The Mississippi River Corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is a focus of the Louisiana Environmental Justice Program. Most residents in the nine river parishes between the two cities live within ten miles of a major chemical or petrochemical facility.

IN LUKEVILLE, LOUISIANA, A SMALL MINORITY community across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, residents say local government's decision to locate an oxidation pond near their homes has left them feeling powerless. They worry about odors and property value and, most of all, the fact that government has left citizens out of the decision-making process.

The residents of Lukeville want to be empowered, to have a say in decisions that affect their immediate environment, and they turn to the DEQ Environmental Justice Program for assistance.

In Norco and Good Hope, further downriver from Lukeville, residents live near a chemical plant and oil refineries. They are frightened about accidents that may happen at the facilities and wonder if emissions and discharges from them could be causing breathing problems or skin irritation. These residents say they are unable to communicate with industry -- that their concerns about noises, odors, and fires are left unresolved.

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The residents of Norco and Good Hope want to be empowered, to communicate effectively with industry and government, and to live in a safe and clean environment. They also turn to the Environmental Justice Program for help.

"Environmental justice" is a fairly new term to most people, but its significance has been the focus of a statewide program initiated by DEQ in early 1992. DEQ defines environmental justice as the equitable treatment of all people -- regardless of race, income, culture, or social class with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

"We can continue to debate the reasons why facilities located where they did for the next 100 years, or we can decide to redirect our debate -- to start addressing the problems that residents face."

"The State of Louisiana has dedicated itself to establishing an innovative Environmental Justice Program in an attempt to ensure that every citizen in the state is afforded the opportunity to live in a safe, clean, and healthy environment," says DEQ Secretary William Kucharski, who has made the Environmental Justice Program a priority in his administration.

Just as former U.S. House Speaker Tip O'Neill remarked that all politics are local, one of the precepts of the Environmental Justice Program is that environmental justice issues are local. The conditions that concern individuals in one community may or may not be the same conditions that concern individuals in other communities.

This is precisely the reason why the Environmental Justice Program has embarked on the task of establishing Environmental Justice Panels in pilot areas along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The first organized panel is located in the St. John Parish communities of Mt. Airy, Garyville, and Lyons. The first meeting of this Environmental Justice Panel was held June 2, with the second panel now being formed in the community of Reserve.

In addition, the Lake Charles area and the City of New Orleans have been targeted as locations for other Environmental Justice Panels.

The purpose of the panels is to open up dialogue between residents of communities located near industrial facilities and industry representatives so that specific problems identified by the communities may be resolved. The membership of the panels is intended to be diverse, including local businesspersons, religious leaders, education officials, and homemakers, to name just a few.

Sharon Carr-Harrington was one of the speakers at the recent environmental justice public hearing held in New Orleans.

Such forums, moderated by professional facilitators, will promote environmental justice by examining the policies and procedures of industry, as well as those of state and federal entities for protecting human and ecological health. Just as industry participation was vital in getting the Louisiana Environmental Justice Program off the ground in 1992, so has industry given its full support to the establishment of Environmental Justice Panels and the discussions that will follow.

Janice Dickerson, DEQ's Environmental Justice Coordinator, says the panels are the best approach for progress within the environmental justice debate.

"Environmental groups have long argued that industrial facilities were placed in poor and minority neighborhoods because of race and economics," she says. "Conversely, industrial groups have contended that locations for facilities were selected because of availability of cheap land and natural resources. For whatever reason, however, both parties agree that industrial facilities in Louisiana are located predominantly in poor and minority neighborhoods.

"We can continue to debate the reasons why facilities located where they did for the next 100 years, or we can decide to redirect our debate -- to start addressing the problems that residents face, either real or perceived, because they live near industrial plants. I say it is time for us to start addressing and solving these problems, and the Environmental Justice Panels are our best chance yet to make some headway."

Dickerson's position as Environmental Justice Coordinator is funded by a portion of a $75,000 grant that DEQ received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 6 in 1993 for implementation of an environmental justice pilot program. In this way, part of the grant money is being used to establish the Environmental Justice Panels and was also used to fund the department's four environmental justice public hearings held recently in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lake Charles, and Ruston.

Residents of Lukeville and Norco were just a few of the citizens who expressed their concerns at the environmental justice hearings held in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. DEQ is expected to submit a report of its findings and recommendations as a result of these hearings to the Louisiana Legislature in August.

Henry LeBoyd, a resident of Destrehan who has served on the St. Charles Community Advisory Panel for the past two years and with thee Environmental justice Program, says getting citizens and industry together around the table is the most effective way he knows of easing resident's fears and fostering communication and cooperation between residents and industry.

Gina Montana, a concerned resident, voices her opinion at the environmental justice public hearing in New Orleans.

"I've spent a number of years working in and living near industry, and there are perceptions about industry which, by serving on the St. Charles Community Advisory Panel, I have come to know are not true," LeBoyd says. "During our meetings, industry representatives give us a play-by-play rundown of everything from production to personnel to purchasing, and we are able to see what goes on inside the facility's fenceline in a whole new light.

"I think industry also has become more aware of our fears and concerns as a result of the advisory panel and has been open to our suggestions for fixing the problems we have identified."

LeBoyd continues, "I think the Environmental Justice Panels will do this and a whole lot more -- perhaps a lot less of talking about issues and a lot more of resolving issues. And the unique thing about the Environmental Justice Panels is that, unlike the advisory panel I serve on, community residents themselves will select the members, and meetings will be held at a neutral location. This will, in effect, level the playing field for everybody."

As noted previously, one of the most basic precepts of the Louisiana Environmental Justice Program is that environmental justice issues are local in nature. There are other key elements to the program, including the following principles:

• Environmental justice and social justice go hand in hand.

• No one should be asked to bear the burden of industrial society because of race or income level.

• Local people know what they experience better than those who do not live in their community.

• No one speaks for all people.

• Placing blame does not solve problems.

• Empowerment can occur only when the people know what empowerment means and they accept that responsibility.

• Industries are not government and, therefore, should not be expected to provide those services that are the duty of government to provide.

• Only by working together can we succeed.

For more information on the Environmental Justice Program or the Environmental Justice Panels, individuals are encouraged to call Janice Dickerson or Frederick Barrow at (225) 765-0741.