St. John the Baptist Parish Denka location to suspend operations citing several factors
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH, La. (WGNO) — Officials with the Denka Plant in St. John the Baptist Parish have decided to suspend operations, citing an 'extraordinary loss' in its financial results for the recent fiscal year.
Denka Performance Elastomer LLC has been at the center of controversy for several years, as it is located in what is called 'Cancer Alley.' Its production resulted in the closing down of Fifth Ward Elementary, a school located less than a mile from the plant.
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The school board, along with environmental agencies, have said the close proximity 'puts students in danger of the mutagenic, carcinogenic effects of chloroprene.'
Denka Company Limited released a list of reasons to indefinitely pause the operation of the plant.
One reason is DPE's significant cost, production and other challenges. The rising costs were the result of the identification, design, purchase, installation and operation of pollution control equipment to reduce chloroprene emissions.
Additionally, Denka officials say DPE faced a declining volume of chloroprene rubberproduction due to operational restrictions caused by:
Pollution reduction measures
Unscheduled plant outages
Severe weather events
This resulted in a recorded loss of 16.1 billion yen, which converts to over $100 million.
The remaining reasons stated are staffing challenges and a 'weakening global economic environment for chloroprene.' Company officials said these factors led to the expectation that improving profitability in the near term would be difficult.
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Members of the group Rise St. James, a grassroots organization that has fought for environmental justice, posted to Facebook that the suspension was a win for St. John the Baptist Parish.
'The EPA's strengthened HON Rule finally put teeth behind what we have long demanded real and enforceable limits on chloroprene. Denka's decision shows cleanup was always possible, but justice does not stop at a shutdown. Every employee deserves the same safety and opportunity we want for our children. Denka must fully remediate the site and fund a just transition that puts people back to work in industries that heal, not harm, our community,' said Founder and Director Sharon C Lavigne.Ford recalls nearly 274,000 SUVs due to risk of loss of brake function
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