An air quality monitoring station near a chemical plant
The US government has dismissed a lawsuit initiated two years ago when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sued Denka Performance Elastomer, alleging that the company’s high level of carcinogenic chloroprene emissions from its neoprene rubber manufacturing facility in LaPlace, Louisiana, presented an unacceptable cancer risk to the nearby community.
The lawsuit aimed to force Denka – which says it is the only producer of polychloroprene in North America – to further cut hazardous emissions from the plant. The legal action followed air monitoring results from the EPA and Denka that consistently showed long-term chloroprene concentrations in nearby air as high as 14 times the levels recommended for a 70-year lifetime of exposure, according to the legal complaint.
However, on 7 March the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the lawsuit. The DOJ said the complaint did not allege that emissions from the Denka facility violated any regulatory air quality standard. ‘The prior [Biden] administration framed the case as part of its “ongoing effort to advance environmental justice in overburdened communities”,’ DOJ said.
Further, the DOJ suggested that EPA used its Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, which combines demographic and environmental information on places and can be used to identify areas experiencing disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and impacts, to define geographical areas of concern partly by the percentage of people of colour present. The DOJ described this as ‘a clear example of the racial preferencing now prohibited by President Trump’s executive order’ that bans so-called ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ initiatives.
For its part, Denka says emissions at the Louisiana facility in question are at a ‘historical low’ because of its investment of more than $35 million and the innovation of its workforce.