Who:
Becky Gillette
Mississippi Chapter co-chair
Where:
Ocean Springs, MS
On August 6, as with every day, thousands of pounds of dangerous toxics go into the air, water, land, and into deep injection wells at DuPont DeLisle's titanium dioxide plant located near Pass Christian on the MS Gulf Coast. The DuPont DeLisle plant is number one in the entire country for release of PBTs (persistent, bioaccumlative, and toxic substances) into Class I injection wells.
The same month that a trial is to begin with more than 2,200 people alleging DuPont's emissions have caused illness and death, a hearing will be held on DuPont's application for permission to do a $100-million expansion. This is despite widespread health problems in the area and a recent scientific study that reveals oysters in the areas are too contaminated with heavy metals to be safe for consumption.
The photograph at left, taken by a Sierra Club member, shows a plume of pollution reaching from the bayou closest to DuPont across a large section of the Bay of St. Louis. DuPont claims it wasn't releasing anything from the bayou that day. As with all industries in Mississippi, DuPont is self monitored. The Mississippi Dept. of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which has recommended approval of this expansion --the second expansion in one year -- doesn't do any independent verification of DuPont's emissions. The MDEQ serves a shield for DuPont, allowing the company to say it is meeting all permit limits while ignoring the increasing evidence that the bay and the people who eat from it and live on its shores are being poisoned by DuPont's chemical footprint.
The heavy metals and dioxin being released into the Bay of St. Louis on a daily basis will persist for hundreds of years. Sierra Club members and their allies are opposing this expansion, working to protect our families, our health, our seafood industry and the environment.
