The Biden administration appears to have interfered in a supposedly bipartisan scientific review and fabricated a trail of papers supporting environmental justice initiatives targeting major chemical plants, according to court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. .
In a stunning testimony late last year, Michael Morton, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 science liaison to the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) in Washington, D.C., claimed that he had published an important July paper. He admitted that he did not write. 2021 email sent from his email address. The email halted a scientific review of the health risks associated with chloroprene emissions, which is at the center of an ongoing federal lawsuit with significant economic implications.
“I didn't write that,” Morton told a lawyer for synthetic fiber maker Denka Performance Elastomers (DPE) in a deposition in November. “I didn't say that, because I didn't say that part. I don't know who wrote it because I don't know it,” he said when asked about the email. added to.
The revelations from Morton's testimony and additional information released in recent months could ultimately derail the Biden administration's lawsuit against DPE, which, if successful, could threaten the future of the company's major manufacturing facility in LaPlace, Louisiana. could set a precedent that could threaten DPE's operations and even DPE more broadly. the multi-billion dollar U.S. petrochemical industry;
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Denka Performance Elastomer facility in Laplace, Louisiana on August 12, 2021. The plant is the only one in the U.S. that produces neoprene, a synthetic rubber common in munitions, wetsuits and medical technology. (Emily Cusk/AFP via Getty Images)
In February 2023, the Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against DPE on behalf of the EPA, alleging that the chemical manufacturer's Laplace facility, the former Pontchartrain plant, produces neoprene, a common synthetic rubber in the United States. It is the only representative factory in the United States. Military equipment, wetsuits, medical technology – reduce chloroprene emissions. Chloroprene is a liquid raw material discharged during neoprene manufacturing.
The plant's emissions pose a cancer risk to residents of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, and therefore pose an “immediate and serious danger to the public health and welfare,” the complaint says.
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“When I visited St. John the Baptist Parish on my first trip to Justice, I was reminded that the Environmental Protection Agency will take strong action to protect the health and safety of families from harmful chloroprene emissions from the Denka facility. We made a commitment to our communities,” said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. he said after filing the lawsuit, adding that DPE “is not going far enough or fast enough” to reduce emissions.
Less than a month later, the Department of Justice filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the case, effectively forcing the closure of DPE's neoprene facility if it does not immediately implement significant emissions reductions. asked the court to do so. Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said the motion “demonstrates our commitment to addressing environmental justice issues.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan addressed reporters in East Palestine, Ohio, last year. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
DPE said in a response motion several months later that the federal government's actions “amount to a shutdown order with catastrophic consequences for DPE,” including “a complete loss of revenue sources, a significant loss of workforce and supply chain.” It leads to,” he added. Disruption, contractual implications and regulatory challenges. ”
The company also characterized the Biden administration's efforts to do so as politically driven, unsupported by real-world science and outside its legal authority under the Clean Air Act. DPE noted how the Laplace facility has significantly reduced chloroprene emissions and complied with environmental permits.
DPE also pointed to Louisiana Tumor Registry data showing that St. John the Baptist Parish, where the neoprene facility is located, records one of the lowest cancer rates of any region in the state.
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And, notably, DPE accused the EPA of filing a lawsuit based primarily on a study published by the agency in 2010 that concluded that chloroprene “may be carcinogenic to humans.” criticizing. The study itself cites a 25-year-old study in female mice that led to the stricter emissions standard of 0.2 micrograms of chloroprene per cubic meter of air that the EPA is trying to enforce at DPE's facility in La Place. Ta.
DPE and Louisiana lawmakers have long argued that a 2010 study overestimated chloroprene's cancer risk to humans, supporting additional research and scientific review and EPA action to reevaluate its strict standards. I've been looking for.
President Biden met with Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Regan during an environmental justice event at the White House last year. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In April 2021, EPA recommended chloroprene for review by six Texas-based regional offices covering Louisiana and other southern states to reconsider the chemical's health risk assessment. And it looked like it was broken. But EPA's ORD office ultimately cited a July 2021 email from Morton, the Region 6 science officer, citing recent testimony that the email was not written by him. , refused to pursue this review.
Morton's email sent to the EPA Senior ORD stated, “To continue to reduce the risk that chloroprene emissions from the DPE facility pose to surrounding communities, further chloroprene emission reductions from our DPE facility in La Place, Louisiana. continues to seek.'' Official Chris Thayer.
“Estimated cancer inhalation risk is one of the factors used by EPA and Louisiana DEQ to determine the amount of additional emissions reductions required from DPE facilities,” the report concluded. Ta.
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In addition to Mr. Morton's testimony, DPE's attorneys provided metadata in court filings showing that the email was originally created by an ORD employee.
EPA Region 6 Administrator Michael Morton's 2021 email metadata. rescinding his office's recommendation for chloroprene. Metadata shows Morton's email was created by EPA ORD employee Daanish Shams. (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana)
The revelation cited an email purportedly from Region 6, but actually written by ORD using Morton's email address and sent to its own company, to withdraw the chloroprene candidate. This suggests that it appears to be.
But had the EPA moved forward with its chloroprene recommendation and undertaken new research, the ultimate lawsuit targeting DPE's LaPlace facility may have stalled.
The EPA declined to comment, citing its policy not to comment on pending litigation.
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Collectively, Louisiana's multibillion-dollar petrochemical industry is a significant driver of jobs and investment in the state. The industry is also a major reason why the state is the third-largest oil consumer in the nation and has the highest per capita consumption of oil, according to the Energy Information Administration.
But the petrochemical industry has long been a target of environmentalists. responsible for harmful emissions And pollution negatively impacts the health of surrounding communities.
