{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-stands-epa-community-advocates-and-concerned-citizens-st", "Congressman Carter Stands with EPA, Community Advocates, and Concerned Citizens of St. John to Protect Public Health", "2024-07-01", "2024", "2024-07", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Troy A. Carter", "C001125", "troycarter.house.gov", "troycarter", "https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "NEW ORLEANS, LA \u2013 Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) reiterated his strong support for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their commitment to reduce emissions from chemical plants. This follows an announcement that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) granted the Denka Performance Elastomer (DPA) a two-year extension to comply with EPA\u2019s rule to reduce toxic air pollution.\n\n\u201cLouisianians deserve to breathe clean air and drink clean water without fear for their health,\u201d said Rep. Carter. \u201cMy district has the highest cancer risk of any place in the United States \u2013 that is unacceptable. We must pursue proper regulations. We must listen to the people who are impacted at home, who undoubtedly have suffered the cost of being near petrochemical plants \u2014 but not just chemical plants, chemical plants that don\u2019t follow the rules. I am not anti-industry; I am anti-violator. When people and communities come first, we can achieve coexistence.\u201d\n\nIn April, Congressman Carter joined EPA Administrator Michael Regan to announce a final rule that will reduce toxic air pollution from chemical plants, including ethylene oxide (EtO) and chloroprene. This action will significantly reduce emissions of pollutants both in Louisiana and nationally, including reducing chloroprene from the Denka Performance Elastomer (DPE) facility in LaPlace, Louisiana, the largest source of these toxic emissions in the country. The DPE facility is within the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit refused to block this new federal rule. This ruling requires Denka to reduce its emissions of chloroprene by October 15, 2024.\n\n\u201cOver the last eight years, Louisiana and LDEQ have extended permission after permission for the Denka chemical plant to harm our community,\u201d said Robert Taylor, Executive Director of Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish. \u201cThey would rather believe Denka\u2019s science over the EPA\u2019s and expose us to toxic emissions. Governor Landry has no respect for our people or the federal government. They think they\u2019re above the law and it is outrageous. It\u2019s time for the madness to end.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnd run around EPA authority to protect the health of Louisiana residents,\u201d said LTG Russel Honor\u00e9, Retired, Leader of the GreenARMY, whose mission is to find solutions for pollution.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-stands-epa-community-advocates-and-concerned-citizens-st"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8992999792098999, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}