Date sent: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 15:34:14 -0800
Send reply to: Paul Ringo
From: Paul Ringo
Subject: Re: Napalming Baton Rouge
To: [email protected]
Subject: Napalming Baton Rouge
Our good friends at EPA Region VI (Dallas) have approved the
burning of 130,000 LB of mixed napalm and toluene per month for
the next 18 months in an incinerator in Baton Rouge, La. The
incinerator is owned by Rhodia (formerly Rhome-Poulenc) and the
contract is with DSI of Deer Park, Tx to burn the waste which
formerly belonged to the U.S. Navy. The midnight (and very
secret) deal was approved by EPA 12-31-98 and the first test burn
was made 1-6-99. There was no public comment period and EPA did
not notify anyone in Louisiana that the process was even under
consideration until the deal was done. California refused to allow
the burn because of the high benzene content (21% pure Benzene 33%
gasoline and 46% polystyrene), Missouri, Illinois and Indiana also
refused the waste which is currently being blended with Toluene in
Texas. Blending this mess with toluene 50% and napalm 50% will
result in an aromatics,/benzene level over 70%. So far, the
Louisiana DEQ has refused to step in (surprised?) and we are
against the wall trying to come up with strategy (short of
kidnapping the EPA Regional Administrator) to stop this madness.
If anyone has hard data on what levels of dioxin we could expect
to come from this mixture, please respond as quickly as possible.
We have contacted all of our elected representatives/senators with
little clear response as yet. They are interested in as many
facts as we can amass, so this is a blatant plea for help. All
ideas and suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks for being
there.
Paul Ringo, Lake Charles, La.
MapCruzin.com