Communities concerned about pollution from petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River rarely find common ground with the companies that operate them, but a recent agreement shows it can.
An oil and chemical tank farm operator in St. Charles Parish and a Baton Rouge environmental group plan to install four new air monitors to measure emissions in St. Rose, where residents have complained for years about air pollution from nearby factories.
IMTT and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network plan to install the monitors deeper into the St. Rose region than existing community air monitors, and they will replace a temporary state air monitor in St. Rose that was removed and has no plans to be restored, the groups and company said.
With its new neighborhood air monitors, International Matex Tank Terminals is the first company to join LEAN’s larger project, known as the Louisiana Regional Air Monitoring Network, which will install a series of sensors between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the companies said in a statement.
The larger regional emplacement network is intended to identify emission sources and help communities better understand environmental factors that affect their quality of life, LEAN officials said.
The company said the new IMTT monitor grew out of conversations between IMTT officials and St. Rose residents who serve on the company’s Community Advisory Committee.
IMTT Chairman and CEO Karlin Conner said the Monitor gives the company another opportunity to “demonstrate one of our many concerns for the people who live and work along the Mississippi River.”
“IMTT believes deeply in its responsibility to be a good neighbor and has demonstrated to all stakeholders, including other industry leaders, the value of listening to and working with our communities,” Connor said.
“We are pleased to welcome IMTT to our coalition of environmentally conscious organizations committed to protecting the public’s health and quality of life,” said Marylee Orr, co-founder and executive director of LEAN. “Our community air monitoring network provides a clear, hyper-local understanding of the environment in our neighborhoods, empowering us all to make informed decisions to improve our lives.”
Other agreements under discussion
LEAN officials said they have already reached or are close to reaching agreements with residents to install air monitors in Arcene, Geismar, Donaldsonville, St. Gabriel and St. James as part of a broader effort, and are in discussions with other industries.
The IMTT in St. Rose has drawn complaints from neighbors for years about odors and other emissions. The 12 million barrel storage facility stores oil, chemicals and renewable products for many industries along the Mississippi River, but it stretches onto the residential edge of St. Rose.
In April 2023, an explosion and fire occurred at the facility when oil fumes remaining in an empty tank ignited during welding work.
In a settlement with the EPA, the company agreed to reduce the fine and install $150,000 in new equipment at the tank to reduce dangerous emissions and odors, the EPA said.
IMTT has also made other improvements in response to the fire, spending $1.6 million on an odor control system that exceeds regulatory requirements, the company said.
The partnership announcement comes as St. Charles Clean Fuels faces public opposition as it seeks regulatory approval to build a $4.6 billion blue ammonia plant behind IMTT and St. Rose. IMTT plans to build new tanks on the site to store the complex’s ammonia.
Many properties along the river have their own indoor and fenceline air monitors, but that data is not available to the public. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has also installed its own network of air monitors along the river and across the state, and public data is available online, but many of those monitors are locally focused and collect limited data.
The new community-level air quality monitors being deployed through the LEAN-IMTT partnership will measure a range of pollutants known to cause smog and short- and long-term respiratory and cardiovascular problems, some of which are associated with risk factors for cancer and diabetes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Those chemicals are nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, natural and man-made chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, and a variety of particulates, according to IMTT and LEAN officials.
“Duty to care”
According to LEAN and IMTT, AQMesh’s solar-powered air monitors also measure wind speed and direction.
IMTT spokesman Richard Rainey said the air monitoring data will be collected and managed by a third party, Eagle Environmental, which also maintains the monitoring equipment, to ensure “integrity and reliability.”
Rainey added that the air monitoring partnership includes a “quality assurance and control program to ensure that monitoring equipment collects high-quality, reliable data.”
Under the agreement between IMTT and LEAN, nonprofits will have “full access to the data” and will be able to share it through their “websites and other communication channels.”
“IMTT is also exploring ways to make the data publicly available,” Rainey said.
LEAN’s Orr said the monitors will be installed to answer residents’ “most curious” questions about emissions, while IMTT’s Connor said he hopes the data will lead to “smarter decisions to protect the people who call the Mississippi River home.”
“We have an obligation to look after each other,” Connor said.
DEQ did not respond to a request for comment on why the original air monitors were removed.
LEAN launched its Community Air Monitoring Network in 2023 after securing $500,000 from the EPA’s Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities program.
Au said the initial phase of the grant focused on a mobile air monitoring vehicle that would travel around the region for three months and help LEAN identify locations for fixed monitoring equipment.
IMTT and LEAN began discussions about the network in July and formalized the partnership in August, the company and group announced.
Orr said the cost of the monitors at St. Rose is paid for by IMTT, but the cost of the monitors’ third-party administrator is covered by an EPA grant.
