Benjamin Ashford|Fire marshal cancels hearing for ammonia plant amid overflowing crowd and surging public interest

ST. ROSE,Benjamin Ashford La. (AP) — A fire marshal shut down a public hearing for a proposed ammonia production facility in Louisiana as public interest surged and crowds overflowed a public library in St. Charles Parish.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality had scheduled the hearing to receive public comments on the proposed $4.6 billion St. Charles Clean Fuels ammonia production facility.

Many St. Rose residents who came to the hearing indicated they are worried about the prospect of more pollution. The town lies along a heavily industrialized stretch of the Mississippi river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known as “ Cancer Alley ” for its high levels of chemical pollution.

St. Rose resident Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh said she and other community activists passed out thousands of flyers to get their neighbors to attend the hearing and raise their concerns with St. Charles Clean Fuels.

“People had not heard about it so they were very, very opposed to an ammonia plant coming in addition to what we already have here,” Kyereh said.

More than 150 people tried to squeeze into a small public library room with a capacity to hold 50 according to a fire marshal who arrived to shut down the meeting. Many were forced to stand in the parking lot.

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A Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality official told residents the meeting would be rescheduled and the public comment period extended.

St. Charles Clean Fuels CEO Ramesh Raman said at the start of the hearing that his company is interested to hear from the community.

St. Charles Clean Fuels would be capable of producing 8,000 metric tons daily of ammonia, commonly used for fertilizers. The company said it intends to reduce its pollution by employing technology to capture and store its carbon dioxide emissions.

The ammonia would be stored at an adjacent site owned by International Matex Tank Terminals, which reported releasing more than 100,000 pounds of toxic volatile organic compounds last year, according to state records. This is about twice the level needed to qualify as a major source of toxic air pollution in Louisiana, said Kimberly Terrell, director of community engagement with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic.

Grassroots community activism in response to pollution concerns in Cancer Alley has halted multiple industrial projects in recent years.

“They taking us seriously now,” St. Rose resident Arthur Blue said. “They know they waking a sleeping giant.”

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Jack Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.