HJNO Mar/Apr 2020

POLLUTER’S PARADISE 26 MAR / APR 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   know we can vote them out. They have to listen to us.” Zoning is the most powerful weapon in the city’s arsenal. St. Gabriel’s leaders can determine whether a property is zoned industrial, commercial or residential, and thus what can be built. The city’s elected leaders reflect its popu- lation. All of the top officials — the mayor, five-member City Council and police chief — are black, and most have lived in the com- munity for decades. If a new plant moves in, these officials are just as likely to be in the path of air pollution as their constituents. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the chemical industry has opposed subsequent incor- poration drives. Shortly after St. Gabriel became a town, its neighbor, Geismar, just downriver in Ascension Parish, tried to do the same. The industry, neutral on St. Gabri- el’s incorporation effort, fought hard against Geismar’s. Meanwhile, at the state Capitol, lobbyists persuaded lawmakers to bar new munic- ipalities from taking in industrial areas. Geismar’s effort ended when Shell, Borden Chemicals and nine other large petrochemi- cal companies obtained a court injunction preventing residents from taking further steps to incorporate. Few other communi- ties have taken the initiative since. Anti-SFI yard signs cropped up alongside pro-incorporation signs. InAugust 1994, the vote for incorporation passed by a 3-1 mar- gin. Parties broke out, and about 300 people paraded through town. Small Wins, Bigger Losses Twenty-five years after incorporation, St. Gabriel is seeing mixed results. There are better roads, new sewer and water infrastructure, and sidewalks and parks. More ambitious projects have included a new police station and civic center. There have been scandals, too — such as when Mayor George Grace, the town’s first mayor, was convicted in 2012 on brib- ery, racketeering and fraud charges. And St. Gabriel still struggles with crime, poverty and other problems. But as envisioned, city leaders have flexed their muscles to block unwanted projects. In 2015, St. Gabriel rejected a request from Chinese chemical giant Wanhua to rezone 3,000 acres for a vast industrial complex. Wanhua got a much friendlier reception when it took the plan downriver to Con- vent, an unincorporated community in St. James Parish, though the project is cur- rently stalled. In 2017, St. Gabriel thwartedApex Oil Co.’s plans for a 500-acre expansion. That same year, residents rallied against an expansion proposed by a hazardous waste incinera- tor, Adsorbent Solutions, that had numerous air quality violations. City leaders halted the proposal, and a fewmonths later, the incin- erator shut down. Air pollution, of course, does not respect political boundaries. Just outside St. Gabriel’s city limits, in Ascension Parish, the Occidental Chemical plant has been slated for a $147 million dol- lar expansion, and Praxair and Kinder Mor- gan have won approval for new facilities. There’s little the town’s political leaders can do about that. According to Cynthia Gould, who has contracted with the EPA for over 20 years to model toxic emissions, a plant’s highest stacks can carry pollutants 30 miles from their source. In other words, pollution is not some- thing that only affects fenceline communi- ties. It is — or should be — a regional concern. “The highest concentrations normally happen fairly close in to the facility, but under certain conditions high stacks can increase concentrations further out,”Gould said. “When an area is affected by releases from different facilities, the combined expo- sure may be concerning.” What’s happening outside St. Gabriel’s boundaries underscores the town’s limited power to control its own destiny. “The growth of the chemical industry has been aggressive outside of our city,” said Johnson, the mayor. “It’s growing inAscen- sion Parish right alongside us, but it’s not as thoughAscension pollution will stop at the Ascension border.” Still, overall, incorporation has been “a blessing,” Johnson said, adding: “It’s given locals control over their lives, and we’ve used that for the betterment of our lives.” Nonetheless, if Schexnayder were young today, she wouldn’t dream of buying a house in St. Gabriel. “If I was one of these young people, noth- ing in the world would get me to move here,” she said. “We’re still surrounded by plants.” n “But as envisioned, city leaders have flexed their muscles to block unwanted projects. In 2015, St. Gabriel rejected a request from Chinese chemical giant Wanhua to rezone 3,000 acres for a vast industrial complex.”