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LAPLACE – The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality recently confirmed that Denka Performance Elastomer successfully reduced chloroprene emissions by 85 percent at its St. John the Baptist Parish Neoprene facility.

DPE, the second-largest employer in the parish with more than 235 full-time staff, mapped out a voluntary emissions reduction program with the state in early 2016 after purchasing its LaPlace facility from Dupont. The goal, outlined through an Administrative Order on Consent, was to decrease chloroprene emissions at the facility by 85 percent in response to public safety concerns.

Chloroprene was identified as a “likely carcinogen” in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 National Air Toxics Assessment, which was not made available to the public until December 2015. The report examined the risks associated with human consumption of chemicals in the air and water, taking into account reported emissions from chemical manufacturing facilities.

DPE is the only manufacturing facility in the U.S. that emits chloroprene. The facility creates a synthetic rubber that was used during the COVID-19 pandemic to make medical examination gloves, respirator bags, bandages, adhesives and other materials used by first responders and healthcare officials, according to an April 2020 statement from DPE.

To date, Louisiana has not set a legal limit on chloroprene emissions.

DPE installed several new pieces of equipment in 2017 and continued to optimize equipment in early 2018 for a total cost of more than $35 million. The company continues to seek additional ways to reduce its emissions and has implemented reduction projects beyond its agreement with LDEQ, according to DPE spokesperson Jim Harris.

In 2019, LDEQ requested a follow-up report to prove DPE had achieved its goal of 85 percent reductions in the first full calendar year that DPE’s new equipment had operated at full efficiency. A letter addressed May 20, 2020 by LDEQ Assistant Secretary Lourdes Iturralde confirmed DPE had met the target outlined in the Administrative Order on Consent.

“On or about May 19, 2020, LDEQ compared the emissions data reported in the Emissions Reporting and Inventory Center (ERIC) and has determined that an 85 percent (84.63 percent rounded) reduction In chloroprene emissions was achieved from the 2014 reported emissions,” Iturralde wrote.

Representatives of DPE added that ambient air monitoring conducted by DPE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has shown a dramatic reduction in concentrations of chemicals measured at sites near the facility since the new equipment was installed.

“Our company is focused on being a good neighbor in St. John the Baptist Parish,” said DPE Plant Manager Jorge Lavastida. “Our voluntary efforts in this program with LDEQ are just one example of the many ways we remain committed to our community.”

Robert Taylor, leader of the Concerned Citizens of St. John, said those efforts are not enough to protect the interests of vulnerable community members. He said the Concerned Citizens have not seen verification that DPE has achieved its goal.

“We don’t see any evidence that they’ve reached the 85 percent reduction. These people seem to be on an honor system. I just don’t understand it,” Taylor said. “For one thing, the goal that’s safe as established by the EPA and their scientific agencies is 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter. If they were to achieve that 85 percent, that is still not a safe goal. That is not what we need to protect us. This was just something to mislead us and take us off the real goal.”

Taylor also questioned why 2014 was the year used as a standard to compare to reduced emissions.

“You mean to tell me for the last 40 years I have lived here, Dupont/Denka has put 85 percent more of this poison on us than they had to? I’m not impressed at all with an 85 percent reduction,” Taylor said.

In other DPE news, a federal district court judge in New Orleans recently dismissed a federal class-action suit filed against the company alleging harm caused by chloroprene emissions.

Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana found plaintiff Juanea L. Butler had failed to sufficiently plead her case against DPE.

Butler stated that her exposure to chloroprene emissions has caused her to seek medical attention for numerous medical conditions since April 2012. She requested injunctive relief in the form of chloroprene releases in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agencies suggested metric of acceptable levels (0.2 micrograms per cubic meter or less). According to court reports, she also requested damages for deprivation of enjoyment of life, medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, punitive damages and additional damages including medical monitoring.

“The Court has no doubt that St. John residents’ health and air quality concerns due to their proximity to their industrial neighbor are sincerely felt,” Feldman said in his ruling. “But concerns do not become compensable causes of action absent factual allegations (followed later by proof) breathing life into the concepts alleged: harm caused by DPE’s unreasonable, unsafe conduct.”

Harris said the risk suggestion the suit relied on is contradicted by data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, which shows St. John Parish residents exhibit average or below average rates of illness when compared to the state average.

A new data compilation is underway to update and verify the Tumor Registry. The Cancer Reporting in St. John Parish (CRISP) Project saw delays in door-to-door interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents were advised to call 504-568-5858 to schedule phone interviews.

Taylor noted that St. John Parish made national news for its COVID-19 death rate per capita, which he believes was influenced by underlying conditions from air pollution exposure. He is frustrated that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot legally enforce the 0.2 safety suggestion.

“We have something called the FDA. Before people can be exposed to any medicines, it’s tested thoroughly, and it has to be shown to be safe. You don’t say let’s put it on them and see if they survive it. That’s the opposite of decent, common sense,” Taylor said.

According to Harris, the EPA is reviewing the risk models after a different model commissioned by DPE showed a risk estimate 130 times lower than the 0.2 model.

“DPE continues to work with the agency to ensure the best science is used in any future rulemaking,” Harris said.

Denka Performance Elastomer LLC is located at 560 Highway 44 in LaPlace.

 

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