Coastal Erosion or Air Pollution in Louisiana or Any Other Environmental Issue in Louisiana

Louisiana Air Pollution

Air pollution presents a serious environmental concern for Louisiana, the state that is already struggling to contain the damage caused by the rapid erosion and destruction of the coastal wetlands. Louisiana is one of the highly industrialized states in the nation and houses more than 25% of all the chemical plants in the U.S. The emissions from the numerous oil refineries, chemical industries and other production units have clearly contaminated the air quality. At least some of the chemical plants do not adhere to the emission standards. A case in point is the Exxon Mobil refineries in Chalmette.

Exxon Mobil poses grave environmental threat for the St. Bernard Parish and the New Orleans area in Louisiana. The emission test samples conducted between April and August 2003 showed glaring violations (more than 41) of federal and state standards. [Louisiana Bucket Brigade] The company uses hydrofluoric acid (HF), one of the highly dangerous chemicals and that too in very large quantities of up to 2.4 million pounds for a single process. (Highest in the whole of U.S.). According to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data released in 2001, Exxon Mobil releases more than 1,307lbs of HF into the air annually. [Anne Rolfes]