The Mississippi Press, Brad Crocker
Published September 12, 2006
PASCAGOULA -- The scientific research and public hearing the City Council requested from the state's environmental agency regarding the controversial chemical PFOA is still under consideration.
On Sept. 5, the council -- at the request of a standing-room-only crowd and the presentation of more than 100 signatures from residents opposed to the potential hazards of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA -- asked for more scientific data and for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to hold a public hearing.
The council's decision was in response to public outcry opposing DuPont's plan to process PFOA at its First Chemical plant in Pascagoula. DuPont plans to release up to two pounds per year of PFOA into the regional wastewater treatment facility in the city.
First Chemical has secured all but the air emissions permits necessary to receive telomer alcohol from a DuPont plant in New Jersey. Company officials said the alcohol will be processed and the byproduct, PFOA, will be released.
Jerry Cain, director of DEQ's office of pollution control, said Tuesday that the agency is evaluating how to handle the city's requests and the best way to respond.
"We obviously take these things very seriously," Cain said.
He could not elaborate on how much scientific research would be done, but Cain said the public hearing could be held in the future, but did not say if it would be in Jackson or on the Coast, which local residents prefer.
"We're looking at different forums for there to be some public input. It's something we're not going to delay ... and give it all the attention it deserves," said Cain, adding that DEQ has a long record of holding public hearings as close as possible to the issue or project.
But Louie Miller, state director for the Mississippi Sierra Club, the group spearheading much of the opposition, accused DEQ of playing politics and skirting around the hearing process.
"The law states that the permit board and DEQ must hold a public hearing if there is sufficient public interest, and we have that," Miller said. "They're taking the (city) council's request and going to make an informational meeting out of it ... and they're trying to deny the public the first step, a hearing."
The DEQ permit board was to address on Tuesday First Chemical's air
emissions permit, which has to be approved before the project can begin, but the issue was removed from the agenda with no action taken, Cain said.
Opponents have alleged that PFOA exposure has already contaminated First Chemical's grounds and employees.
First Chemical officials said Tuesday that baseline studies are ongoing and the results will be released in the future. Plant manager James Freeman reiterated the company's claim that the project is safe to the employees, the environment and the public and that none of the chemicals used are hazardous.
"We will operate with proven and effective safety and environmental
management equip-ment and systems. Emissions from the project are expected to be extremely low," Freeman said.
The water permit for First Chemical to dispose PFOA into the local
wastewater system has been approved, and the company said two pounds or less per year will be released.
Since no limits were issued by regulatory agencies, however, opponents argue that First Chemical is its own watchdog regarding how much is deposited.
The Sierra Club asked the Pascagoula City Council to amend its sewer
ordinance to not allow PFOA into the sewer lines. The council did not grant that request, opting instead to ask for further expert opinions and the public hearing.
Company officials plan to start the project in the near future but declined to provide a tentative date.
Although no data has been presented proving that PFOA is a carcinogen, local opponents have cited tests showing where developmental and reproductive effects in laboratory rats have been detected and lawsuits filed by people living near DuPont plants who associate their health problems with PFOA.
The 3M Companies sold the PFOA patent. Citing two separate 3M studies, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group claims that workers with high PFOA exposures could die from prostate cancer and cerebrovascular disease and are more likely to seek care for prostate cancer, gastrointestinal tract lesions, biliary tract and pancreatic disorders, and urinary bladder inflammation.
Acknowledging that a small number of people were used in those studies, the EWG still maintains the results are consistent with diseases related to cancer and other harmful health effects after the workers were tested.
"DuPont has reported only one health study in the public record on workers exposed to PFOA, and this study was limited to measuring liver enzyme levels, which were significantly increased in workers," EWG claims on its Web site,
www.ewg.org.
Refuting claims in a report issued by the EPA's Science Advisory Board, Dr. Robert Rickard, DuPont director of Health and Environmental Sciences, said, on Jan. 30, 2006, "The weight of evidence indicates that PFOA exposure does not pose a health risk to the general public. In over 50 years of working with PFOA, there is no association of cancer in workers who handle or use PFOA."
After a $16.5 million settlement last year with the EPA related to DuPont's disclosure of PFOA studies, the company entered into a stewardship program aimed at reducing PFOA emissions.
"DuPont has been aggressively reducing PFOA emissions to the environment," said DuPont Vice President Susan Stalnecker, also in January 2006. "Having achieved a 94 percent reduction in global manufacturing emissions by year-end 2005, we are well on our way to meet the goals and objectives established by the EPA stewardship program."
But residents opposed to the project are concerned that the Pascagoula plant was chosen to receive telomer alcohol from a DuPont plant in New Jersey because it is being considered harmful elsewhere and many were busy rebuilding their homes after Hurricane Katrina and the issue evaded them.
Because PFOA remains in the water and atmosphere, residents also fear the scientific data that is not yet proven may be prevalent and health problems would increase in Jackson County, and in the end, prove their health contentions.
Reporter Brad Crocker can be reached at
crocker@themississippipress.com or
(228) 934-1431.
