14 DAY TRIAL // A coal export terminal that has been up and running for over 40 years and which has shipped millions of tons of coal and petroleum coke to overseas markets on a yearly basis is now making headlines.
This is thanks to several green-oriented organizations who have decided to point the finger at it and accuse it of polluting the Mississippi River.
Thus, it was just yesterday when several environmental advocacy groups teamed up and filed a lawsuit against this coal export terminal in Davant, Louisiana.
Media reports say that, according to the folks who filed suit, the terminal, which is owned by United Bulk Terminals Davant LLC, is guilty of having violated the United States’ Clean Water Act.
More precisely, it is said that workers of this terminal have many times discharged both coal and petroleum coke into the nearby river over the past few years.
According to Eco Watch, the environmental advocacy groups base their accusation on photos, videos and even satellite imagery showing polluted water working its way into the Mississippi River from the United Bulk terminal.
They further argue that the piles of coal and petroleum coke stored on site at this facility release dangerous dust and debris into the terminal's surroundings, and that this puts people living in the region at risk.
More so given the fact that petroleum coke, i.e. a byproduct of oil refining, has been documented to contain elevated concentrations of arsenic, mercury and several other compounds that threaten public health and the wellbeing of natural ecosystems.
“The coal and petcoke sit in huge, open piles along the river,” Warren Lawrence, one of the area's residents, told the press in an interview.
Furthermore, “So when there’s rain and wind, it just blows right into the river and the wetlands. The natural environment is the reason people love this area, and the coal is destroying it.”
The green-oriented groups that have filed this lawsuit against the United Bulk coal export terminal in Louisiana are as follows: the Gulf Restoration Network, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and the Sierra Club.
The members and supporters of these organizations expect that, following their going after the facility and its dirty ways in court, United Bulk Terminals Davant LLC will be left with no choice except embrace a more environmentally friendly working agenda.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to work with the company to clean up the facility and make it safer for workers, communities and the environment,” said Marylee Orr with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network.