Local environmental activists to speak with officials in D.C. about Louisiana’s air pollution

WASHINGTON D.C – Founders of Inclusive Louisiana Barbara Washington and Gail Leboeuf and co-founder of The Descendants Project Joy Banner are currently in Washington D.C. to address concerns about Louisiana’s air pollution. They will speak with members of the State Department and other government officials. 

Barbara Washington and Gail Leboeuf say they only have about one minute to share their concerns. They will mainly focus on proposing adding buffer zones and 24-hour monitors to highly polluted areas.

“If we have 24-hour monitoring systems in place we can know in real time what is in the air and what is causing us to be as sick as we are,” Washington said. 

Joy Banner will be speaking to members of the state department about bringing awareness to how much chemical plants are affecting historically black communities. 

“I will specifically tell them at the White House that our Port of South Louisiana is actively targeting us,” she said.

Last month, Judge David Cain in Lake Charles ruled that the EPA could not use the Civil Rights Act to fight environmental justice, in which the activists say is bogus.

“The air goes everywhere, but the discrimination is that it is in predominantly low-income, black and indigenous neighborhoods,” Leboeuf said. 

“Title Six is a law that if there are disparate impacts, then you have to fix it. Whether it’s intentional discrimination or not an impact is an impact,” Banner said.

Toronto-based Woodland Biofuels’ proposed a $1.35 billion plan in to the Port of South Louisiana, which could establish one of the largest renewable biofuel production facilities in the world. However, the environmental activists are not in favor of any new industrial plant being added or expanded.

“There’s no acknowledgment that we are there as an existent community. That we’ve been there for generations. It’s like we’re just placeholders until a better industry comes along,” Banner said. 

Inclusive Louisiana has a hearing Oct 7. against St. James Parish. They plan to refile a moratorium against all new sites and expansion of industrial facilities.