CAMERON PARISH, LA – Fishing families, residents, and advocates expressed concerns and spoke out in opposition to Venture Global’s proposed permit increases at a public hearing held by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) last night in Cameron Parish. Attendees encouraged LDEQ to reject the proposed permit increases for Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass (CP) facility, detailing the toll that the facility is already taking on their health and livelihoods. Videos from the hearing can be found here.
“My shrimp boat sits one mile from this plant,” said local resident and shrimper, Debbie Scott. “We slept on our boat the night before the season started – you can imagine the excitement the day before shrimping season. About seven o’clock [am on the first day of the season] an LNG boat came through and almost flipped us over, losing everything in the boat: ice chests, net flew off, paddles, everything. What about the small people? The fishermen, the shrimpers, the crabbers that are in this area? Their livelihood is here.”
Venture Global’s requested permit changes would allow for significant increases in air pollution emissions from their CP facility, effectively transforming their repeated permit violations, inconsistent reporting, and flawed operations into compliance. Venture Global LNG – known as Vulture Global by locals – has had ongoing accidents and violations since operations began, reporting over 2,000 permit violations in its first year of operation. In January 2022, during its first week in operation, the facility released over 180,000 pounds of gas from its southernmost tank – an event that would set the scene for ongoing flaring and accidents in the subsequent years.
Venture Global is requesting to release increased amounts of chemicals that are harmful to humans and the environment, which drastically impact local seafood viability and availability. The company has requested to increase permits for eighteen different chemicals, including the neurotoxin hydrogen sulfide by 1,225%, lung damaging particulate matter by 17%, and the carcinogen benzene by 41%.
“This is like asking a police officer to just raise the speed limit instead of complying with the law,” said Lori Cooke, a Sulphur resident and Program Coordinator with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “On one side are out-of-state profiteers, on the other are Louisiana fishing families. The state of Louisiana should be standing up for Cameron fishing families, not for an exploitative, out-of-state company like Venture Global.”
Several fishermen testified about being forced out due to the harm done to their shrimping since Venture Global built its CP facility at the mouth of the Calcasieu River. “This fishing ain’t no good no more here,” said fisherman Solomon Williams, Jr. “The shrimping ain’t no good no more here, the oystering ain’t no good no more here, you can’t even get ice here. But LNG got billions of dollars. Did they bring some more shrimp and fish and shrimp here? No. They’re taking it away.”
Fore more information on Venture Global’s proposed permit increases and reporting inconsistencies, view a spreadsheet of the requested increases in pollutants and the potential harm and documentation of flaring between July-Dec of 2023 compared to what the company reported in their report to LDEQ.
About Louisiana Bucket Brigade
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade collaborates with communities on the fenceline of polluting industries in Louisiana, engaging in grassroots action to hasten the transition from fossil fuels. Visit labucketbrigade.org for more information.
