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With Carbon Capture Boom, a Wariness in Historic Louisiana Black Community Over More Pollution

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Friday, November 1, 2024

ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch Friday with a challenge to the state's approval process. The battle over the plant is occurring despite the fact that part of the impetus to build it is a provision in a key climate law signed by President Joe Biden. The company claims it will store underground almost all of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide emitted in the production of ammonia, commonly used for fertilizers. Environmental groups warn this is an unrealistic expectation.The Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic is asking the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to recuse itself from deciding on a permit for St. Charles Clean Fuels' ammonia plant next to the Elkinsville community. The agency appears to have already decided to grant the permit, the clinic said, before weighing all public comment, which would be illegal under Louisiana law.The motion comes after a public hearing in September in St. Charles Parish was shut down when more than 150 people tried to fit into a room in a public library the state had reserved. The agency characterized that turnout as “an organized attempt to hinder economic growth and prosperity for the state and local communities.” The department said it plans to reschedule the public hearing for late December and will carefully consider public comments.Elkinsville resident Kimbrelle Kyereh said she is not confident Louisiana environmental regulators are doing enough to protect her community, however. She has made many complaints about fumes coming from a large existing chemical tank storage complex next door, but "no one seems to truly care,” she said.If the state agency were to recuse itself, it would fall to Gov. Jeff Landry to appoint another entity to review the permit application. Landry strongly supports Louisiana's petrochemical industry. Residents live with a long legacy of pollution Like many other communities in the region of the proposed plant, Elkinsville was established by and for free Black people on the periphery of a former Mississippi River plantation. About a century ago, some plantation land was sold off for an oil export terminal. Today, International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMIT) operates a large tank farm storing diesel, ethanol and other chemicals waiting to be loaded onto river vessels. Only a chain-link fence separates it from the homes of Elkinsville.In interviews and public hearings, residents said the new ammonia plant would add to what they already experience: smells so foul they wake up short of breath at night and need to clamp down their windows. Rose Wilright, 80, loves her community, the four streets where she grew up surrounded by relatives whose memories are held in a small cemetery in the center of the town.Wilright said she believes IMTT and the many other nearby industrial facilities are why she has spent nights watching her grandson struggling to breathe with asthma. Now she too relies on an albuterol inhaler and has contracted bronchitis. “It’s just devastating that they trying to bring more chemicals on us,” she said. Company defends its environmental record The new ammonia plant would store its ammonia in IMTT's tanks. IMTT CEO Carlin Conner said he takes residents' complaints seriously. “This is their home,” he said. “We try our best to understand what they’re feeling and saying and then try to fix it.”The bad smells are “obviously a pain for people” but “we definitely do not believe it’s impacting health,” he said. IMTT has invested in tank venting equipment to limit odors, Conner said. He pointed out that the company partners with local charities and supports a welding training program for youth. Even Elkinsville residents who criticize IMTT — many of whom have relatives working there — acknowledge the company has brought economic benefits.St. Charles Clean Fuels, majority-owned by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said in an emailed statement that its ammonia facility was “essential to fighting climate change” and would generate 200 permanent jobs.It reports the facility will produce 8,000 metric tons of ammonia daily and release about 118,700 pounds of ammonia annually. Ammonia buildout propelled by money for carbon capture The new ammonia project is buoyed by federal subsidies intended to make chemical production less damaging for the climate. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act promises companies up to $85 in tax credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they capture and store.Ammonia is widely used in fertilizers but also heralded by industry groups as a potential transport fuel. It is usually made from natural gas, in a process that contributes to climate change. St. Charles Clean Fuels said it will clean up that process, storing its greenhouse gases deep underground. There are dozens of carbon capture and storage facilities proposed across Louisiana.The company said its facility will prevent 5 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released annually. Environmental groups have generally cautioned against carbon capture and storage as a climate solution and urged a transition away from natural gas-based production. They note that carbon capture and storage has been around for decades and has fallen far short of the 99% capture rate promised by St. Charles Clean Fuels. The company did not provide evidence for this figure but said it will employ innovative technology based on auto-thermal reforming, in which oxygen and steam convert natural gas at extremely high temperatures into a byproduct used for ammonia production. The process is marketed by industry groups as improving energy efficiency.Michael Levien, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist who is working on a book about the Elkinsville community, said he believes the Inflation Reduction Act is deepening environmental and racial injustices by encouraging more industrial expansion in heavily polluted areas through its subsidies for carbon capture and storage. Clean air concerns near chemical tank complex The conflict over the federally supported new ammonia plant comes as the Biden administration has wrestled with the state of Louisiana over air quality and environmental health issues it says disproportionately affect Black people.In July, the Environmental Protection Agency fined IMTT over insufficient safeguards and said the company did not conduct appropriate hazard assessments. IMTT said it has since improved its protocols.The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the air quality around Elkinsville tracked by its air monitor was “deemed safe” based on data measured between 2018 and 2023, leading the agency to remove its air monitor.Kim Terrell, environmental scientist with the Tulane law clinic, said the department only monitored continuously for a small number of pollutants. IMTT’s modeling for air near its facility shows high levels of n-hexane, which can trigger respiratory problems, and naphthalene, which the EPA considers a possible carcinogen. Terrell criticized Louisiana’s regulation for these chemicals because they are based on the assumption people will be exposed for no more than an eight-hour workday rather than day and night as residents may be.Louisiana allows for “vastly higher” exposure to these chemicals than recommended by the EPA's health guidelines based on safe levels of long-term exposure, Terrell said.The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the EPA guidelines shouldn't be compared with Louisiana's rules, which are focused on short-term exposure.IMTT said in September it is working with a local environmental group to install several air monitors so nearby residents will know more about their air quality.Terrell said the monitoring system the company plans to install will not meet EPA standards.Meanwhile, Wilright, the lifelong Elkinsville resident whose home is up against the IMTT fence, said that if she could, she would “leave tonight,” despite her family's generations of memories there.She would go “wherever they don’t have chemical plants,” she said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.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. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Residents of the historic Black community of Elkinsville in southeastern Louisiana have elevated their fight against an ammonia plant proposed nearby

ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch Friday with a challenge to the state's approval process.

The battle over the plant is occurring despite the fact that part of the impetus to build it is a provision in a key climate law signed by President Joe Biden. The company claims it will store underground almost all of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide emitted in the production of ammonia, commonly used for fertilizers. Environmental groups warn this is an unrealistic expectation.

The Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic is asking the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to recuse itself from deciding on a permit for St. Charles Clean Fuels' ammonia plant next to the Elkinsville community. The agency appears to have already decided to grant the permit, the clinic said, before weighing all public comment, which would be illegal under Louisiana law.

The motion comes after a public hearing in September in St. Charles Parish was shut down when more than 150 people tried to fit into a room in a public library the state had reserved.

The agency characterized that turnout as “an organized attempt to hinder economic growth and prosperity for the state and local communities.”

The department said it plans to reschedule the public hearing for late December and will carefully consider public comments.

Elkinsville resident Kimbrelle Kyereh said she is not confident Louisiana environmental regulators are doing enough to protect her community, however. She has made many complaints about fumes coming from a large existing chemical tank storage complex next door, but "no one seems to truly care,” she said.

If the state agency were to recuse itself, it would fall to Gov. Jeff Landry to appoint another entity to review the permit application. Landry strongly supports Louisiana's petrochemical industry.

Residents live with a long legacy of pollution

Like many other communities in the region of the proposed plant, Elkinsville was established by and for free Black people on the periphery of a former Mississippi River plantation.

About a century ago, some plantation land was sold off for an oil export terminal. Today, International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMIT) operates a large tank farm storing diesel, ethanol and other chemicals waiting to be loaded onto river vessels.

Only a chain-link fence separates it from the homes of Elkinsville.

In interviews and public hearings, residents said the new ammonia plant would add to what they already experience: smells so foul they wake up short of breath at night and need to clamp down their windows.

Rose Wilright, 80, loves her community, the four streets where she grew up surrounded by relatives whose memories are held in a small cemetery in the center of the town.

Wilright said she believes IMTT and the many other nearby industrial facilities are why she has spent nights watching her grandson struggling to breathe with asthma. Now she too relies on an albuterol inhaler and has contracted bronchitis.

“It’s just devastating that they trying to bring more chemicals on us,” she said.

Company defends its environmental record

The new ammonia plant would store its ammonia in IMTT's tanks.

IMTT CEO Carlin Conner said he takes residents' complaints seriously.

“This is their home,” he said. “We try our best to understand what they’re feeling and saying and then try to fix it.”

The bad smells are “obviously a pain for people” but “we definitely do not believe it’s impacting health,” he said.

IMTT has invested in tank venting equipment to limit odors, Conner said. He pointed out that the company partners with local charities and supports a welding training program for youth.

Even Elkinsville residents who criticize IMTT — many of whom have relatives working there — acknowledge the company has brought economic benefits.

St. Charles Clean Fuels, majority-owned by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said in an emailed statement that its ammonia facility was “essential to fighting climate change” and would generate 200 permanent jobs.

It reports the facility will produce 8,000 metric tons of ammonia daily and release about 118,700 pounds of ammonia annually.

Ammonia buildout propelled by money for carbon capture

The new ammonia project is buoyed by federal subsidies intended to make chemical production less damaging for the climate. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act promises companies up to $85 in tax credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they capture and store.

Ammonia is widely used in fertilizers but also heralded by industry groups as a potential transport fuel. It is usually made from natural gas, in a process that contributes to climate change.

St. Charles Clean Fuels said it will clean up that process, storing its greenhouse gases deep underground. There are dozens of carbon capture and storage facilities proposed across Louisiana.

The company said its facility will prevent 5 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released annually.

Environmental groups have generally cautioned against carbon capture and storage as a climate solution and urged a transition away from natural gas-based production. They note that carbon capture and storage has been around for decades and has fallen far short of the 99% capture rate promised by St. Charles Clean Fuels.

The company did not provide evidence for this figure but said it will employ innovative technology based on auto-thermal reforming, in which oxygen and steam convert natural gas at extremely high temperatures into a byproduct used for ammonia production. The process is marketed by industry groups as improving energy efficiency.

Michael Levien, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist who is working on a book about the Elkinsville community, said he believes the Inflation Reduction Act is deepening environmental and racial injustices by encouraging more industrial expansion in heavily polluted areas through its subsidies for carbon capture and storage.

Clean air concerns near chemical tank complex

The conflict over the federally supported new ammonia plant comes as the Biden administration has wrestled with the state of Louisiana over air quality and environmental health issues it says disproportionately affect Black people.

In July, the Environmental Protection Agency fined IMTT over insufficient safeguards and said the company did not conduct appropriate hazard assessments. IMTT said it has since improved its protocols.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the air quality around Elkinsville tracked by its air monitor was “deemed safe” based on data measured between 2018 and 2023, leading the agency to remove its air monitor.

Kim Terrell, environmental scientist with the Tulane law clinic, said the department only monitored continuously for a small number of pollutants.

IMTT’s modeling for air near its facility shows high levels of n-hexane, which can trigger respiratory problems, and naphthalene, which the EPA considers a possible carcinogen. Terrell criticized Louisiana’s regulation for these chemicals because they are based on the assumption people will be exposed for no more than an eight-hour workday rather than day and night as residents may be.

Louisiana allows for “vastly higher” exposure to these chemicals than recommended by the EPA's health guidelines based on safe levels of long-term exposure, Terrell said.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the EPA guidelines shouldn't be compared with Louisiana's rules, which are focused on short-term exposure.

IMTT said in September it is working with a local environmental group to install several air monitors so nearby residents will know more about their air quality.

Terrell said the monitoring system the company plans to install will not meet EPA standards.

Meanwhile, Wilright, the lifelong Elkinsville resident whose home is up against the IMTT fence, said that if she could, she would “leave tonight,” despite her family's generations of memories there.

She would go “wherever they don’t have chemical plants,” she said.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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Data centers are putting new strain on California’s grid. A new report estimates the impacts

A new report estimates that California’s data centers are driving increases in electricity use, water demand and pollution even as lawmakers stall on oversight.

In summary A new report estimates that California’s data centers are driving increases in electricity use, water demand and pollution even as lawmakers stall on oversight. California is a major hub for data centers — the facilities that store and transmit much of the internet. But just how much these power-hungry operations affect the state’s energy use, climate and public health remains an open question for researchers. A new report released this week by the environmental think tank Next 10 and a UC Riverside researcher attempts to quantify that impact — but its authors say the report is only an estimate without harder data from the centers themselves. “We are just making these reports pretty much in the dark — since there’s almost zero information,” said Shaolei Ren, an AI researcher at UC Riverside and co-author of the report. “We have extremely little information about data centers in California.” Ren and his coauthors conclude that between 2019 and 2023, electricity use and carbon emissions by California data centers nearly doubled, while on-site water consumption slightly more than doubled. Much of the increases were attributable to the electricity required to run artificial intelligence computations. But many of the report’s estimates, including its health impacts, are based on limited data — a key issue researchers said they encountered repeatedly when crafting the report. The report underscores a growing tension in the industry: advocates who support clean energy and experts who study energy demand agree the days of steady, flat energy use at data centers are over, but there’s far less consensus on just how sharply electricity demand will climb. “In very simple terms, a lot of the uncertainty comes from: what is our life going to look like with AI in the next five years, 10 years, 20 years — how integrated is it going to become?” said Maia Leroy, a Sacramento-based advocate who focuses on clean energy and the grid.  “Are we reaching a point where the use is going to plateau, or is it going to continue?” Experts say more transparency is essential to better understand what resources data centers demand in California. Liang Min, who manages the Bits and Watts Initiative at Stanford University, says the state should improve its forecasts for energy demand to support clean energy goals. Min, who investigates AI’s growing strain on the electric grid, told CalMatters that demand at power centers rises in rapid, unpredictable phases and can shift quickly with each new generation of hardware. The California Energy Commission, which plans for energy use and the growth in demand, “can play a pivotal role,” in understanding and adapting to the demands of AI. As demand grows, policy responses lag In Sacramento, efforts to add transparency and guardrails around data centers have struggled this year. California lawmakers shelved most consumer and environmental proposals aimed at data centers, even as they approved a plan to regionalize California’s power grid to help meet demand from the sector. They set aside two bills focused on curbing data centers’ energy use — one requiring operators to disclose their electricity use and another that offered clean power incentives. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a separate proposal that would have required data center operators to report their water use, even after the bill was weakened. In the end, Newsom — who has often highlighted California’s dominance in the artificial intelligence sector — signed only one measure, allowing regulators to determine whether data centers are driving up costs. Mark Toney, who leads The Utility Reform Network and supported the transparency measure, has questioned whether data centers justify the costs they’re pushing onto ratepayers. He warned of the centers’ “voracious consumption of energy and water, increased carbon emissions, and jacking up ratepayer bills.” Hard facts about data centers are tough to find in California because most rent out power, cooling and floor space to other companies, said Ren, the UC Riverside researcher. Such colocation facilities don’t run their own servers or technology, so they report less information publicly than data centers built by major tech companies in other states. While estimates vary, California has the third-most data centers in the country, after Texas and Virginia. DataCenterMap, a commercial directory that tracks data centers worldwide, lists 321 sites across the state. More in California are expected in coming years. The centers operate around the clock and often rely on diesel backup generators to maintain service during power failures — a practice that adds both greenhouse gases and local air pollutants. They also consume energy and water depending on their cooling methods. Rising data-center demand, and rising questions F. Noel Perry, the businessman and philanthropist who founded Next 10, said his organization’s report shines light on what is fundamentally a black box. “To solve a problem, we have to understand what the problem is,” he said.  “We’ve seen the proliferation of data centers in California, in the U.S. and across the world — and we also are seeing major implications for the environment,” Perry told CalMatters. “The real issue has to do with transparency — and the ability of elected officials and regulators to create some rules that will govern reductions in emissions, water consumption.” The report estimated that data centers used 10.8 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023, up from 5.5 terawatt-hours in 2019, accounting for 6% of the nation’s total data center energy use. Unless growth is curbed or better managed, the report’s authors project demand could rise to as high as 25 terawatt-hours by 2028, equal to the power use of roughly 2.4 million U.S. homes. Carbon emissions from the sector nearly doubled during the same period, climbing from 1.2 million to 2.4 million tons, researchers estimated, while on site water use grew from 1,078 acre feet in 2019 to 2,302 acre feet in 2023. That’s enough to meet the annual water needs of almost seven thousand California households. The report’s authors also estimated the public health costs from air pollution associated with data centers have potentially risen, from $45 million in 2019 to more than $155 million in 2023, with the burden expected to reach as high as $266 million by 2028. Most of those costs stem from indirect pollution produced by fossil-fueled power plants that supply the grid. But authors pointed out that regions dense with data centers — particularly Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley — could face higher localized risks from diesel backup generators. Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said the report exaggerates the impact of backup diesel generators, which are tightly regulated and rarely used in California, minimizing their contributions to air pollution. Data centers don’t control the water used in electricity generation, said Diorio. Since those water impacts don’t happen on site, it’s not fair to blame that on the centers themselves.  “It paints a skewed picture of this critical 21st-century industry,” Diorio said in a statement. Diorio said the report also overlooks how cooling technology varies by region and has become more efficient in recent years. But the authors say their findings underscore the need for uniform reporting standards for data centers’ energy and water use. The report said California should establish ongoing local monitoring and review of data centers — and make the findings public. Ren, the UC Riverside researcher, said that California’s cleaner grid and stricter pollution rules are helping blunt some environmental impacts of data centers already. “California — versus the national average — is doing a better job due to the cleaner grid,” he said.

Pollution
Water
Climate

Can Peru Reboot Its Amazon Oil? Pollution Fallout and Local Opposition Loom

By Alexander VillegasSANTA ROSA, Peru (Reuters) -Near a remote bend of the Patoyacu River in Peru's northern Amazon, Wilmer Macusi stood atop a...

SANTA ROSA, Peru (Reuters) -Near a remote bend of the Patoyacu River in Peru's northern Amazon, Wilmer Macusi stood atop a rusty pipeline cutting through the jungle, swirling a branch in the pool of stagnant water surrounding it.“They say this is clean,” said Macusi, a 25-year-old Indigenous Urarina leader, pointing to the spot where an oil spill occurred in early 2023. “But if you move the water, oil still comes out.”Black droplets bubbled to the surface as plastic barriers meant to contain the spill drooped into the water. The pipeline links a nearby oilfield, Block 8, to the larger government-owned North Peruvian Pipeline (ONP). Macusi's community of Santa Rosa lies a short walk away.Peru’s northern Amazon holds hundreds of millions of barrels of crude, according to government data. But Indigenous groups say oil extraction over the past half-century brought pollution, not progress, and are opposed to a fresh wave of development.The region once pumped more than half of Peru's oil, peaking at about 200,000 barrels a day in the 1980s before environmental liabilities and community opposition drove production below 40,000 bpd. Key blocks went dormant in 2020.Now, the region's modest reserves are again central to state oil firm Petroperu's plans. The company has spent $6.5 billion upgrading its Talara refinery into a 95,000-bpd complex aimed at producing high-grade fuels for export. Heavily indebted with a CCC+ junk credit rating from ratings agency Fitch, Petroperu wants to revive Amazon oil output to supply Talara.The state firm estimated last month that proven and probable reserves in the region were worth $20.9 billion, which Petroperu said could deliver $3.1 billion in tax revenues for local governments and communities. While the amount of oil at stake is relatively small, the plans have fueled tensions over past spills, stoking Indigenous opposition at a time Brazil, Ecuador and Guyana are trying to expand their Amazon oil frontiers.Frustration about climate action and forest protection boiled over at the COP30 climate summit this week, when dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the venue and clashed with security guards.Petroperu is also planning to import oil to the refinery by linking the 1,100-km ONP to neighboring Ecuador, which aims to boost production in its own Amazon region as part of a $47 billion oil expansion plan. Hailed as an engineering marvel when it was built in the 1970s, the ONP has since become a lightning rod for leaks, protests and sabotage. Indigenous groups in both countries are resisting the pipeline link-up.The government is weighing options for how best to run the pipeline, including through a joint venture or outsourcing its management.  Petroperu failed to attract an international partner to run its largest oilfield, Block 192, which produced more than 100,000 bpd at its peak but has recently been the focus of Indigenous protests demanding remediation for damage to the forest, soil and waterways.Petroperu's former chairman Alejandro Narvaez, who was fired last month, estimated Block 192 could produce at least 20,000 bpd with investment and overall Amazon production could hit 100,000 bpd.The state oil firm selected domestic firm Upland Oil & Gas to operate the block, but Peru's state oil regulator disqualified Upland last month on the grounds it did not demonstrate financial capacity. Upland disputes the decision and has asked for a review.Petroperu also partnered with Upland to revive production at the smaller Block 8, which produced 5,000 bpd last month.Upland's CEO Jorge Rivera, son of one of Peru's early oil prospectors, told Reuters that Upland has offered Indigenous communities training, jobs and funding."We've dedicated ourselves to understanding the complexities behind operating these fields,” he said.Rivera visited Santa Rosa in March, gifting a Starlink terminal and requesting a report on the community's needs.The community's main demand was the cleanup of the nearby spill, but questions remain over who bears responsibility.Though the operator is responsible for the 108-km stretch of pipeline that runs through Block 8 connecting it to the ONP, Upland's contract exempts it from liability for past pollution.The previous operator, an Argentine subsidiary named Pluspetrol Norte, was fined a record number of times by Peru's environmental regulator OEFA before it filed for liquidation and left the area in late 2020. Eight Indigenous federations and non-governmental organizations filed a complaint to the OECD's Dutch National Contact Point, a mechanism to implement OECD guidelines for businesses, which concluded in September that Pluspetrol had violated Indigenous communities' rights in Peru's Amazon and urged the company to address the environmental damage.In a response to Reuters, Pluspetrol said it already had complied with environmental and human rights regulations and that the NCP statement was "without merit" for not reflecting the "breadth and complexity of the evidence presented and the extent of actions taken by the company."  Decades of scientific research have found high levels of lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic in wildlife and Indigenous people living near Peru's oilfields. Estimated cleanup costs for Block 192 alone stand at $1.5 billion.OEFA registered over 560 environmental infractions including oil spills and others from the ONP or other oil infrastructure in Blocks 192 and 8 from 2011 through September 2025.Petroperu has said any damage is "temporary and reversible" and blamed unspecified "economic and rural-domestic activities" by local communities as the main driver of water pollution.In late 2023, Peru's prosecutor's office said it had broken up a network of businessmen, local Indigenous leaders and a Petroperu employee that it said was orchestrating oil spills to secure lucrative cleanup contracts.  In an interview with Reuters before his dismissal, Narvaez said Petroperu had prioritized cleaning up spills under the regulator's supervision.The government of Peru's interim President Jose Jeri, who took power last month, replaced Narvaez with Petroperu board vice president Fidel Moreno and said it will soon replace Petroperu's entire board of directors.Moreno did not reply to an interview request.Macusi said communities had yet to access a fund from Upland promising 2.5% of oil sales. Meanwhile, meetings with the oil regulator, Perupetro, to discuss funding for community projects have been delayed.After an oil spill from the Block 8 connector pipeline in 2022, Urarina communities held a strike, taking over oil facilities, fields and blockading a river to demand a better state response. Macusi, who as a teen worked hauling buckets of spilled oil, says communities are ready to take action again."If the promised benefits don't come soon, we'll take measures," he said.(Reporting by Alexander Villegas; Additional reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Nia Williams and Katy Daigle)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Pollution
Business
Forests

Pollution, poverty and power: the real cost of environmental inequality in the UK

Cleaner air is progress, but injustice remains. Environmental racism still decides who breathes dirty air, who gets sick and who gets heard.

Cleaner air is progress, but injustice remains. Environmental racism still decides who breathes dirty air, who gets sick and who gets heard.

Pollution

L.A. air officials approve port pollution pact as skeptics warn of 'no clear accountability'

Southern California air officials voted overwhelmingly Friday to give themselves the power to levy fines on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach if they don't fulfill their promises to transition to cleaner equipment.

Southern California air officials voted overwhelmingly Friday to give themselves the power to levy fines on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach if they don’t fulfill their promises to transition to cleaner equipment. The ports remain the largest source of smog-forming pollution in Southern California — releasing more emissions than the region’s 6 million cars each day. The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s governing board voted 9-1 in favor of an agreement that commits the ports to installing zero-emission equipment, such as electric truck chargers or hydrogen fuel pumps, to curb air pollution from the heaviest polluters. The plans will be submitted in three phases: heavy-duty trucks and most cargo-moving equipment by 2028; smaller locomotives and harbor crafts by 2029; and cargo ships and other large vessels by 2030. If the ports don’t meet their deadlines, they would be fined $50,000 to $200,000, which would go into a clean-air fund to aid communities affected by port pollution. The AQMD, for its part, forgoes imposing new rules on the ports for five years. Many environmental advocates voiced disappointment, saying the agreement doesn’t contain specific pollution reduction requirements. “I urge you not to sign away the opportunity to do more to help address the region’s air pollution crisis in exchange for a pinky promise,” said Kathy Ramirez, one of dozens of speakers at Friday’s board meeting. “This is about our lives. I would encourage you to think about why you joined the AQMD board. If not for clean air, then for what?” Port officials and shipping industry officials lauded the decision as a pragmatic way to transition to a zero-emissions economy.“The give and take of ideas and compromises in this process — it mirrors exactly what a real-world transition to zero emissions looks like,” said William Bartelson, an executive at the Pacific Maritime Assn. “It’s practical, it’s inclusive and it’s grounded in shared goals.”The vote answers a long-standing question over how the AQMD intends to reduce pollution from the sprawling trade complex, a focus of environmental justice efforts for decades. The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, known as the San Pedro Port Complex, is the largest container port in the Western Hemisphere, handling 40% of all container cargo entering the United States. Despite years of efforts at reducing pollution, the vast majority of heavy machinery, big rigs, trains and ships that serve the region’s bustling goods movement still are powered by diesel engines that emit toxic particles and nitrogen oxides, a precursor to smog. For nearly a decade the AQMD has vacillated between strict regulation and a pact with the ports with more flexibility. Several negotiations over a memorandum of understanding failed between 2017 and 2022. The board was prepared to require the ports to offset smog-forming pollution from trucks, trains and ships through clean air projects, like solar panels or electric vehicle chargers. Instead, the ports presented the AQMD with a proposed cooperative agreement, prompting the agency to pause its rulemaking. The AQMD doubled the penalties in that proposal and agreed not to make new rules for five years, not the 10 the industry wanted. Perhaps the most important details of the agreement — the types of energy or fuel used; the appropriate number of chargers or fueling stations — won’t be published for years. The lack of specifics prompted skepticism from many environmental advocates.“It’s just a stall tactic to make a plan for a plan in the hope that emission reductions will come sometime in the future,” said Fernando Gaytan, a senior attorney with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice.The contract also includes a clause that the AQMD or ports could terminate the agreement “for any reason” with a 45-day written notice. Wayne Nastri, the AQMD’s executive officer, said this gives the agency the option to switch back to requiring zero-emission infrastructure at the ports. “If we report back to you and you’re not seeing the progress being made, you can be confident knowing that you can pivot and release that [rulemaking] package,” Nastri said to the board. At the end of public comment, opponents of the agreement broke into loud chants. The AQMD cleared the gallery as the board discussed the proposal. Board member Veronica Padilla-Campos, the lone “no” vote, said the agreement lacked the necessary emission reductions and offered “no clear accountability” to local communities.Fellow board member Nithya Raman acknowledged many criticisms of the agreement but ultimately voted for it. “I really have come to believe that the choice before us is this cooperative agreement or no action at all on this issue — continuing a decade of inaction,” Raman said. “I will be voting to support it today, because I do think that it is our only pathway to take any steps forward toward cleaner air at the single largest source of air pollution in the region.”The plan still must be approved by commissioners at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission at meetings this year.

Pollution
Crisis
Energy

Pollution-plagued port communities near LA and Long Beach say regulator excludes them

Communities near the ports say regulators didn't consider their input when weighing a cooperative agreement about pollution from the ports.

Guest Commentary written by Theral Golden Theral Golden is a Long Beach resident Paola Vargas Paola Vargas is a community organizer at East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice The South Coast Air Quality Management District Board of Governors should vote against the so-called cooperative agreement to curb emissions in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, because impacted community members were not meaningfully included, it weakens the district’s ability to reduce emissions and it creates a dangerous precedent.   The toxic pollution experienced daily by nearby community members isn’t new. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest in the country. We have known for decades that port emissions shorten life expectancy and quality of life in the South Coast Air Basin, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and all of Orange County. These pollution-burdened areas are called “diesel death zones” due to the adverse health impacts. In places like West Long Beach, life expectancy is up to eight years shorter than the county average. Throughout the basin, there are an estimated 2,400 pollution related deaths a year. Both ports have made air quality improvements, but the complex is still the single largest fixed source of emissions in southern California.  And the toxins are only going to increase. Cargo activity at the ports is expected to rise 57% from 2021 to 2032. We can expect the human death toll to rise alongside it. There is a process underway with the South Coast Air Quality Management District — the governing body charged with regulating port pollution — that has the potential to address these grave health outcomes. Communities harmed by the pollution have consistently asked the district to incorporate their feedback when identifying solutions, but the district has not meaningfully engaged them. Instead, it has sided with industry time and again, allowing it to dictate the flow and outcomes of the process.  Gov. Gavin Newsom recently declined to sign Senate Bill 34, citing concerns that it would limit the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s authority to regulate port emissions and would interfere with cooperative actions taking place with the ports. We agree with Newsom’s assessment that regulatory authority and cooperation can avoid the worst health impacts — except the cooperation he refers to as “locally driven and collaborative” has been anything but.   The cooperative agreement includes a five-year ban on rulemaking. That handcuffs South Coast Air Quality Management District, effectively blocking the agency’s authority to address port pollution when the South Coast Air Basin can least afford a delay.  Youths play baseball at Bloch Field near the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on April 8, 2025. Photo by Joel Angel Juarez for CalMatters This ban on rulemaking not only impacts the ports of LA and Long Beach but every port in the district. It also sets a dangerous precedent that could spur other air districts to eliminate public participation in rulemaking processes and prioritize industry priorities over public health.  Instead of advancing the cooperative agreement, the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s board should provide more time to meaningfully and collaboratively engage local communities and consider public health implications.   This doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. We can chart a path that addresses port pollution, improves quality of life and recognizes the role ports play in our global supply chains.  But that won’t happen without communities taking a meaningful place at the table. 

Pollution
Health

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