Central Louisiana Coalition for a Clean & Healthy Environment:
Fighting for ZERO Open Burning/Open Detonation
in New RCRA Permit
September 22, 2022 — Clean Harbors Colfax is the only commercial open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) facility in the United States. It is located near the small town of Colfax, Louisiana in Grant Parish. Grant Parish and more specifically Colfax Louisiana is a rural, low income area. The majority of the population in Colfax and nearby area is African American. The Colfax elementary school is primarily composed of African American students who participate in the reduced/free lunch program. In other words, Clean Harbors Colfax is located in a low income area composed primarily of African American people. This is an Environmental Justice (EJ) community.
Clean Harbors Colfax is seeking a new RCRA permit in which about 10% of the waste would be processed by OB/OD and 100% of the waste during the periods of maintenance of the Enclosed Burn Chamber system. Our coalition, Central Louisiana Coalition for a Clean & Healthy Environment, is 100% opposed to continuing with OB/OD in any manner or amount. We want ZERO OB/OD.
Pictures and information pertaining to the picture are presented in the following pages. Hopefully the pictures are worth 1000 words.
This picture (above) was taken from the files at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. (LDEQ). Hazardous waste is placed on the burn pads and remotely ignited. As you can see the waste rises in the plumes and then is gathered into air and begins its travel. Where it stops depends on many factors. The winds in the atmosphere can carry it many miles.
This plume is very dark and not far over the tree tops. Hazardous waste drops out as the plume moves away from its original site at Clean Harbors Colfax. I took this picture from my yard, and I live about 2 miles from the burn site. As you can see the plume is far from the Clean Harbors Colfax property and is continuing to move offsite.
This is another dark plume (above) that has moved far offsite from Clean Harbors Colfax and continues to drop the hazardous waste as it moves far away from the burn site. This picture was taken on my property which is about 2 air miles from Clean Harbors Colfax.
As the plumes move offsite and the hazardous waste falls to the ground the waste is deposited onto the community members and their homes, soil, vegetation, water and animals.
A complaint regarding this offsite plume was called into the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) on that day. It is one of over 1,500 complaints that have been called into LDEQ as of this time.
The following pictures are of skin conditions that residents near Clean Harbors Colfax are experiencing. Most of the residents live in The Rock Community or nearby. All of residents in that area are in the EJ community.
The boy in this picture (below) loves to play outside. Most boys in our area often play games and participate in activities that involve dirt. The boy in this picture has experienced itching on his arms when being outside and getting dirt on his arms. His mother in the picture has unusual skin blemishes now that did not exist earlier and is also experiencing new blemishes in new at this time.
There is a resident of Colfax, Louisiana, who served in Iraq and who was exposed to the burn pits there. He is on disability now. The pictures following are of his hand/arm that I took recently. He stated that some new places had appeared recently. You will see them in the pictures that follow. The Veterans’ Administration has sent him to various physicians but no one has been able to cure the new places.
On August 10, 2022, the President signed into law the PACT Act (the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxic Act) which is designed to help the veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these military and former military personnel were exposed to the burn pits and hazardous waste and have/are suffering from various physical ailments. If you line up the hazardous waste these soldiers were exposed to and the physical ailments many citizens near Clean Harbors Colfax have and the offsite hazardous waste in their community you will find that they line up together and have many of the same things. I do not think this is a coincidence. The following pictures are of the ex soldier and a citizen near The Rock community. The pictures were taken recently within 2 days of each other.
Look carefully at the picture above and below. Both were taken recently within 2 days of each other. The ex-veteran’s white spots are easily seen. Then look at the places where you see blood. He has scratched his hand because it was itching. Could it be that the hazardous waste he was exposed to at the burn pits still be resurfacing? Maybe he is being exposed to the same hazardous waste from Clean Harbors Colfax that he was exposed to in Iraq. I do not have the answer to that question. One thing I do know is that much of the hazardous waste found at the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan are the same ones found at Clean Harbors Colfax. Also, the physical ailments of the ex-soldiers match up with the physical ailments of the people on The Rock and areas close to Clean Harbors Colfax. You draw your own conclusions.
Not all of the illness and physical conditions can be documented by pictures. Yet many in the EJ community experience irritation of the throat, burning of the eyes, persistent coughing, breathing difficulties, shortness of breath, sinus problems¸ allergies, nasal irritation, wheezing and headaches following detonations at Clean Harbors Colfax.
Community members around the Clean Harbors Colfax facility reported a high number of residents that have/had cancer. Breast and prostate cancer were the most prevalent. The following are other types of cancer reported by the community members: angiosarcoma of the liver; bladder cancer; colon cancer; bone cancer; cervical cancer; gastrointestinal cancer; kidney cancer; malignant melanoma; non-hodgkin’s cancer; ovarian cancer; skin cancer; and stomach cancer.
It should also be noted that according to the Tumor Registry 2017 that the incidences of black male prostate, white female colon and rectum cancer, white male bladder cancer and white female thyroid cancer all exceeded the state cancer incident in Grant Parish.
Research has shown that there seems to be a correlation between the waste stream materials from Clean Harbors Colfax and health impacts. If you look carefully at the waste streams from Clean Harbors Colfax and the burn pits you will find many similarities.
Some of you might wonder what an offsite plume looks like when it reaches the ground or is hovering over the ground. The picture below was taken at Summerfield Baptist Church and shows the plume covering the church ground and surrounding area. The church borders with the Clean Harbors Colfax property. There was little to no air movement on that day, no birds chirping, no noise at all – just dead silence. Residents on Bush Road have described the offsite plumes that have come into their yards in a very similar way. This is an uninvited guest that no one wants, and no one knows what they are being exposed to at that time. It takes its own time moving away from your home and property and leaves behind hazardous waste on everything that it touches. See picture below.
You might have guessed by looking at the pictures that the area around Clean, Harbors Colfax is not a wealthy area. The majority of the students at the schools are on free/reduced lunch. Low income African Americans comprise the majority of the citizens in Colfax, The Rock and the area surrounding Clean Harbors Colfax. This is where companies like Clean Harbors Colfax want to build their facilities. The land is cheaper, the people are not as well educated and no one is paying attention to what is happening. Gradually the facility grows bigger and activities increase. By the time the people become aware of what is happening the facility is established, and then it becomes an uphill battle to make changes.
Below is a typical home in the EJ community known as The Rock.
For more information, please contact: Central Louisiana Coalition for a Clean & Healthy Environment at bfvallee@bellsouth.net.
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SIGN THE PETITION to the White House to end ALL open burning of hazardous waste in Louisiana and across the U.S. and its territories.