Group fights DEQ on Petroplex permit
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A community group is asking a Baton Rouge judge to void the state’s granting of an air permit for a planned petroleum storage facility along the Mississippi River in Vacherie.
The group, Community Strength, claims the toxic air emissions in St. James Parish will increase substantially due to the emissions from the proposed Petroplex International facility.
The group also notes there are six schools and two daycare centers within a two-mile radius of the planned complex.
Community Strength wants state District Judge William Morvant to vacate the synthetic minor source permit that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality approved July 31 for Petroplex.
DEQ spokeswoman Jean Kelly said Wednesday the agency had just been served with the petition and had not had a chance to review it.
Petroplex International officials could not be reached for comment.
The petition contends DEQ failed to “objectively scrutinize the project’s emission projections and … provide for adequate monitoring to assure compliance with the permitted emission standards.’’
Community Strength argues that nearly 7 percent of the St. James population suffers from asthma.
“This issue was never even addressed in Petroplex’s Environmental Assessment Statement, and LDEQ erred when it issued the permit to Petroplex in spite of this deficiency,’’ the group’s petition states.
Petroplex has said the St. James facility would ultimately cost as much as $700 million.
Company officials have said the first phase of the project would include 4 million barrels of storage space, a tie-in to an existing pipeline, a railroad loading facility and a port to provide access to ships and barges.
The initial phase would create about 500 jobs during peak construction and 100 permanent jobs with an average annual salary of $70,000, plus benefits, officials said.
Subsequent expansions up to the projected 10 million barrel capacity would be done based on market demand, officials said.
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