Sierra Club Challenges Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for Unlawfully Issuing Commonwealth LNG Air Pollution Permit

Yesterday, Sierra Club filed two lawsuits against the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) for unlawfully approving air permits for Commonwealth LNG, a proposed methane gas export terminal in Southwest Louisiana. Sierra Club argues that LDEQ violated the Clean Air Act and the Louisiana Constitution in issuing these permits to Commonwealth LNG. One of the two lawsuits was filed in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The other lawsuit was filed at the 19th Judicial Court of East Baton Rouge.

The lawsuits claim that LDEQ violated the federal Clean Air Act and its public trust duty under the Louisiana Constitution by approving a permit that will result in violations of health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), by failing to require sufficient pollution controls, and by failing to adequately account for environmental harms. LDEQ justified rubber stamping these air quality violations by unlawfully relying on guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding “significant impact levels,” effectively exempting Commonwealth from a more rigorous analysis.

Commonwealth would be a menace to public health and the environment. The facility would export between 8.5 and 9.5 million tons of liquefied methane gas per year, with equivalent lifecycle emissions to 14 coal-burning power plants. The facility would also emit dangerous local air pollution including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), both precursors of ground-level ozone (smog), as well as toxic air pollutants and known carcinogens like formaldehyde.  

Commonwealth would also compound cumulative environmental issues that Southwest Louisiana already faces. Commonwealth is only one of seven proposed or permitted LNG export terminals in the Cameron Parish and Calcasieu Parish region. Many of the communities where these new LNG terminals are proposed are low-income and/or communities of color that are already overburdened with pollution. Data from the EPA’s EJSCREEN tool indicates that the Air Toxics Cancer Risk for the surrounding area is in the 80-90th percentile nationally.

“LDEQ’s decision making process in issuing Commonwealth LNG’s air permit is riddled with flaws and drastic errors in calculations. This permit should have never been issued,” said John Allaire, retired environmental engineer and resident of Holly Beach. Louisiana. “LDEQ ignored EPA requirements and standards and used flawed modeling, and ignored my concerns and the concerns of environmental and legal experts that identified their inaccurate pollution analysis. It is time for the state agencies to stop approving these projects without considering all of the consequences to the health of people and the environment.”

"It’s unfortunate that regulatory agencies like the LDEQ grant permits to the industry applicant without really considering cumulative impacts to our friends and families. To transform the beautiful Louisiana coast into a smog filled wasteland is grossly unacceptable. This permit will allow air quality in Cameron Parish, a parish with less than 5,000 residents, to be worse than major cities,” said James Hiatt, Director of For a Better Bayou. “We cannot allow for the LDEQ to continue approving permits that allow industry to inflict harm onto the people and places we love so dearly."

“Commonwealth’s own air quality modeling shows that air quality in Cameron Parish is failing. In fact, the record indicates that nitrogen oxide levels could be as high as eight times the national limit for harmful nitrogen oxides, said Josh Smith, Attorney for Sierra Club. “Commonwealth will not only add to that harmful pollution, but it would emit more than 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of nearly a million more cars on the road. Louisiana doesn’t need to take those risks simply to produce gas that will be shipped overseas.”