A federal lawsuit accusing a synthetic rubber plant in LaPlace of exposing neighbors to unacceptably high cancer risks from the facility’s emissions has been dismissed in a bid by the Trump administration to root out “environmental justice” initiatives.
The original lawsuit, which was filed by the Biden administration in 2023, pointed to studies showing long-term risks associated with breathing the type of chloroprene emissions produced at Denka Performance Elastomer LLC’s manufacturing facility in St. John the Baptist Parish. Chloroprene is a substance used to manufacture neoprene, which is a synthetic rubber used to make products such as wetsuits, orthopedic braces and vehicle parts.
But under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has reversed course as a result of Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programs, which the federal government now views as wasteful, according to an EPA news release on March 7.
“The dismissal of this case is a step toward ensuring that environmental enforcement is consistent with the law,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a prepared statement. “While EPA’s core mission includes securing clean air for all Americans, we can fulfill that mission within well-established legal frameworks, without stretching the bounds of the law or improperly implementing so-called ‘environmental justice’.”
The original lawsuit alleged that emissions from the plant posed health risks to children and young people living nearby. The parish is located in a region that some have designated as “Cancer Alley,” which has a large African American population and a high concentration of industry.
But Denka said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record that the lawsuit lacked scientific and legal merit and that the company has invested millions of dollars in the plant to reduce chloroprene emissions. The EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) was misused to overstate cancer risks relating to the air discharges from the plant, the company said.
“No ‘emergency’ can exist when the facility’s emissions are at an historical low as a result of DPE’s (Denka Performance Elastomer’s) investment (more than $35 million) and the innovation of its workforce,” Denka’s statement says.
Scientific data from two decades ago and “overly conservative assumptions” were made in the lawsuit, according to the company.
“As a result, the actual potential health risk was not properly communicated to the community, the established process for risk assessment was disregarded and the Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR) was ignored,” the Denka statement says. “The LTR shows that cancer incidence rates in our community are in the lowest quartile in the state. The focus should be on the real-world data that shows no adverse health effects, even at substantially higher emission levels.”
The company also pledged to work with EPA officials to develop sensible emissions standards for the production of synthetic rubber.
“DPE remains committed to implementing the emissions reductions achieved as we turn the page from this relentless and draining attack on our business,” Denka said in its statement.
The EPA indicated that the company’s investments have led to an 85% reduction in chloroprene emissions since a settlement with the state of Louisiana was agreed to in 2017.
“We do not regulate through litigation, nor do we stretch statutes beyond their plain meaning to advance political agendas,” Adam Gustafson, acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, said in a statement.