancer: liver cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, colon cancer and leukemia.

Air monitoring began in 2016 and recorded levels up to 765 times the 0.2 recommendation.

Denka Performance Elastomer purchased a portion of DuPont’s LaPlace facility in November 2015. Approximately 250 people are employed at the facility, which produces Neoprene, a synthetic rubber used for wet suits, automotive parts, military equipment and other products.