Environmental group survey claims health problems from ...

As the state Department of Environmental Quality continues to examine heightened sulphur dioxide levels in the Chalmette area, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade on Thursday said during a press conference that 70 people in the area have reported respiratory problems, headaches or eye irritation in a door-to-door survey. Anna Hrybyk, the environmental group's program manger, said that her team surveyed 132 residents, and so about half reported problems.

The team simply chose a 20-square-block radius near some of the larger Chalmette sulphur dioxide emitters, knocked on doors, and, if people were home, asked them whether they recently had seen or smelled any chemicals releases and whether they were suffering from any health issues as a result. The Bucket Brigade said that about 90 of the 132 people reported smelling bad odors and that nine people said they had visited, or informed, a doctor.

The group also points to 60 reports filed, mostly anonymously, in the last six weeks to the Bucket Brigade?s online iWitness Pollution Map.

On Jan. 11, the permanent DEQ monitoring station in the Chalmette Vista neighborhood registered sulphur dioxide levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hourly standard of 75 parts per billion in an hour. On Jan. 12, the DEQ mobile air unit also measured reading above that standard.

DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch said on Wednesday, ?We will work with the local industry and federal partners to find the cause of these emissions and to reduce (sulphur dioxide) emissions in St. Bernard Parish.?

Short-term exposure to sulphur dioxide, ranging from 5 minutes to 24 hours, could cause an array of adverse respiratory effects, especially to those suffering from emphysema, bronchitis, heart disease. The effects can be more profound on asthmatics, children and the elderly.

Ann Rolfes, founding director of the environmental group, said that similar incidents have gone on for the past 20 years, and she asked that the state Department of Health and Hospitals become involved.

The Bucket Brigade has been campaigning against what it contends are unnecessary releases of chemicals at refineries in Louisiana during accidents since its creation in 2000.

Source: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/01/environmental_group_survey_cla.html

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