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“I already feel ignored” • Louisiana Illuminator

When Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh returned to her hometown of St. Rose in 2017, she had no intention of taking on a leadership role in her community. But when she learned that a petrochemical company was planning to build a $4.6 billion blue ammonia plant in her predominantly Black community, she felt she needed to step into that role.

Kyereh, 54, already lives on the fence of International-Matex Tank Terminals' 216-tank liquefied natural gas facility, which serves as a storage facility for products such as ethanol, renewable diesel and petroleum products, chemicals she fears are damaging her health. The facility was designated as a hazardous waste site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month. excessive emissions and unsafe conditions on its storage tanks.

What currently worries Kyereh is St. Charles Clean Fuels' plans to build a blue ammonia plant and store its liquefied ammonia at the IMTT site. The company says the massive facility will play a key role in the country's transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

Ammonia is conventionally produced from natural gas, coal or oil. In this case, the plant would produce hydrogen that could be used as fuel, and it would use carbon capture and storage to reduce the plant's climate-damaging emissions. The owners say the ammonia will be used to produce “clean fuel” and as a feedstock for the fertilizer industry.

Kyereh doesn't believe it will be cleaner. She fears the plant would only add to the air pollution that is already harming the community.

That is why she could not stand by and watch as another large industrial company moved into her historic community in St. Charles Parish. And so her non-profit organization was born, Improved community empowermentwas born in July 2023 – three months after the state’s economic development agency announced that St. Charles Clean Fuels intended to lease more than 200 acres for the plant – practically in Kyereh’s backyard.

An aerial view of the International-Matex tank terminal site on the Mississippi River in St. Rose.
The $4.6 billion St. Charles Clean Fuels facility is planned to be built on the site of International-Matex's fuel terminals. The St. Rose facility will produce so-called blue ammonia as a fuel for electricity generation and as a raw material for fertilizer. Some neighbors and environmentalists oppose the project because it would add pollution to an already overburdened community. (Jeffrey Dubinsky/Louisiana Environmental Action Network)

Residents complain about smell, headaches

“They say we don't smell ammonia,” Kyereh said. “We don't believe that, because we smell all these other chemicals. How can they treat these chemicals differently than the others that come into our homes at different times of the day, night and morning? That wake us up and cause headaches and breathing difficulties?”

Rosemary Green, who also lives near the IMTT facility, said she too was awakened in the middle of the night by the smell of chemical fumes. She said it felt like someone was throwing sand down her throat and nose.

Green, 69, has lived next to the tank farm for the past decade and has repeatedly complained to authorities about the toxic smells that hung in the air and caused headaches for her and her neighbors.

She also doesn't trust St. Charles Cleans Fuels' claims about the safety of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Kyereh agreed, citing the 2020 pipeline leak in Satartia, Mississippi, that left 45 people hospitalized.

“Once they install it, where it's going, what impact it's going to have, on the soil, on our water supply, all of that,” Green said of CCS. “(They) don't know what it feels like to suffocate in your sleep at night, but (they) want me to believe that it's OK to put this little ammonia plant in our neighborhood on top of what we already have.”

A recent site inspection by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that IMTT had failed to identify hazards that could lead to accidental releases of dangerous chemicals, performed adequate equipment testing, and failed to follow safe work practices.

In July, the EPA announced a settlement with IMTT that included a $23,568 civil penalty for violating the Clean Air Act and the company agreed to make $150,000 worth of improvements “to reduce annual air emissions and unsafe pressure buildup in its storage tanks,” according to the EPA.

A tractor pulls a tank that dispenses anhydrous ammonia in a field at Wise Brothers Inc. in Kingdom City, Missouri.
Matthew Backer spreads anhydrous ammonia in a field at Wise Bros. Inc. in Kingdom City, Missouri, on April 4, 2023. A controversial new plant in Louisiana would produce so-called blue ammonia as a feedstock for fertilizer and a “clean” fuel for generating electricity. (Kate Cassady/Columbia Missourian via Ag & Water Desk)

From plantations to industrial plants

Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, St. Rose is part of a group of predominantly black and heavily industrialized communities that make up the 85-mile-long corridor through Louisiana known as Cancer Alley.

Like so many of the small towns along the corridor, St. Rose's history is tied to the American slave trade. In 1873, a former slave Property purchased in St. Rose and later invited free men and their families to establish communities that became known as Elkinsville and Freetown.

As the sugar cane plantations declined, they were replaced by oil and gas facilities, creating an environment of pollution and economic disinvestment. Much of the area is now known as Sacrificial zones – Black-majority communities are overwhelmed by toxic emissions, extreme weather and coastal destruction caused by climate change.

In recent years, a growing number of grassroots organizations led by community leaders like Kyereh have been trying to break the cycle of premature deaths and health complications by blocking further industrialization.

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“Clean” ammonia plants are spreading

St. Charles Clean Fuels is a joint venture between global energy investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Sustainable Fuels Group. The company says the proposed blue ammonia plant would produce the world's “cleanest” ammonia using self-generated hydrogen and over 90% of carbon dioxide emissions would be captured and stored.

It is one of at least 14 planned “clean” ammonia projects announced in recent years, mostly along the Gulf Coast. Rising global interest in clean ammonia and generous federal tax breaks for CCS in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are fueling growth, says Housley Carr, an analyst at RBN Energy.

“The proposals that remain on schedule are generally those planned or supported by well-funded, larger companies that have extensive experience in developing complex projects and attracting large, reliable buyers to make such projects possible,” Carr said.

Critics of CCS say it is a ploy by the oil and gas industry to stay in business through generous tax breaks and government incentives as the Biden administration pursues its ambitious net-zero emissions goals, which involves pumping carbon dioxide emissions deep underground or transporting them through underground pipelines to remove them from the atmosphere.

The project is expected to create 216 new direct jobs with an average salary of more than $90,000 per year, according to Louisiana Economic Development notice about the project last year. The state agency also estimated that 949 indirect jobs were created during peak construction.

“This … represents a shift toward a future of clean fuels and clean fertilizer production that benefits both the regional community and the need for clean energy supplies,” said Chandra Stacie, director of government affairs and community relations for St. Charles Clean Fuels. “Funding and building infrastructure that uses cleaner solutions like blue ammonia is critical to fighting climate change.”

Cargo ships travel the Mississippi on their way to and from industrial facilities in Louisiana "Avenue of crabs."
Cargo ships travel along the Mississippi River on their way to and from industrial plants in Louisiana's “Cancer Alley.” The region between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is one of the most industrialized places in the United States. (Akasha Rabut/Floodlight)

Environmental concerns raised

The project must obtain permits from the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A public hearing on the state's coastal use permit is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 22) at the St. Charles Regional Library.

Local environmental groups have urged the state and the Corps of Engineers to reject the company's permit applications, claiming the plant produces dangerous chemicals — particularly ammonia — which in high concentrations can cause burning in the eyes, nose and throat.

In his 40-page letter Tulane's Environmental Law Clinic opposed the project, saying the project would impact a “significant portion” of nearby wetlands and likely compromise St. Rose's flood control and stormwater drainage capacity. It also said runoff from “unquantified and unidentified contaminants” would flow into the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding area, harming plants and animals.

Tulane also argued that the project would impact the historic and archaeological aspects of the community. Similar arguments were made 30 miles away in Wallace, where community leaders, sisters Jo and Joy Banner, opposed the project. helped stop a massive grain export terminalThey said some historic landmarks in their predominantly black communities had been destroyed.

“I already feel ignored,” Kyereh said of the fight against the blue ammonia plant. “We have requested public hearings before every agency they need permits from. Many of us residents are really afraid of more chemical accidents… and chemicals that you can't detect by smell.”

Headlights is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests that are delaying climate action. Reporter Pam Radtke contributed to this report.

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