Today, 51 organizations from around the country voiced their collective support for Louisiana’s announced intent to deny an operating permit renewal for open air burning of hazardous waste at the Clean Harbors facility in Colfax.
The 700-acre facility is one of the few remaining commercial sites in the U.S. that still uses open burning to treat hazardous waste. Clean Harbors Colfax burns and detonates more than 500,000 pounds of toxic reactive material in an open-air setting each year. In a public notice issued earlier this year, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality stated its intent to deny a permit renewal because of Clean Harbors’ “failure to adequately consider alternatives to the continued open burning/open detonation of the waste treated at its Colfax facility.”
“In the past 30 years, alternatives to the burning and incineration of hazardous waste have emerged due to the work of communities, EPA, and the Department of Defense (DOD),” said Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger – the Wisconsin-based group that organized the national letter. “These technologies are being used by the DOD to destroy energetics and chemical warfare agents and could be readily applied to the hazardous wastes being treated at Colfax.”
The national action supports local efforts by the Central Louisiana Coalition for a Clean and Healthy Environment (CLCCHE) to protect the health of area residents and the local environment by opposing the open air burning and detonation at Clean Harbors Colfax.
“We feel that area residents’ health has been greatly impacted and will continue to deteriorate if open burning/open detonation continues,” said Brenda Vallee, a spokeperson for CLCCHE. “Samples of soil and water taken by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality clearly show contamination at the site. Area residents experience almost instant adverse impacts when the toxic air plumes drift onto their property.”
“Harm to the health of area residents, waterways, groundwater, air and soil from open burning and detonation at Clean Harbors Colfax needs to stop now,” Vallee emphasized.
The complete letter to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is posted here.
Photograph retrieved from Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality public records on Clean Harbors Colfax.
REFERENCES:
National Letter Calling for END to Toxic Burns in Colfax Louisiana 20 March 2020
Public Notice: Louisiana Dept of Environment Quality Intent to Deny Permit Renewal Clean Harbors Colfax
Public Notice Louisiana Dept of Environmental Quality Public Comment Colfax Extended to 20 March 2020