Residents contest construction of Formosa plastics plant
18th February 2019 · 0 Comments
By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer
Taiwanese company Formosa received a coastal use permit from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources last week, authorizing construction of a plastics plant in St. James parish.
In a press release announcing the deal between Formosa and the state, which includes significant tax incentives, Louisiana governor Jon Bel Edwards said the plant represents, a “brighter economic future for Louisiana, one with an estimated 8,000 construction jobs at peak, even more permanent jobs upon completion, and a multibillion-dollar impact on earnings and business purchases for decades to come.”
St. James Parish President Timmy Roussel and GNO, Inc president and CEO Michael Hecht also praised the company’s decision to build in south Louisiana. However, environmental groups position the plant as contrary to the state’s coastal Master Plan and are fighting, along with local residents, to stop its construction.
“We are bombarded with plants in the 5th District and they’re making us sick,” said Sharon Lavigne, who lives a short distance from the proposed Formosa site. “Even if they got this permit we are going to keep fighting and we are going to stop this thing.”
Lavigne and other St. James Parish residents have formed a local organization, Rise St. James, to fight new industrial development in St. James Parish’s 5th District. Over the years, much of the farmland on the Mississippi River’s west bank that makes up this part of the parish has been developed into factories, pipelands, and waste sites. Many residents feel unheard, and left behind, as construction continues around them and their homes lose value.
“This started decades ago; that’s when the first plant came,” Lavigne said. “I was young and thought nothing of it. My daddy was excited about the jobs it would bring. They kept coming, and we still didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t until people started getting sick. Eventually, we realized the area around us had been rezoned as industrial. The 5th district councilman, he didn’t vote for it, and he didn’t vote for the plant. The people in the government that vote for it don’t live here and breath what we breathe.”
Complaints asserting the illegality of the Formosa site also focus on a lack of escape route in permit applications, something residents have requested for years as development in the area continues. “If something happens at one of these plants some people won’t be able to get out,” said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “It’s a simple request, and people have been asking for years, and at this point the excuses are ridiculous.”
FG LA LLC, the Formosa affiliate that will operate the plastics plant, says that plans for an exit route are in progress. “We hear this over and over from companies, and they get permits, and they don’t build a route,” Rolfes said.
Residents close to the river’s industry also worry about the cumulative impact of a new plant alongside many others. “So many people here are already sick, and have cancer and respiratory problems. I don’t know what will happen if they add more emissions to what we already get,” Lavigne said.
Many economic analysts, St. James Parish government, and the governor’s office have hailed Formosa’s choice of St. James parish as a big win for the state. At least 8,000 temporary construction workers will be in the parish and eventually the plant will employ 1,200 people. Billions of dollars in revenue will come from activities associated with Formosa. In exchange, the state has offered the company more than a billion dollars in tax incentives, including a ten year property tax waiver. When the company does start to pay, parish officials expect it to nearly double their current tax base.
“The parish government had a big party celebrating Formosa and all the billions they were going to get,” Lavigne said. “They want us to stop fighting this. They approved it. We are going to keep fighting and keep appealing, because they aren’t treating us like people.”
Toxic air emissions aren’t the only concern for residents in the 5th District. At another nearby facility producing fertilizer, workers rush to drain an acidic waste pile as one of its container walls threatens to collapse. A farmer noticed bulging land in his sugar cane field and reported it to the company – Mosaic, and now emergency procedures to contain acidic wastewater are underway.
“The problem at Mosaic is relevant to any conversation about Formosa because it shows how dangerous these plants are and how they can’t handle what they’ve got. These companies get permits but we have to ask ourselves if anyone is minding the company store when it’s a sugar cane farmer who reports a near disaster,” Rolfes said. “We also have to ask ourselves how all the plants end up here, in majority African-American neighborhoods. All three proposed Formosa site locations were in communities of color.”
In response to requests for comment, Congressman Cedric Richmond said, “It is important that state and federal regulators ensure that this development complies with all the applicable health, safety, and environmental laws. The people of the River Region deserve access to good jobs in their communities, as well as the infrastructure to support the growth happening in their neighborhoods right now. I also hope to see a process that includes true community engagement that meets the needs of St. James Parish residents. As this process continues, I will continue to ensure that all federal regulators are doing their part.”
Residents and environmental groups will appeal Formosa’s permit approval.
“They act like there aren’t people here, or churches, or schools,” Lavigne said. “The government closed our post office. But we are here, and we are going to fight. We aren’t giving up.”
This article originally published in the February 18, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
