Contaminated "Spring Water" Presented at Shintech Hearing

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

CONTAMINATED "SPRING WATER" PRESENTED AT SHINTECH HEARING
 
Convent, LA (GP)--Preceding the scheduled  water permit
hearing for Shintech Inc's. proposed Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)
facility in St. James Parish, specialized bottles of "Lake
Charles Spring Water" will be presented to the Department of
Environmental Quality staff and public officials at a 5:30 pm
press conference before the 6 pm hearing. The hearing and
press conference are being held at the Romeville Elementary
School, 9156 Central School Street, in Convent (off  highway
44).
 
The contaminated "spring water" serves as a warning of the
polluting effects of the PVC industry and as evidence that the
siting of the Shintech facility in Convent is a potentially
hazardous proposition.  
 
The "spring water" source is the Mossville community in Lake
Charles, Louisiana, where the local vinyl chloride monomer
(VCM) manufacturer, Condea Vista, admitted to leaking
hazardous ethylene dichloride (EDC) into the groundwater in
Fall of 1995.  Following Vista's revelation, community
residents were advised not to drink their water.  
 
"Most of the residents can't afford to buy drinking water, so
they are further victimized by being forced to drink unclean
tap water and  live next to industry at the same time", said
Debra Ramirez, founder of Mossville Environmental Action
Network (MEAN). "What happened in Mossville should not happen
here and the only way we can stop it is for DEQ to reject the
water license for Shintech." 
 
The proposed Shintech plant will have an estimated daily
discharge of 6.8 million gallons of wastewater into the
Mississippi River, the drinking water source for many
Louisiana cities, including New Orleans.  Discharges would
include daily doses of benzene, methyl chloride, carbon
tetrachloride, and EDC. Residents of Convent  point to
Mossville contamination as a forewarning. Part of the bottle's
colorful message reads,  "EDC is a probable human carcinogen.
Small doses cause nose and lung irritation and larger doses
may cause liver and kidney damage."
 
"If DEQ and the supporters of the Shintech plant believe that
it would operate safely, then let them prove it by drinking
this  spring water" said Emelda West, a 30-year resident of
Convent.
 
" The letter ' E' in DEQ stands for environment not economy,"
said Greenpeace campaigner Kishi Animashaun, referring to DEQ
secretary Dale Givens' comment in a Baton Rouge Advocate
article on January 15, 1997.  Givens reasoned that the "cost
of disposal could greatly reduce the net income generated by
these production facilities."  The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has criticized the emergency order by the DEQ,
and the department's actions have caused worry among concerned
residents.  "DEQ's  first responsibility is to protect the
health and welfare of Louisiana's citizens," says Animashaun. 

Currently, Shintech holds only one of the permits necessary
for operation. The Land Use permit was approved on February 5,
1997, by the St. James Parish Council, despite growing public
concern. A hearing for the plant's air permit was held on
December 9, 1996. A draft of that permit has been sent to the
EPA Region 6 for final review.  A decision is expected within
40 days.  The Shintech facility would release more than
600,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air per year in a
predominantly African-American neighborhood wherein 45% of its
population live below the poverty level.
 
###
CONTACT:          Emelda West, Romeville resident (504)
562-3582                 Debra Ramirez, Mossville
Environmental Action Network 1-888-859-0447
                Kishi Animashaun, Greenpeace 1-800-216-0265