HJBR Jan/Feb 2020

AIR POLLUTION 30 JAN / FEB 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   I NTHESE SEVEN Louisiana parish- es, more than 200 plants emit toxic chemicals at a high enough level that they must report their emissions to the government. According to our analysis of the RSEI model, which incorporates these emis- sions, here’s where toxic levels of can- cer-causing chemicals are estimated to be highest along the lower Mississippi in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available. No agency physically measures the toxicity of the air at this level of detail — 810-by-810-meter increments — across the country. The RSEI model is used by the EPA and multiple state regulatory agencies as the best available option for understanding which high-pollution areas warrant further scrutiny. Since 2015, Louisiana has granted permits for the construction or expan- sion of seven facilities that, accord- ing to the EPA’s criteria, will be “major sources”of toxic air pollution along the river. Illustration 2 shows where they’ll be when they’re built. An additional five project permits m are awaiting approval by the Lou- isiana Department of Environmental Quality. Bryan Johnston, an air permits Illustration 2 Illustration 1