MEDIA ALERT: Press conference outside Hyundai Steel air permit hearing
MEDIA ALERT: Health, labor, civil rights groups to hold press conference outside of Hyundai Steel air permit hearing
Good Neighbors Louisiana coalition urges stronger air quality protections for residents, workers
MEDIA ADVISORY
September 1, 5:30 pm
Lemann Memorial Center parking lot
(1100 Clay St, Donaldsonville, LA 70346)
MEDIA CONTACT
Alex Mountfield, alex.mountfield@sunstonestrategies.org, (202) 599 7509
Judith Crosbie, judith.crosbie@sunriseproject.org, (929) 584 3344
WHAT: Members of the Good Neighbors Louisiana coalition, including local residents as well as labor, environmental health and civil rights groups, will outline their concerns over proposed permits for the Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel mill in Donaldsonville outside of a public hearing by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The group is concerned that the proposed LDEQ permits for the steel mill will impact community and worker health by exacerbating cancer, asthma, and respiratory and nervous system disease. The group will also voice concerns about the permitting process and non-disclosure agreements signed by elected officials over the project.
WHERE/WHEN: September 1st, 5:30 pm. Parking lot of the Lemann Memorial Center (1100 Clay St, Donaldsonville, LA 70346). After the press conference, Good Neighbors Louisiana members will testify at LDEQ’s air permit hearing, beginning at 6:00pm.
WHO: Speakers will include Modeste residents, as well as representatives from Louisiana Progress, United Steelworkers (District 13) and the Sunrise Community Group of Donaldsonville.
LIVESTREAM & PHOTOS: The press conference will be livestreamed on the Good Neighbors Louisiana facebook page. Photos from the press conference will be available after the event. The LDEQ hearing will not be livestreamed by Good Neighbors Louisiana.
BACKGROUND:
The local community in the Donaldsonville area, where the facility is planned, have voiced concerns about potential health impacts from methane gas iron and steelmaking at the facility, which is known to release toxins such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and airborne lead and mercury linked to cancer and other chronic illnesses.
LDEQ’s “expedited” permit process for the Hyundai steel mill follows a dangerous trend by the Landry administration of rushing through complex industrial siting and permitting processes in total secrecy. Louisiana’s $2.6 billion taxpayer-funded incentive package for the steel mill was negotiated under the cover of non-disclosure agreements Hyundai signed with local elected officials, which continue to restrict access to information by journalists and community members.
LDEQ’s proposed permits do not address serious concerns about Hyundai’s application, including:
- Failure to consider comprehensive electrification of finishing processes, which would significantly reduce the facility’s pollution,
- Failure to control toxic dust that blows off the trucks and storage piles, which include slag and cement dust and other fine particulate matter,
- Failure to provide any details about its carbon capture and sequestration plans,
- Failure to establish a credible timeline for transitioning away from methane gas towards zero-emissions green hydrogen in the ironmaking process,
- Inadequate planning for pollution events, industrial accidents, and other dangerous incidents at the plant, and how the company would deal with community notification.
- Clear, enforceable commitments for how social and economic benefits will be shared with the local community and how these benefits outweigh the costs, environmental or otherwise, to local residents
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