A victory for health

The Louisiana Weekly was the first publication in the metro area to editorialize against a $100 million permit that the Jefferson Parish Council had awarded to Cornerstone to create a cyanide tank farm in Waggaman.

Our Editors noted that even without a leak, 11.4 tons of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide would be pumped into lungs of residents of the New Orleans metro each year. Should a leak have occurred, a floating cloud of death would have eradicated the populations of South Kenner, River Ridge, Harahan, Old Jefferson, Metairie, and Uptown — far from an idle worry as the cyanide tank farm rested right in the landing path of the planes touching down at Armstrong Airport.

Fortunately, the Jefferson Parish Councilpersons put aside their worries of lawsuits, and revoked the Cornerstone permit, last week. We wish the sponsor of the original legislation, Cynthia Lee-Sheng, might have realized the dangers originally, and never presented the permit for approval in January 2018. Regardless, our Editorial Board commends her willingness to revoke it now.

This article originally published in the April 8, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.