TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Background
A Context for Examining Environmental and Economic Justice in St. James Parish

Major Findings
1. Disproportionate Toxic Burden
1-1. Toxic Burden in St. James Parish
1-2. Disproportionate Impact on African Americans and Low-income Persons
1-3. Multiple Adverse Impacts

2. Health Effects
2-1. Increasing Health Problems Observed
2-2. Cumulative Exposures
2-3. Vulnerable Subpopulations
2-4. Excess Cancer Mortality
2-5. Psychological and Social Impacts

3. Routine Emissions and Industrial Accidents
3-1. The Problem with "Routine Emissions"
3-2. Worst Case Scenario: Accidents and Accidental Emissions
3-3. Inadequate Emergency Response Planning and the Travesty of the Chemical Industry's
"Shelter in Place" Program

4. Historical Experience with PVC Industry
4-1. Evidence of Worker Exposure and Disease
4-2. PVC Facilities Disproportionately Located in Non-White Communities
4-3. Negative Community Experience with PVC Facilities
4-4. Release of Persistent Toxic Pollutants

5. Jobs and the Economy
5-1. Few Jobs and Benefits Provided to Local Residents
5-2. Toxic Releases/Job Ratio
5-3. Jobs vs. Environment Myth
5-4. Destruction of Resources and the Means for a Subsistence Livelihood
5-5. Loss of Tax Base and Revenues
5-6. Economic Costs of Poor Health and Premature Death

6. Public Participation and Accountability
6-1. Vast Majority of Convent Residents Opposed to Shintech
6-2. Government Supports Shintech Prior to Public Notice
6-3. Bias by State Officials in the Public Participation Process
6-4. Influence of Money
6-5. Threat to Citizen Groups

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the members of the Emergency National Commission on Environmental and Economic Justice in St. James Parish, Louisiana and the citizens of St. James Parish, in particular, the members of the St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment. Writers and reviewers who worked diligently to produce this report included Monique Harden, Charlie Cray, Joel Tickner, Deborah Robinson, Paul Mohai, and Nathalie Walker. We are deeply appreciative of the support provided by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Louisiana Labor Neighbor Project, and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

Charles Lee

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FROM PLANTATIONS TO PLANTS:
REPORT OF THE EMERGENCY NATIONAL COMMISSION ON
ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE IN ST. JAMES PARISH, LOUISIANA

The Shintech case has been mostly recognized as an environmental struggle. Little attention has been given to the fact that local residents are also fighting for a different economic vision. Over the last forty years, the economic prosperity promised by industries have been empty for the many Louisiana residents living in poverty. Given that hazardous industrial development has in fact negatively impacted neighboring communities, residents are beginning to advance an economic vision that values their communities. In a state where economic policies have fostered both high pollution and high poverty levels, it is clear that the urgent demand by a growing number of Louisiana residents for a cleaner environment and greater economic opportunities is also a demand to halt entrenched institutional policies. In the eyes of many, repealing the ten-year property tax exemption and other subsidies for hazardous industries, investing in education, and introducing "clean businesses" that employ local residents and enhance the community are some of the goals of such an environmental and economic vision. The success of this new environmental and economic vision in Louisiana will largely depend on the ability of citizens to play a meaningful role in the permitting of hazardous facilities that affect the quality of life in surrounding communities.

Some forty years ago, the Mississippi River Industrial Corridor began to undergo a structural transition from the then still extant vestiges of an agricultural "plantation" economy to its present industrial "plant" economy. Such a plantation economy had its roots in several hundred years of chattel slavery. This transition has resulted in more than one hundred petrochemical facilities and oil refineries being located in the 85-mile corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Out of the approximately 185 million pounds of toxic substances that are emitted into the environment each year in the state of Louisiana, 132 million pounds are emitted in this corridor.

In 1993, the Louisiana Advisory Committee to the US Civil Rights Commission issued a report documenting the condition of dozens of communities as a consequence of this transition. It concluded, "black communities in the corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans are disproportionately impacted by the present State and local government systems for permitting and expansion of hazardous waste and chemical facilities." This basic conclusion provides a link between this larger picture of preexisting disparate environmental impact and the specific issues surrounding what has become popularly known as the "Shintech Case." This case has emerged as one of the most significant national civil rights cases to date involving charges of environmental racism and economic injustice.

On March 21, 1998, an Emergency National Commission on Environmental and Economic Justice in St. James Parish, Louisiana was convened to examine the issues related to the proposed siting of the Shintech polyvinyl chloride facility in Convent. The independent panel of experts and leaders heard testimony and dialogue from residents and experts for nearly 12 hours. The Commission also collected information from other appropriate sources. What the Commission saw was a community in crisis; what they heard were the fervent aspirations of people old and young alike for a healthy, wholesome, and sustaining place to live.

The Commission made specific findings in 6 basic areas, including disproportionate environmental impacts, health effects, accidents and routine emissions, historical experience of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry, jobs, and the economy, and public participation and accountability. Most fundamentally, the Commission believes that this is not merely a fight to stop Shintech; rather it is a fight to develop democratic, human, and rational economic and social processes to achieve environmental justice and sustainable communities in the Mississippi River Corridor -- to make this a place that every citizen, regardless of race or income, finds worth living in.

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BACKGROUND

At the March 21, 1998 hearing, the Commission heard testimony from citizens of Convent, St. James Parish, and throughout the state of Louisiana regarding issues related to the proposal of Shintech, Inc. and its affiliates to build and operate a polyvinyl chloride (hereinafter "PVC" or "vinyl") chemical complex and incinerator in the community of Convent. Calling itself the Emergency National Commission on Environment and Economic Justice in St. James Parish (hereinafter "Commission"), the Commission conducted an inquiry into past and present economic and environmental conditions in Convent and other communities in Louisiana.

The Commission was established at the request of the St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment and is co-sponsored by the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Environmental Justice Resource Center (Clark-Atlanta University), and Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (Xavier University). Additional co-sponsors were the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Greenpeace, Louisiana Labor Neighbor Project, and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. The Commission was chaired by Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson and Dr. Robert D. Bullard. The effort was coordinated by Charles Lee and Damu Smith.

MEMBERS OF COMMISSION

Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson (Co-Chair) Executive Director United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice	Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D. (Co-Chair) Executive Director, Environmental Justice Resource Center Clark Atlanta University
Robin Cannon Board Member Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice	Rep. John Conyers U.S. Representative, D-MI (Represented by Samara Ryder)
Senator Cleo Fields State Senator Louisiana State Legislature	Tom Goldtooth Coordinator Indigenous Environmental Network
Harold Greene Environmental Chair Southern Christian Leadership Conference	George Gudger Vice President and Director of Minority Advancement Laborers' International Union of North America
Rep. Melvin "Kip" Holden State Representative Louisiana State Legislature	Vernice Miller Director, Environmental Justice Natural Resources Defense Council
Paul Mohai, Ph.D. Associate Professor University of Michigan School of Natural Resources	Richard Moore Coordinator Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice
Janet Phoenix, MD Director, Lead Information Program, National Safety Council	Rep. Roy Quezaire State Representative Louisiana State Legislature
Deborah Robinson, Ph.D. Former Exec. Secretary, Program to Combat Racism, World Council of Churches/President, Int'l Possibilities Unlimted	Carolyn Scavella Coordinator, Black Church Liaison Committee National Council of Churches
Haywood Turrentine Chair EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council	Baldemar Velasquez President Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Nathalie Walker, Esq. Managing Attorney, Louisiana Office Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund	Peter Williams Director of Housing and Economic Development National Urban League
Charles Lee (Co-Coordinator) Director, Environmental Justice United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice	Damu Smith (Co-Coordinator) Southern Regional Representative Greenpeace, USA

The Commission was composed of independent national and local experts and leaders in the areas of environmental justice, public health, civil rights, academic, and related fields. The Commission conducted a thorough, comprehensive, and engaging inquiry into charges of environmental racism and injustice and civil rights violations. One goal of this Commission was to issue a report on its findings and recommendations. The Commission provided Louisiana citizens with the opportunity to share their experiences and concerns. The Report of the Commission documents the personal and communal struggles of Convent and other Louisiana residents, and is intended to bring their voices, as well as the Commission's recommendations, to national and international decision-makers.

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A CONTEXT FOR EXAMINING ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
IN ST. JAMES PARISH

Environmental justice is grounded on the principle that all people and communities have a right to a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment. No person, group or community should be denied the protection of our environmental, health, employment, housing, transportation, and civil rights laws, either due to race, ethnicity, gender, or social and economic disempowerment.

In addition, the members of this Commission believe that the linkage between disempowerment and environmental degradation constitutes a fundamental human rights issue.

Throughout the history of development, transnational corporations (and groups before them) have exploited natural and human resources for their own profit and power with little regard for the social, political, economic, and environmental impacts on local groups. The American South is no different. It has always been thought of as a backward land, based on its social, economic, political, and environmental policies. "By default, the region became a 'sacrifice zone,' a dump for the rest of the nation's toxic waste. A colonial mentality exists in the South, where local government and big business take advantage of people who have been historically, politically and economically powerless. Many of these attitudes emerged from the region's marriage to slavery and the plantation system -- a brutal system that exploited humans and the land."

With the collapse of the sugar plantation system after World War II, Louisiana became a prime location for the petrochemical industry, which in effect became the new plantation system. The most heavily industrialized area of Louisiana is along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. This area includes twelve of the state's parishes and approximately 39 percent of the state population of 4.2 million, including 47 percent of the state's African-American population. All told, 141 plants ended up in this area. The fact that many of these industries are located next to African-American communities that were settled by former slaves -- areas that were unincorporated and where the land was cheap -- offers a seemingly logical explanation for the high numbers of African-Americans living next to polluting facilities. African-Americans, formerly slaves, moved to the edge of plantations so they could be close to the employment opportunities. As a result, the Mississippi River Industrial Corridor has become a battleground for issues of environmental justice.

One of the most important environmental justice battles to date began to take shape during the summer of 1996 when the Shintech Corporation publicly revealed its plan to build and operate a $700 million chemical complex for the production of PVC in Convent, Louisiana. A local group of citizens, concerned about the cumulative burden of toxic chemical emissions in the area, the health, safety and environmental consequences of yet another massive facility, the continuing decline in employment and economic conditions, and other issues, organized as St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment. Opposition to the Shintech facility resulted in the filing of complaints with the EPA under Title V of the Clean Air Act of 1990 and under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This quickly emerged as a national test case for environmental justice.

The Commission determined that it must take a proactive approach in weighing the evidence before it. Accordingly, the Commission re-framed the assumptions that have historically resulted in inequitable environmental conditions and decisions. The Commission employed an environmental justice framework, which (1) incorporates the principle of the right of all individuals to be protected from environmental degradation, (2) adopts a public health model of prevention (eliminating threats before harm occurs), (3) shifts the burden of proof to polluters/dischargers who do harm, discriminate or who do not give equal protection to all people, (4) allows disparate impact and statistical weight, as opposed to "intent," to infer discrimination, and (5) redresses disproportionate impact through "targeted" action and resources.

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MAJOR FINDINGS

1. DISPROPORTIONATE TOXIC BURDEN

The Commission found clear and overwhelming evidence of a preexisting disproportionate toxic burden that is already being borne by low-income and African-American residents of the Mississippi Industrial Corridor in general and Convent, Louisiana in particular. The addition of the Shintech PVC complex or any other similar facility will only exacerbate this disproportionate burden. The Commission echoes the resounding sentiment of local residents that "enough is enough." Not only does the Commission conclude that a permit should not be granted for the proposed Shintech facility, but that steps must be taken to alleviate the burden of the already pre-existing toxic burden in the area.

1-1. TOXIC BURDEN IN ST. JAMES PARISH

St. James Parish is already over-saturated with hazardous industrial facilities emitting enormous amounts of toxic chemicals into the environment. St. James Parish occupies an area of 241.6 square miles. It has a population of 20,879. Over 15.5 million pounds of toxic chemicals were emitted in 1995. Within 4.5 miles of the two Convent elementary schools, an area which is over 80 percent African-American, 10 facilities emitted 16,167,915 pounds of air toxics in 1995. These chemicals and other hazardous substances include the following:

MAJOR TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY (TRI)* CHEMICALS
AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS IN ST. JAMES PARISH

Ammonia	Chlorine
Dioxin	Volatile organic compounds
Hydrochloride	SO3
H2SO4	Ozone
Particulates	Grain dust

*The Toxic Release Inventory is a database collection maintained by the EPA that publicly discloses the toxic chemicals released into the environment by every manufacturing facility in the U.S.

TABLE I

TOXIC AIR POLLUTANT RELEASES PER SQUARE MILE PER YEAR (1995)

United States (12.1 %*)	382 lbs./sq. mile
Louisiana (30.8 %)	1,943 lbs./sq. mile
Industrial Corridor Parishes (36.8%)	2,708 lbs./sq. mile
St. James Parish (49.6%)	30,560 lbs./sq. mile
Convent Area, w/o Shintech (83.7%)	251,179 lbs./sq. mile

* African-American percentage of population (Source: 1995 Toxics Release Inventory, 1990 U.S. Census)

 

TABLE II

TOXIC AIR POLLUTANT RELEASES PER PERSON PER YEAR (1995)

United States (12.1%) *	7 lbs./person
Louisiana (30.8%)	21 lbs./person
Industrial Corridor Parishes (36.8%)	27 lbs./person
St. James Parish (49.6)	360 lbs./person
Convent Area, w/o Shintech (83.7%)	2,277 lbs./person

* African American percentage of population

(Source: 1995 Toxics Release Inventory, 1990 U.S. Census)

St. James Parish ranks third in the state for total toxic emissions. It ranks second in the state for toxic emissions to surface water, and fourth in the state for toxic emissions to air.

TABLE III

TRI FACILITIES IN ST. JAMES PARISH

Air Products & Chemicals	St. James Sugar Co-op
Star Enterprises	Colonial Sugar
IMC-Agrico (Faustino)	Laroche Industries
Chevron Chemical	Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical
Shintech (proposed)	American/Gulf Coast Iron Reduction (new)
Occidental Chemical	Louisiana Iron Works (new)
IMC-Agrico (Uncle Sam)	KM-Iron LLC (proposed)

TABLE IV

TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY (TRI) EMISSIONS FOR MISSISSIPPI INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR PARISHES (1995)

Parish	TRI Emissions (lbs.)
Ascension	47,567,571
Jefferson	34,409,425
East Baton Rouge	32,315,733
St. James	16,693,720
St. Charles	15,472,652
St. John the Baptist	6,424,841
Iberville	4,870,550
Plaquemines	2,843,112
West Baton Rouge	1,958,520
Orleans	727,246

(Source: Toxic Release Inventory, 1995, Compiled by Florence Robinson, Louisiana Environmental Action Network)

1-2. DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND LOW-INCOME PERSONS

The concentration of polluting facilities in Convent, Louisiana disproportionately burdens low- income, African-American residents. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality ( LDEQ ) already has permitted several massive polluting facilities in the Convent community where Shintech proposes to locate. There are six other chemical facilities within a 4-mile radius; these include Star Enterprises, Air Products, Chevron Chemical, Occidental Chemical, IMC-Agrico/Uncle Sam, and IMC-Agrico/Faustina.

The affected community within a four-mile radius of the proposed Shintech facility is 83.7% African-American and has a median income of $11,476. Overall, 49.6% of St. James Parish is African-American. St. James Parish has a lower median income than a majority of parishes in the state that have less pollution and fewer African-Americans residents. St. James Parish has a median income of $23,000, which is $7,000 less than national average, and third lowest in the Lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor.

MAP OF ST. JAMES PARISH

(click on map to view)

TABLE V

PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN GIVEN POPULATIONS

United States	12.1%
Louisiana	30.8%
Corridor Parishes	36.8%
St. James Parish	49.6%
Shintech Area	83.7%

(Source: 1990 U.S. Census)

1-3. MULTIPLE ADVERSE IMPACTS

Community residents describe multiple impacts from a high toxic burden that have drastically impacted their quality of life. Residents descriptions of their community as a "toxic sandwich" and the multiple impacts on health, economy, and quality of life on St. James Parish residents are compelling. (Later sections of this report will describe these impacts in detail.) The Commission was struck by the correlation between demographic and pollution studies and the Convent citizens' complaints. Adverse disproportionate impacts come in many forms. These include the following:

MULTIPLE IMPACTS OF INDUSTRIES ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN CONVENT, LOUISIANA

Property Values

• lowered fair market values because of stigma from surrounding industries
• damage from pollutants that accumulate on property
• rotting vegetation and inability to grow plants

Burdens on Community Infrastructure

• unsafe evacuation routes; poor roads; heavy truck traffic
• inability of emergency response crews to adequately respond to chemical accidents
• poor condition of some homes make them unsafe for protecting residents from airborne contaminants
• lack of funds for infrastructure and police/fire protection because of 10-Year Industrial Property Tax Exemption granted by state to industries

Health

• widespread respiratory ailments, especially in children
• high cancer mortality rates
• annual exposure to more than 16 million pounds of toxic air contaminants

Lifestyle

• loss of self-sufficiency since the pollution precludes localized hunting, fishing, and farming
• very little outdoor recreational activities in order to avoid air pollutants and noxious odors
• frequent medical emergencies for children suffering from asthma

Education

• students suffering from respiratory ailments and other illnesses miss significant number
  of school days; learning time is disrupted by these illnesses
• students attending the Romeville Elementary School are in close proximity to the proposed Shintech site and would be exposed to emissions of hazardous air pollutants from Shintech's three chemical plants and incinerator.
• loss of revenue to public schools as a result of the 10-Year Industrial Property Tax Exemption granted by the state to industries

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2. HEALTH EFFECTS

The Commission heard numerous accounts of health problems that are suspected of being caused by the enormous toxic burden present in St. James Parish and its environs. The vast majority of local residents who offered testimony at the March 21, 1998 hearing spoke of health concerns.

2-1. INCREASING HEALTH PROBLEMS OBSERVED

There appears to be a definite trend of increasing health problems. Most glaring are complaints about respiratory problems, such as asthma. Other problems reported included leukemia, skin rashes, lung damage, premature death, and others. Researchers at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Xavier University have documented the above. Although the Commission understands the difficulties of inferring causality from observed associations between the existence of pollution in the environment and health problems, such possible causal linkages, as of yet, have not been ruled out. The picture provided by St. James residents and researchers at Xavier indicate a vulnerable population.

There is an extremely strong belief that health problems are on the increase. Rising numbers of children with asthma and other illnesses are of most concern to Convent parents and grandparents. Parents recounted emergency visits to the hospital because their children were having difficulty breathing. Family members described the steroid medication that their children must take to treat the asthma, which has its own side effects. Some children suffering from asthma must use respirators. Children with chronic respiratory ailments cannot play outdoor games or sports because of airborne contaminants. Family members expressed concern about the secondary effects of these illnesses that prevent their children from normal social development.

Children also suffer abnormal physical development as a consequence of steroid medication for respiratory ailments. Residents explained that people are dying at younger ages not because of accidental deaths or murders, but because of cancers and diseases that affect internal organs.

Family members and neighbors have skin rashes and are constantly sick.

2-2. CUMULATIVE EXPOSURES

Cumulative risks from exposure to multiple chemical emissions and other sources of

contamination have become a major problem in St. James Parish, particularly in the area around Convent. Multiple pollution sources include ten polluting facilities, grain storage elevators, pesticide spraying in fields, and waste piles. Hazardous chemicals of varying quantities that are released into the area include ammonia, chlorine, dioxin, volatile organic compounds, hydrochloride, SO3, H2SO4, and others. Poverty and other problems exacerbate such cumulative exposure.

Toxic air pollution loading in the area is significant. Facilities within a four-mile radius of the center of the Shintech site released 7,207,050 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in 1995. This area also received 93% of the 16,693,720 pounds of the total toxic emissions in the Parish in 1995. St. James Parish was in non-attainment status for ozone levels every year until 1996. Under new, stricter ozone and particulate standards recently set by EPA, St. James Parish will be even farther from attainment of clean air.

2-3. VULNERABLE SUBPOPULATIONS

Within two miles of the proposed Shintech plant boundaries, there are 503 households with more than 1500 people, including a public housing project and three churches. Two elementary schools and one head start center (Romeville and Fifth Ward) are located approximately one mile from the proposed Shintech plant boundaries. These educational facilities have a total of 700 students and employees.

Accordingly, residents believe that the Romeville/Convent area is an especially inappropriate site for a hazardous chemical manufacturer. In the voting district for this area, 42.6% of people are in age groups that are especially vulnerable to toxic chemical effects and/or accidents, i.e., children under 18 and the elderly over age 65. Residents expressed concern over the impacts of pollution on the health of developing fetuses and infant children. Studies have show that fetuses, neonates, infants, children, and pregnant women are more susceptible to adverse impacts of pollution.

2-4. EXCESS CANCER MORTALITY

A recent review of cancer mortality data in St. James Parish for the years 1979-1992 revealed excess cancer mortality for all residents of St. James Parish. A total of forty-one (41) types of cancers have been identified that may be linked to environmental exposures. A total of five hundred twenty-eight (528) deaths from cancer were reported in St. James Parish and analyzed in the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Cancer Mortality Study. Two hundred fifty-three (253) black and one hundred seventy-seven (177) white deaths from cancer were reported. In all categories of cancer, black deaths due to cancer are higher than expected when compared to the state averages. During the time period from 1979 through 1992, in St. James Parish only white male and female cancer of the lung, trachea, bronchus, and prostate did not have excess mortality when compared to the state of Louisiana. These findings indicate that there is a serious problem with cancer mortality in St. James Parish. Although the cause of this excess mortality is not definitely known, the large number of industries in the parish that emit toxic, carcinogenic chemicals cannot be ruled out as a factor.

2-5. PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS

Psychological and social impacts are a distinct and real effect of living in proximity to polluting chemical facilities. In addition to suffering the direct effects of chemical exposures on their bodies, residents also live in fear of the health effects of the plants on themselves and their children, and consequently exhibit a series of stress-related physical and mental disorders. This situation, where people live in such constant fear, may in itself constitute a violation of basic human rights.

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3. ROUTINE EMISSIONS AND INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

The chemical hazards posed by the proposed Shintech facility to the local community can be considered in two broad categories: those caused by routine emissions and those caused by chemical spills and other accidents.

3-1. THE PROBLEM WITH "ROUTINE EMISSIONS."

According to LDEQ, Shintech would be permitted to emit over 600,000 pounds of toxic chemicals and over 3 million pounds of other air pollutants into the air each year. This figure includes emissions from valves, pumps, compressors, sampling connections, pressure relief devices, flanges, and open-ended lines -- all of which are common at vinyl production facilities. Other emissions come from incinerators, boilers, thermal oxidizers and flares, wastewater treatment units, etc. All of these are sources of pollution that migrate into the community.

Such routine air emissions include cancer-causing chemicals such as vinyl chloride. In its most recent proposed rules for air emissions of vinyl chloride, the US EPA wrote: "[i]n the Administrator's judgment, vinyl chloride emissions from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene dichloride (EDC), and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to result in an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness . . . ."

Epidemiological studies suggest a link between PVC and other kinds of plastic production and community health problems. For instance, in 1997, researchers in the UK found that plastics and other kinds of manufacturers showed 14% higher than average rates of childhood cancers in neighboring communities.

This conclusion is borne out by the testimony residents gave at the Commission's hearing (see Section 2, "Health Effects"). It is also supported by various studies. For instance, a 1987 study conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health found "higher odds ratios for central nervous system birth defects in the areas around the plant that had higher vinyl chloride emissions."

Air emissions are not the only threat Shintech poses. Another 6 million gallons of toxic waste water is expected to be discharged into the Mississippi River, a source of drinking water for local residents and citizens downstream in places like New Orleans. This discharge will routinely contain suspected cancer-causing substances such as ethylene dichloride and other organochlorines.

Even more toxic waste will be generated that will either have to be incinerated, treated on site, or taken off site for disposal, creating potential hazards in treatment and storage. In its incinerator permit, Shintech estimates that its waste will contain a minimum of 44 "major" toxic compounds, many of which are known to cause cancer, and adverse reproductive and developmental effects.

A portion of these chemicals will be emitted from the incinerator stack undestroyed. Moreover, when burned, this "witches' brew" of chemicals will react together and combine to form products of incomplete combustion -- PICs -- including dioxin (see Section 3, above). Heavy metals, which cannot be destroyed in the combustion process, will also be emitted out the stack or left in the ash residues, which must themselves be landfilled.

The effects of the Shintech facility's combined routine emissions cannot be definitively determined. A risk assessment conducted by Shintech suggested that "no significant off-site impact, with regard to increased cancer risk, is expected to occur, even assuming occasional operation at maximum facility emissions." However, it should be noted that Shintech's own risk assessment identifies risks at around 1 in 100,000 and the Clean Air Act requires that EPA impose stricter protective standards if the risk is greater than 1 in 1,000,000.

Moreover, it should be noted that even the most sophisticated risk assessments are an imprecise scientific exercise. Risk assessments routinely omit important factors which are impossible to definitively quantify, such as the synergistic impacts the facility's various chemicals will have when combined together. People are, in real life, exposed to a combination of chemicals from a variety of sources. Shintech's risk assessment also did not account for the existing toxic burdens carried by the citizens of Convent and St. James Parish. As noted before, St. James Parish is already one of the most heavily burdened parishes in Louisiana, (See Section 1, "Disproportionate Toxic Burden"). In addition, Shintech's 1997 risk assessment relied on ambient air concentrations that have subsequently been substantially revised upward by Shintech. Other problems with risk assessments include its emphasis on cancer rather than more sensitive effects, including birth defects and damage to the developmental, reproductive, and immunological systems.

Despite LDEQ's belief that Shintech will pose an acceptable cancer risk to the community, the Commission believes that Shintech's emissions will add to the area's existing toxic burden which, as discussed above, is significant. In addition, the community which bears the risk must be an integral part of defining what those risk should be.

3-2. WORST CASE SCENARIO: ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTAL EMISSIONS

Because vinyl production facilities store large quantities of extremely hazardous substances, the areas at risk in the event of a chemical accident are quite large. For example, it has been estimated that people within a 10-mile radius of either one of the two operating vinyl facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana would be at risk of serious health consequences, including death, should a serious chemical accident occur.

In its permit application Shintech claims that it will not be storing significant quantities of liquid chlorine on-site. However, even a small spill of chlorine (100 lbs.) could affect the health of residents more than one mile away. Shintech has indicated that in a "worst case scenario" it might release 1600 pounds of gaseous chlorine. If Shintech were to release 1,600 pounds of chlorine, the impacted population could be anywhere from 1.6 to over 10 miles away, depending on wind conditions and obstructions.

In its permit application Shintech stated that a worst-case accidental release of up to 133,000 pounds of hydrogen chloride (HCl), a highly corrosive gas, "would define a vulnerability zone of 3.8 miles." EPA's guidance suggests, however, that the vulnerability zone would be at least 10 miles.

The mere storage of toxic chemicals does not mean that a chemical disaster will occur.

However, due to the technological complexity of PVC plants and the hazardous chemicals produced and used, accidents and near misses are bound to happen -- even at "state-of-the-art" facilities with proven engineering standards. The evidence from existing PVC facilities is overwhelming:

** In 1994 Condea Vista in Lake Charles, Louisiana was reported to have had 39 chemical accidents, releasing a total of 129,500 pounds of toxic chemicals. In 1995, Condea Vista reported 90 accidental chemical releases, whereas PPG reported 50.

** On December 24, 1997, a 500,000-gallon storage tank at Borden Chemicals & Plastics in Ascension Parish, Louisiana blew off its top "with a detonation heard for miles around, forcing the closure of Louisiana Route 1 and the voluntary evacuation of some neighbors." Over a year before (August 22, 1996), equipment failure during the restart of Borden's facility caused 8,000 pounds of "hazardous materials" to be released.

** On June 24, 1997, a five-minute leak caused by an overpressured vent in a new ethylene dichloride reactor at the Dow Chemical Canada plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta caused 38 workers to be treated for chlorine inhalation.

3-3. INADEQUATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING AND THE TRAVESTY OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY'S "SHELTER IN PLACE" PROGRAM

The Commission found industrial accidents to be an area of grave concern, particularly in light of inadequate and nonexistent emergency response planning. Industry and local emergency response officials in the Convent area have no evacuation plan in the event of hazardous chemical emergencies, relying instead on a "Shelter in Place" strategy that the Commission believes to be wholly inadequate. In the event of a chemical accident at Shintech, the "Shelter in Place" strategy requires residents to shut themselves in their homes, seal leaks around windows and doors, and turn off their air conditioners and fans until they get a signal that lets them know it is safe to go outside. Residents say that the program is inhumane and would allow Shintech to turn their community into a war zone where people would have inadequate resources to duck and cover, not from bombs, but from lethal, cancer-causing chemicals. At schools, children are being drilled on Shelter in Place similar to atomic bomb drills taught to students during the 1950's. Residents were frustrated that elected officials and their appointed agency heads were recommending the "Shelter in Place" program when it is clear that schools, churches, and many of the houses cannot be completely sealed and would not prevent total exposure to air borne contaminants.

(1) During the emergency hearing in Convent, the Commission heard many accounts of emergency incidents, which residents experienced either at home or when driving by a facility. Residents receive little or no warning when chemical accidents occur. They find out by smelling noxious odors or hearing alarm bells ring at the plants. Often residents hear nothing from plant officials until an incident is over.

Even when alarm bells are ringing, when contacted officials tell residents that they have nothing to worry about because any chemical accidentally released does not go beyond the boundaries of the plant. Residents contend that the plant managers will always deny that the community is in danger because the industries want to avoid liability.

(2) A safe, quick evacuation in the event of a serious chemical accident resulting in an off-site release is virtually impossible in river-side communities such as Convent, given that most people live on narrow, crowded dead end streets next to the river. Residents who live on dead end streets that are crossed by railroad tracks explained at the hearing that a chemical accident involving a train or at a time when a train is passing would block them from accessing the main road, their only possible evacuation route. Children attending the Romeville Elementary School and Head Start program would not easily escape a chemical accident at the proposed Shintech facility.

Furthermore, the clustering of multiple facilities in small areas make emergency response more difficult. The presence of numerous facilities makes it nearly impossible to identify by sound the facility whose alarm bells are ringing. This makes the selection of a safe evacuation route even more difficult.

It is important to note that some toxic clouds can travel one mile in just under 18 minutes while it may take up to 20 minutes to detect an accidental release, up to one hour to notify residents, and even more time to evacuate them. During this time, residents may be exposed to dangerous, or even fatal, concentrations of toxic chemicals.

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4. HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE WITH PVC INDUSTRY

The Commission heard testimony about the history of the PVC industry's impacts on workers, communities, and the environment and notes that in many ways its toxic legacy is unique among industries. Key findings are the following:

4-1. EVIDENCE OF WORKER EXPOSURE AND DISEASE

A huge body of scientific evidence links worker exposure to a variety of diseases. As early as the late 1940s, the PVC industry knew that worker exposure to vinyl chloride monomer, now a known human carcinogen, could cause liver damage in humans. Not until rare cancer deaths came to light in the early 1970s, however, did the industry admit to some of the hazards of vinyl chloride. Documents obtained through litigation have demonstrated industry knowledge about the potential for other health effects in workers, including reproductive damage and brain cancer.

The PVC industry has been cited for its callous disregard for worker health and safety. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the industry for its behavior; "indeed the record shows what can only be described as a course of continued procrastination on the part of the industry to protect the lives of its employees."

In 1975, after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a more protective occupational health standard for exposure to VCM, the vinyl industry took OSHA to court stating that such a standard would devastate the industry. After the court upheld OSHA's exposure standard, the industry was able to implement new technologies and reduce exposure levels to below the new OSHA standard within one year, while expanding operations.

The vinyl industry's indifference to the health of its own workers is not a uniquely U.S.

phenomenon. In November 1997, a judge in Venice, Italy released a preliminary decision which determined that the public prosecutor could go to trial against 31 managers from vinyl producers Enichem and Montedison with charges of multiple culpable homicide, environmental disaster, food contamination, and other charges stemming from the production of vinyl chloride at the Porto Marghera industrial complex.

4-2. PVC FACILITIES DISPROPORTIONATELY LOCATED IN NON-WHITE COMMUNITIES

Initial demographic data indicates that U.S. PVC (EDC/VC) facilities appear to be disproportionately located around poor, often non-white populations. This trend appears to be more extreme in Louisiana. The location of the Shintech facility in Convent (a community that is over 80% African-American) would only exacerbate the situation.

TABLE VI

PERCENTAGE OF NON-WHITE POPULATION AROUND EDC/VC FACILITIES

United States	19.7%
US EDC/VC	30.5%
Louisiana EDC/VC	47.7%
Shintech EDC/VC	83.7%

(Source: 1990 U.S. Census)

4-3. NEGATIVE COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE WITH PVC FACILITIES

Experiences that various communities have had with the PVC industry have been no more positive than that of workers. Not only do residents complain about air emissions, but the vinyl industry has contaminated the groundwater in most communities where it operates, often forcing residents to relocate. For example, in 1987, 106 residents of Reveilletown, Louisiana, a small African-American community about ten miles south of Baton Rouge, filed a lawsuit against Georgia Pacific and Georgia Gulf arguing that they had suffered health problems and property damage as a result of PVC operations. After settling out-of-court for an undisclosed amount, Georgia Gulf relocated the remaining families and then tore down every structure in town, including the church. Management at Dow Chemical's neighboring PVC factory in Plaquemine followed suit soon afterwards, buying out all of the residents of the small town of Morrisonville.

While the industry suggests that major problems are a thing of the past, problems continue to surface. For instance, in late 1997, a Louisiana jury found Condea Vista Chemical Company, a large PVC producer in Lake Charles, Louisiana liable for "wanton and reckless disregard of public safety" for one of the largest chemical spills in U.S. history. Vista was charged (in what observers described as one of the largest environmental damage suits in Louisiana history) for dumping an estimated 19-47 million pounds of ethylene dichloride, a suspected human carcinogen, into the local estuary. Without yet offering equitable compensation, Vista has also contaminated the groundwater in the neighboring poor, African-American community of Mossville.

In March 1998, Borden Chemicals and Plastics and the federal government reached a settlement under which Borden would pay a $3.6 million penalty and clean up groundwater pollution at its plant in Geismar. The fine was described by a U.S. Attorney as "the largest ever for hazardous-waste law violations in Louisiana." The settlement ended a case in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claimed Borden failed to investigate and clean up contamination at its site, failed to report toxic spills, and ran an incinerator without the proper license. Borden said in a news release that the penalty is "less than 1 percent of the $800 million judgment sought by the government."

4-4. RELEASE OF PERSISTENT TOXIC POLLUTANTS

A principal environmental concern about PVC/VCM production facilities is their generation and release of persistent toxic pollutants, including dioxin. One of the most toxic chemicals known to science, dioxin is a by-product of production processes and disposal methods involving chlorine. (PVC uses approximately 1/3 of all the chlorine in the United States. By 2020 nearly half of the chlorine produced in the U.S. is expected to be used for PVC production. The declining use of chlorine in the paper and other industries has resulted in a restructuring of the chemical industry, with PVC expected to pick up the slack in demand from other sectors. The result is a number of expansions at various existing vinyl facilities and proposed new facilities such as the Shintech facility and the Westlake facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana).

Dioxin has been linked to a variety of illnesses, including cancer, reproductive problems, endometriosis, immune system damage, and damage to other parts of the body. Because it has been described as an "environmental hormone," dioxin's effects on the unborn and the young are of particular concern, especially since exposure (from, for instance, breast milk) is highest during this crucial period of development.

Dioxin and other persistent toxic pollutants also build up in the food chain. Thus, dioxins from vinyl chloride production are of particular concern in agricultural communities and in communities where there is a commercial, sports, recreational or subsistence fishing population, as exists near all of the U.S. vinyl production facilities. In most instances there is little data to document the extent of contamination around U.S. vinyl production facilities; however, existing evidence suggests the levels are high. For instance, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report found high levels of hexachlorobenzene, PCB's and hexachlorobutadiene (all of which indicate the presence of dioxin, a chemical which is more expensive to measure), and other toxic and persistent organic pollutants in the sediments and water of estuarial bayous surrounding the PPG and Condea Vista PVC facilities in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area. The same study shows serious fish contamination in these waters. These two companies, along with Chinook, Inc. have contributed higher contamination burdens than the other 40 industries operating in the Lake Charles area.

The vinyl industry claims that it is not a major source of dioxin, but fails to provide independent studies to support this assertion. Some evidence suggests that levels of dioxin in the general environment are declining, yet nothing suggests that this is the case near vinyl production facilities, a source of dioxin that EPA and other agencies have done little to address. For instance, a recent examination of levels of dioxin in sedimentation areas in the Netherlands concluded that "a significant source of PCDD (dioxin) and PCDF (furans) in the sediments of the Rhine river in 1994 still is vinyl chloride production."

While EPA and the vinyl industry have yet to arrange for an independent assessment of dioxin emissions from vinyl production, Greenpeace's testing of production wastes inside PVC facilities has found them to be heavily contaminated with dioxin, PCBs, and other extremely toxic chlorinated compounds. If these wastes were to be accidentally spilled, they could seriously contaminate local soils and groundwater well into the future. (Dioxin and many chlorinated organic compounds are persistent in the environment). In the case of the proposed Shintech facility, these heavily chlorinated wastes would be incinerated, which would result in additional emissions of dioxin and other highly toxic chemicals into the environment.

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5. JOBS AND ECONOMY

The Commission was very struck by the testimony given by local residents and the expert panels concerning the impact of existing polluting industries in St. James Parish on jobs and the local economy. The picture presented was that not only have these industries not contributed significantly to the economic prosperity of St. James residents, but in fact have resulted in significant declines in their prosperity. The following are some of the impacts.

5-1. FEW JOBS AND BENEFITS PROVIDED TO LOCAL RESIDENTS

Residents at the hearings repeatedly stressed that most of the jobs in the existing polluting industries in St. James Parish, many of which require technical skills not possessed by them, go to outsiders, not to local residents. Most of the people employed in the plants commute considerable distances. Informational material produced by Shintech says it will hire local residents, but does not provide guarantees. Estimates by the company indicate that only 165 permanent jobs will be created by the proposed facility. The fact that "very few" of the 165 permanent jobs will go to local residents is confirmed by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

For its proposed facility in Convent, Shintech expects to receive a 10-Year Industrial Property Tax Exemption of $94.5 million, as well as a $35 million sales/use tax rebate. This $130 million amounts to a taxpayer-financed subsidy to Shintech of $787,878 for each permanent job.

Historically, chemical plants have not hired local residents. The fact that polluting industries do not create jobs and prosperity for local residents has been observed repeatedly. A recent survey found that in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, where there are ten chemical facilities, only 164 (8.7%) of 1,878 permanent jobs are held by local residents. Another study concluded "[t]he best evidence currently available indicates that, in the long run, at least 15 percent -- and plausibly none -- of the new employment from plant openings accrue to local residents.

5-2. TOXIC RELEASES/JOB RATIO

In St. James Parish, the amount of toxic releases for every job created is 50 times the national average. Professor Paul Templet of Louisiana State University calls this the Releases/Job ratio, which is in essence a cost/benefit surrogate. In St. James Parish the R/J is 4,901 (pounds of toxic releases per job created) as opposed to a national average of 92. This means that by one measure the citizens of St. James Parish are paying 50 times the cost, in terms of toxic pollution, for the same job that the average U.S. citizen is paying. Other ratios are shown in the following two tables.

TABLE VII

MANUFACTURING TOTAL TOXIC RELEASES PER JOB

New Jersey	11
US	92
Texas	213
East Baton Rouge Parish	639
Louisiana	981
St. Mary Parish	1,910
St. James Parish	4,901

(Source: Dr. Paul H. Templet, Louisiana State University)

TABLE VIII

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TOXIC AIR RELEASES PER JOB

New Jersey	65
United States	513
Texas	897
East Baton Rouge Parish	1,100
Louisiana	1,960
Shintech	3,488

(Source: Dr. Paul H. Templet, Louisiana State University)

5-3. JOBS VS. ENVIRONMENT MYTH

A substantial and growing body of empirical evidence contradicts the myth that the environment must be sacrificed in order to have jobs. This evidence demonstrates that economic development and job creation are positively correlated with a clean environment and good environmental management. Generally, states with high pollution levels have policies which favor the rich at the expense of the poor, which leads to inequity in income levels. States with a high ratio of toxic releases for each job created have higher poverty, more unemployment, and lower incomes than less polluted states. It is increasingly apparent based upon several recent studies that states with cleaner environments have better economies. States with good environments have higher economic growth rates. The explanation for this phenomenon continues to be the subject of research, but in general, cleaner industries use resources with higher efficiency, waste less, and are more competitive. Good environmental policies result in fewer negative externalities, i.e., less pollution, so markets work better and workers are more productive.

5-4. DESTRUCTION OF RESOURCES AND THE MEANS FOR A SUBSISTENCE

LIVELIHOOD

Also presented as a negative economic impact of polluting industries by local residents was the significant loss of wildlife and vegetation, which contribute to the subsistence living of many St. James Parish residents. Fruiting trees such as pecan, fig, peach, and others have died off. Fish, crayfish and oyster beds have been poisoned. And wildlife important for subsistence hunting, such as rabbit and deer, have disappeared. Not only have important food sources disappeared, but the ability of residents to gather and sell these for cash has also gone. With the decline in the prosperity of local residents, many local businesses have also left the area. A number of residents complained that they must now commute great distances simply to buy groceries and other necessities.

5-5. LOSS OF TAX BASE AND REVENUES

Another potential negative economic consequence resulting from the proposed Shintech facility is the loss of tax revenue from the land where the facility is slated to be built. One of the expert panel members, Professor Paul Templet of Louisiana State University, pointed out that Louisiana is one of a few states that allows state government to give tax concessions to industries that take away from the local tax base without the local government's approval. Thus, potential money to support schools and local services is taken away, and is done so without community input.

Specifically, approximately 28% of the money from Shintech's tax breaks (about $27 million) would otherwise go to St. James Parish schools. An added irony is that such industry puts added burdens on the local infrastructure, such as roads, water, and sewers, with little commensurate increase in revenues to up-grade and maintain them.

5-6. ECONOMIC COSTS OF POOR HEALTH AND PREMATURE DEATH

Finally, the negative economic impacts of increased health costs potentially resulting from new pollution sources cannot be ignored. Health costs as a share of family income are very high in Louisiana. They are the 3rd highest in the U.S. behind Tennessee and West Virginia -- states with very poor R/J ratios. (See Section 5-3, above). Much research suggests strongly that pollution drives health costs upward, as other research has also indicated. Nearly overwhelming to the Commission was the great number of reports by local residents of health problems experienced by them and their children. To the extent that significant new sources of pollution will aggravate these health problems, the health care costs of residents can be expected to increase. This represents not only significant costs born directly by residents, but also to the local economy due to loss of workdays by sick and/or incapacitated employees.

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6. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The Commission found a community that was economically impoverished and suffered tremendous social neglect and racial discrimination. Despite these hardships, the citizens of St. James Parish have produced some remarkable leaders. As a result of the fight to stop Shintech for nearly two years, as well as other struggles, citizens have educated themselves on some difficult and complex issues. Citizens have used this knowledge to organize themselves, form alliances with other groups, and advocate at local, state, and national levels of government and through the media. One of the principles of environmental justice, as adopted by the 1991 People of Color Summit on Environmental Justice, is "the right of people to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making. . ." This principle of environmental justice is a matter of great importance in this struggle to stop Shintech, as is the fundamental democratic right to citizen participation in government. In a very real way, the struggle in St. James Parish is a test case for democracy at work.

With the exception of voting, there is probably no greater exercise of democracy than citizen involvement in governmental decisions. In the form of public hearings and written comments, citizen participation should be an integral part of informing governmental bodies and shaping their decision on environmental issues. Environmental laws acknowledge that the impacts of pollution on the environment and human health are of public concern and, consequently, require that permit decisions take into account the opinions, questions, and information that citizens provide through the public participation process.

6-1. VAST MAJORITY OF CONVENT RESIDENTS OPPOSED TO SHINTECH

The role of public participation in the Shintech case has been important in demonstrating community views on the proposed PVC complex and the disturbing role of government in Louisiana. Members of the Commission found during the two days of public hearings by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on Shintech's revised air permits and environmental justice issues (January 23-24, 1998) that the vast majority of citizens were opposed to the proposed PVC complex. The hearings took place in a school gymnasium. Many of the citizens posted anti-Shintech signs on walls and wore buttons. According to a news report in The Advocate, if the gymnasium had been a boat, it would have capsized because of the numbers of people gathered on one side of the gym in opposition to Shintech. There was an overwhelming presence of citizens, who gave compelling statements about the existing environmental degradation and health problems that would be worsened by Shintech's pollution.

During the permitting process, the LDEQ was presented with, but chose to ignore, a petition in opposition to Shintech that was signed by over 1,000 local residents. In addition, the LDEQ and Louisiana Governor Mike Foster were presented with, and again chose to ignore, a petition in opposition to Shintech signed by the founding families of Convent's Freetown-Romeville area who represented over two-thirds of the property owners in Freetown.

Government decision-makers even ignored independent polls regarding opposition to Shintech. In a January 1998 poll commissioned by The Times-Picayune newspaper, 52% of Convent residents living in the district where the proposed Shintech site is located indicated that they were strongly opposed to the PVC complex (10% had not formed an opinion). According to the poll, 72% of Convent residents believed that Shintech would harm the environment. Opposition to Shintech was found to be stronger among African-American residents than whites. The poll results were consistent with the findings of Commission members attending the public hearing, where an overwhelming majority of residents expressed their concerns of the Shintech facility increasing pollution levels and the risk of toxic exposure.

The Commission found that Governor Foster had a key role in portraying Convent as a community in favor of the siting of Shintech, even though that would have meant an additional 600,000 pounds of toxic air contaminants and other pollution. During the Commission's hearing, Convent residents living closest to the proposed Shintech site complained that Governor Foster never talked to them about their views on Shintech when he traveled to their neighborhood and announced that the community was in favor of the PVC complex. It is only through public participation and publicizing facts that the majority of residents have been able to demonstrate their opposition to Shintech.

6-2. GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS SHINTECH PRIOR TO PUBLIC NOTICE

Louisiana residents were made aware of Shintech's proposal to build a PVC complex in August, 1996. However, the Commission takes note that in February and April, 1996, several months prior to public notice and the filing of permit applications, both Governor Mike and St. James Parish President Dale Hymel sent letters to Chihiro Kanagawa, President of Shintech's parent company Shin-Etsu, pledging the support of their respective administrations to locate the PVC complex in St. James Parish. The Commission finds that with this premature commitment of support, the elected officials seriously undermine the public participation process.

If Louisiana officials had allowed the opportunity for meaningful public participation prior to making any decision on the proposed Shintech project, they could have objectively considered the citizen opposition to the plant proposal and reasonably evaluated the costs and benefits of the PVC complex. The extensive research on the toxicity of chemicals that would be produced by Shintech, the impact on the community to have increased pollution levels, the existing public health problems, the potential for chemical accidents, and the inadequacy of local resources to safely respond to an accident were all raised through the public participation process and could have helped officials to make a reasonable, objective decision.

In terms of economics, officials could have objectively evaluated the benefit of Shintech's offer of 165 permanent jobs (which would require technical skills that would virtually preclude employment of local residents). Officials could have weighed the economic value of Shintech's chemical production facility against state tax exemptions of over $130 million, approximately $800,000 for every job offered by Shintech. A serious economic analysis would have called into question the future of Shintech's proposed operation by the rising number of foreign countries and U.S.-based institutions that are phasing out or restricting the use of PVC products. The Commission takes note of the fact that the above concerns and issues have arisen only because of the dogged determination of citizens and organizations to participate in the decision making process.

6-3 BIAS BY STATE OFFICIALS IN THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS

Residents and organizations opposed to Shintech have been subjected to threats, harassment, intimidation, and slander. The bias in favor of Shintech by elected officials and agency employees and their uneven approach towards public participation, raise numerous issues regarding constitutionally protected rights and the role of government.

One of the first signs of bias by the government in favor of Shintech occurred during a December 9, 1996 public hearing conducted by the LDEQ on the proposed air permits for Shintech's three chemical plants. The public hearing was the first opportunity for citizens to learn more about the Shintech project as well as to present information, raise questions, and express their views to government decision-makers. However, citizens complained to the EPA of being shut out of the public hearing as a direct result of the LDEQ allowing only Shintech supporters -- employees, consultants, and contractors flown in from Texas -- to speak for the first 90 minutes of the evening hearing. The following hour of the public hearing was dominated by Shintech supporters and representatives. According to written complaints by Convent residents and environmental organizations that were sent to the EPA, citizens, who arrived at the hearing before Shintech representatives, were not allowed to speak until after 10 p.m.; others left without speaking. The hearing did not conclude until after 1 a.m.

The Commission finds that the citizens' claims of bias and unfairness in the public hearing is supported by a disturbing memorandum from Shintech representatives that was addressed to employees and consultants. In the internal memorandum, Shintech representatives congratulate each other for successfully frustrating citizen input at the December 9, 1996 hearing. The memorandum makes it clear that the company planned to dominate the hearing with Texas-based representatives and stifle the voices of Louisiana citizens. More alarming is that the memorandum was discovered in the office of the Parish President during a research of parish records.

The Commission notes that, in response to citizen complaints, EPA recommended that the LDEQ hold another public hearing and in the future not allow hearings to continue to such a late hour. The LDEQ did not follow the recommendation. Instead, it extended the written comment period for two weeks. As a consequence of the biased public hearing, a legislative bill was introduced by State Representative Roy Quezaire (D-58), who represents the Convent community. The bill, now passed into law, requires that residents living nearest a proposed project be given the opportunity to speak at the beginning of a public hearing. However, the LDEQ has chosen to implement this law in a biased manner; after those living nearest a proposed project speak, LDEQ requires that plant opponents wait to speak until after all plant supporters have finished speaking.

6-4. INFLUENCE OF MONEY

Members of the Commission found that citizens have had to overcome and continue to face efforts by Shintech and governmental agencies to weaken their opposition to the proposed chemical complex. Such efforts have included persuading the president of the Louisiana Chapter of the NAACP, Ernest Johnson, to speak out as a Shintech proponent. As a civil rights leader, Johnson has a controversial role in the Shintech case because of the issues of racial disparity evident in the siting of the proposed toxic chemical facility.

The Commission found a disquieting web of money that links Johnson to Governor Foster's administration. Public records requested by a news reporter reveal that a group led by Johnson received $2.5 million in unsecured state loans. According to the news article, despite objections from his staff, Kevin Reilly, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, was instrumental in getting the loan approved. Within hours of receiving the loan, Johnson broke his silence on Shintech and harshly attacked opponents of the plant. In addition to the Foster administration, Johnson was also assisted by the Entergy Corporation, which provided the matching funds in the amount of $100,000 required for the loan. Entergy is one of the largest utility companies in the U.S. and owns the property that Shintech has an option to buy as the site for the PVC complex. Entergy also anticipates $70 million in annual sales of electricity to Shintech.

The Commission takes note of a media packet distributed by Johnson that attacks the citizen-led struggle against Shintech. Johnson defends his support of Shintech by referencing a survey conducted by the local NAACP president, with the aid of Shintech supporters, purportedly showing that the majority of people living closest to the Shintech site are in favor of the chemical plant. However, residents living on four streets nearest the Shintech site explained at the Commission's hearing that they were never interviewed for the survey. In addition, the Commission acknowledges that the survey contradicts the showing of an overwhelming majority of residents opposed to Shintech at permit hearings, the Commission's hearing, and the survey published in The Times-Picayune. (See Section 6-1 "Vast Majority of Convent Residents Opposed to Shintech"). The Commission was promised a copy of the survey as well as documentation of the survey methodology by Grayling Brown, President of the St. James Parish NAACP, but such was not provided.

The dual role Johnson has played in the Shintech case is worthy of mention. Prior to supporting Shintech and receiving a multi-million dollar unsecured state loan for his group, Johnson gained entry into the community by introducing himself as supporting the residents' struggle to stop Shintech. Johnson even held an NAACP conference and rally at Southern University in June 1997 where he read to the audience of community groups, environmental justice activists, and civil rights activists a resolution that urged denial of Shintech's permits. But after receiving the sizable state loan, Johnson attacked these very same groups and activists.

6-5. THREAT TO CITIZEN GROUPS

The Commission notes that, since the December 9, 1997 hearing conducted by LDEQ, suppression of citizens' involvement in challenging Shintech has expanded to include threatening other organizations. News accounts detail Governor Foster's approval of his administration investigating non-profit organizations that have publicly opposed Shintech. The tax exempt status of one such group, the Louisiana Coalition for Tax Justice, has been questioned by Kevin Reilly, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, who had his staff investigate the organization because of an editorial written by one of its staff members that opposed Shintech.

Reilly has also investigated the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which represents Convent residents in raising legal challenges that oppose permitting the Shintech facility. His investigation follows the Governor's documented assault on the Clinic for purportedly taking away jobs from the State of Louisiana by providing legal assistance on environmental issues. The Governor has held meetings with business associations urging them to stop making contributions to Tulane University. Foster has also argued in favor of revoking Tulane University's tax exempt status.

The Commission is particularly alarmed by the egregious actions taken by the Foster administration that attempt to silence citizens and weaken their coalition of supporting organizations. Citizens and environmental groups have done nothing more than lawfully challenge permitting decisions, and question the benefits of the proposed Shintech facility for Louisiana. These actions are protected by the U.S. Constitution and the federal and state laws that allow non-profits to advocate, the Tulane Law Clinic to assist clients, and citizens to challenge permit decisions. The Commission concludes that the goals of public participation clearly have been grossly undermined in the Shintech case.

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CONCLUSION

The Emergency National Commission on Environmental and Economic Justice found Convent, Louisiana to be a community in crisis. The Commission found an economically impoverished community that suffers tremendous social neglect, racial discrimination, and environmental degradation. The independent panel of experts and leaders made specific findings in the following six areas: (1) disproportionate environmental impact; (2) health effects; (3) accidents and routine emissions; (4) historical experience of the PVC industry; (5) jobs and the economy; and (6) public participation and accountability. No single finding or set of findings should be examined in isolation from each other. Rather, it is very likely that these are usually found together, thereby forming a set of cross-cutting concerns which, when taken as an integral whole, represent a classic case of environmental and economic injustice.

This Commission wishes to reiterate its basic conclusion that there already exists a situation of clear-cut disparate environmental impact, which the addition of Shintech or any other similar facility will only exacerbate. Fundamentally, the Commission found that the issue is not merely whether or not Shintech should be allowed to operate; rather, the issue is how to develop democratic, and rational economic and social processes to achieve environmental justice and sustainable communities in the Mississippi River Corridor -- to make this a place that every citizen, regardless or race or income, finds worth living in.

The Commission therefore calls upon government agencies, elected officials, and social institutions to work with these citizens to develop proactive, integrated, and bottom-up strategies to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. The Commission specifically calls upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to address the problem of disproportionate toxic burden in the Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, including Convent, Louisiana, in particular. This means that EPA and LDEQ should withhold a permit to Shintech or any similar facility until such time as these disproportionate impacts are alleviated.

In addition to the above conclusion, the Commission wishes to make the following observations.

(1) Shintech proponents should not offer the hope of jobs as a reason for supporting yet another noxious facility in Convent, Louisiana. The evidence is overwhelming that very little employment opportunity for local citizens, especially those who are poorly educated, will flow from the Shintech facility. More importantly, residents of Convent or anywhere else should not have to chose between a clean environment and gainful employment. It is incorrect to presume that those who oppose Shintech are opposed to all economic development. Nothing could be further from the truth. We found that the issue for many Convent residents is about advancing a different type of economic vision that values their communities.

(2) Despite many hardships, the citizens of St. James Parish have produced some remarkable leaders. As a result of the long fight to stop Shintech and other struggles, citizens have educated themselves on some difficult and complex issues. These citizens have used this knowledge to organize themselves, form alliances with other groups, and advocate at local, state, and national levels of government and through the media. On the other hand, the LDEQ has failed miserably in its obligation to provide an opportunity for meaningful public participation. Had genuine outreach and up-front involvement of the local community been undertaken, the glaring fact of the preexisting toxic burden in the area and deep-rooted feelings on the part of local citizens about this burden would have been evident.

(3) There was an overwhelming sense on the part of Commission members that the problems raised by residents and experts in Convent, Louisiana represent fundamental violations of human rights. The international community has enshrined into law, via a number of international treaties, various rights which they have declared to be basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the Optional Protocol to the latter covenant, are the four major United Nations legal instruments that seek to define and guarantee the protection of fundamental human rights.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has also developed certain international conventions which flow from the aforementioned international legal instruments. For our purposes, the most relevant of these is the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The United States ratified this Convention in 1994, and in 1992 ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (without the Optional Protocol). Accordingly, the Commission finds that these instruments, which reflect international human rights law, can be used to draw attention to what the Commission believes is a pattern of gross and consistent violations of human rights in Convent, Louisiana. The Commission will develop a strategy to share its findings with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

(4) The concept of "from plantations to plants" serves in large part to explain why the dramatic pattern of high proximity of African-Americans to multiple polluting industrial facilities, local economic and social decline in the face of massive financial and facility investment, and greater vulnerability to ecological destruction. An unmistakable part of the history of the Lower Mississippi Industrial Corridor is the legacy of slavery and institutionalized racism. A century ago, there existed "a brutal system that exploited humans and the land." It cannot be disputed that much of the dynamics we have chronicled in this report are vestiges of that unfortunate system.

(5) The Commission found that out of the Shintech struggle has grown the beginnings of an effort by community residents to critique the present political, social and economic structures and decision-making processes. It is the considered opinion of this Commission that a unique opportunity exists in St. James Parish, Louisiana to restructure the debate, as the local citizens desire, in terms of achieving environmental and economic justice. Because the Shintech case represents a classic case of environmental and economic injustice, it raises a host of far-reaching and fundamental issues for society as a whole to address.

These questions include: How do we as a society reverse the downward spiral of chemical degradation and social and economic deterioration that befalls low-income and people of color communities such as Convent, Louisiana? What do we as a society have to say about the continued manufacturing of substances such as polyvinyl chloride which have known negative health impacts and which have significantly altered life as we know it? In short, how do we make a transition towards the development of truly healthy and sustainable communities? Because all of these important questions are at issue in the Shintech case, we see this case as an historic opportunity to address such weighty matters. Progress made in Convent indeed will result in progress for all of humanity toward developing compatible environmental and economic strategies for the 21st century.

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