Councilman: City can't stop DuPont's plans

There are more than 7 million PFAS and over 21 million fluorinated compounds listed in PubChem (2023).
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Councilman: City can't stop DuPont's plans

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Councilman: City can't stop DuPont's plans

The Sun Herald - August 15, 2006

By MIKE KELLER

PASCAGOULA - Council- man Mike Mangum made it clear at a City Hall public meeting on Monday that there was little the Pascagoula City Council could do to prevent DuPont's First Chemical Corp. from pumping a controversial chemical to the area's sewage treatment plant.

The meeting, held because of protests by groups led by the Sierra Club, allowed DuPont to answer public questions about the company's plans to start removing PFOA from another industrial chemical being shipped from New Jersey.

"The plant is not sitting inside the city limits of Pascagoula," Mangum said. "The only involvement of the city of Pascagoula is the transport of material to the (treatment plant). The (treatment plant) makes the determination of whether to accept it or not."

The council's chamber was packed with more than 65 people who wanted to hear about DuPont's plan to send about a truckload a day of telomer alcohol to the Jackson County plant from the New Jersey Chamberworks facility.

DuPont said it would destroy 1,000 pounds of PFOA a year and release about two pounds a year to the sewage treatment plant, where it would pass into the Pascagoula River. The company would also release about a tenth of a pound every year into the air.

After treatment, the alcohol will be shipped back to New Jersey.

Both PFOA and telomer alcohol are widely used to create nonstick coatings, food packaging, stain and water-resistant treatments for fabrics and fire-fighting foams.

DuPont, pointing to a statement by the EPA's administrator, argued there are not yet any human ailments known to be caused by PFOA, which is found in 95 percent of Americans' blood at low levels.

"Regulatory agencies have said consumers should not be worried about products with PFOA," said First Chemical plant manager James Freeman. "The jobs are important. This project will ensure the future growth of (First Chemical)."

Those opposed to putting the chemical into the South Mississippi environment pointed to a recent EPA announcement in the Federal Register that said, "EPA can no longer conclude that these polymers will not present an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment."

Becky Gillette, co-chair of the South Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club, asked the council to stop DuPont's plans.

"You are our only hope," Gillette said. "Local control is our only option because the federal government is not regulating this stuff."

SOURCE:
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunhera ... 275765.htm
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