HJNO Jan/Feb 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  JAN / FEB 2020 25 Since then, the city has successfully blocked at least three attempts by compa- nies to build new facilities within city limits. But air pollution does not recognize po- litical boundaries. As Louisiana’s regulators and the EPAknow, under certain conditions plumes from a plant can carry pollutants dozens of miles away. Near St. Gabriel’s border is a plant called Shintech. (Illustration 8) It recently received a permit to undergo a massive expansion. The air in St. Gabriel has higher estimat- ed levels of toxic air from cancer-causing chemicals than 99% of the country, our analysis shows. Plants like Shintech con- tribute to those high levels. In the nearby Illustration 7 Illustration 8 Illustration 9 community of Bayou Goula, when Shintech expands, the toxic air levels are expected to worsen by up to 16%, our analysis estimates. But even if St. Gabriel can control how many new plants are built, it can’t kick out existing ones. In 2017, for instance, BCP Ingredients Inc. ranked among the top 10 plants in the country for creating high, toxic levels of cancer-causing chemicals in the air surrounding the plant, according to a Pro- Publica analysis of RSEI data. (Illustration 9)