Fire official cancels hearing for ammonia plant amid overflowing crowd and surging public interest

ST. ROSE, La. (AP) — A fire department official shut down a public hearing for a proposed ammonia production facility in Louisiana as public interest surged and crowds overflowed a public library in St. Charles Parish.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality had scheduled the hearing to receive public comments on the proposed $4.6 billion St. Charles Clean Fuels ammonia production facility.

Many St. Rose residents who came to the hearing indicated they are worried about the prospect of more pollution. The town lies along a heavily industrialized stretch of the Mississippi river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known as “ Cancer Alley ” for its high levels of chemical pollution.

St. Rose resident Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh said she and other community activists passed out thousands of flyers to get their neighbors to attend the hearing and raise their concerns with St. Charles Clean Fuels.

“People had not heard about it so they were very, very opposed to an ammonia plant coming in addition to what we already have here,” Kyereh said.

More than 150 people tried to squeeze into a small public library room with a capacity to hold 50 according to a fire department official who arrived to shut down the meeting. Many were forced to stand in the parking lot.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-hide-dates=«true» data-show-loadmore=«true»