The Donald Trump administration officially agreed to drop the prominent environmental justice issue in the “Cancer alley” area in Louisiana, which represents a blow to air advocates in the region and his victory over the Japanese petrochemical giant in the midst of litigation.
Legal deposits announced on Friday morning revealed that the Trump Ministry of Justice agreed to reject a long -term lawsuit against the operators of an artificial rubber factory in a reserve, Louisiana, who is allegedly responsible for some of the highest rates of risk of cancer in the United States to the majority of black neighborhoods.
The litigation was presented under the Biden Administration in February 2023 in an attempt to reduce the factory emissions of a pollutor called chloroprene, a potential human carcass. The current operator, the Japanese company, DENKA, and its former owner, targeted the American chemical giant Dupont, and formed an essential part of the efforts of the previous environmental protection agency (EPA) to address environmental justice issues in deprived societies. The trial is scheduled to start in April 2025 after long delays.
Related to: The air in the “Cancer alley” in Louisiana is likely to be more toxic than previously thought
Community leaders in reserve expressed their strong concerns about the future of the issue after Trump returned to the White House after the president moved to the bowel offices within the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Justice responsible for civil rights and environmental justice.
On Friday, 84 -year -old Robert Taylor described a reserve in reserve that a number of family members due to cancer described the move as a “terrible” of his community.
Taylor said: “It is clear that the Trump administration does not care about anything for the poor black people in the alley of cancer,” said Taylor. “[Trump’s] The administration has removed the protection that we had, and what a little hope we had. “
Deposits show that the parties participating in litigation, including Denka and Dupont lawyers, met on Wednesday and agreed jointly with the US Department of Justice to reject the case.
In a statement issued on Friday evening, the Ministry of Justice said that the chapter was complied with an executive order issued by Trump targeting a “farce” and “DEI programs” aimed at “eliminating ideological transgression and restoring the neutral implementation of federal laws.”
The administration claimed that Biden had exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency by taking advantage of the Emergency Law Authority in the Clean Air Law and did not claim that the factory had violated “any criterion of regulatory air quality.”
“We are not organized through litigation, and we do not extend the laws beyond their simple meaning to enhance the schedules of political actions,” said Adam Gustagton, Acting Prosecutor’s Acting Prosecutor.
Long -term exposure to the environmental protection agency for chlorperbrin is 0.2 تر l per cubic meter. Air monitoring all over the factory has often shown dozens of times over this threshold.
A Denka spokesman did not answer questions from The Guardian, but he issued a statement thanking the Trump administration and referring to the Republican governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landre, for his “fixed support”.
The chemical company indicated an investment of $ 35 million in displacement of emissions and said, “Emissions of the facility at the lowest historical level.” The statement added that the company “is still committed to the implementation of the emissions discounts that were achieved during the conversion of the page from this unabated attack and the disposal of our business.”
According to the complaint submitted in 2023, emissions from the factory formed “an imminent and great exposure to public and well -being.” The lawsuit specifically determined the risks to children who live near the factory and those who attend an elementary school located near the fence line in the factory. She noted that the average air monitoring readings near the school between April 2018 to January 2023 showed that those less than 16 years can exceed the risk of cancer in the Environmental Protection Agency within two years of their lives.
On Friday, Taylor pledged to continue to decline against pollution.
“We will fight them and prepare ourselves to continue. We were preparing for the worst, and I don’t know how it could get worse now after the government has completely abandoned, apparently.”
Dubont did not immediately respond to the comment.
