As a resident of heavily industrial Ascension Parish, Kheri Monks is no stranger to living near petrochemical facilities. Monks has been living in Gonzales for more than a decade. In that time, she had three children. All of them have asthma and were born prematurely. Monks thinks that exposure to pollutants might have led to their health concerns.
“I just can't help but think, ‘Should I have not given birth here in Louisiana? You know, with all of the environmental concerns that we have?”’ Monks said. “I can't believe I'm living, like literally living in Cancer Alley.”
Monks’ home is in the middle of “Cancer Alley,” the petrochemical corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that is home to more than 200 chemical-emitting industrial facilities, which many researchers and environmental groups have linked to disproportionately high rates of cancer, pre-term births and respiratory diseases.
Now Monks is worried about yet another petrochemical project in the works, one that would be built, in part, near her kids’ school.
For the past several years, Pennsylvania-based chemical company Air Products has been working toward building a new hydrogen plant in Sorrento. The plant will process natural gas, separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide. But instead of having excess carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere, the company would capture the byproduct greenhouse gas and pipe it through Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes, before storing it underground beneath Lake Maurepas. Because of its relatively low-carbon footprint, the project is being promoted as a “green” energy solution.
Air Products declined an interview for this story. During a public meeting in November, Air Product's vice president, Andrew Connelly, said the project will, “dramatically reduce the world's potential impact on the environment and the surrounding community.”
The project would be the largest carbon sequestration and storage project in the world, according to Air Products, and will prevent most of the plant’s carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. But critics have said the pipeline project puts vital wetland, including Lake Mareupas, at risk.
Monks, though, worries about how the pipeline will affect her family. The hydrogen plant is being built near Sorrento Primary School, where her children are currently enrolled. The school, and the Orange Grove subdivision that it’s located in, would be just half a mile away from the proposed carbon dioxide pipeline if the project continues. And having a carbon dioxide pipeline can be risky — a report from Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that there are at least three carbon dioxide pipeline leaks every year.
Although the chemical compound is naturally present in the air, high concentrations of it can cause dizziness, headache, and in extreme cases, suffocation. In 2020, a leak in Satartia, Mississippi led to 45 hospitalizations and forced 200 residents to evacuate. Stricter regulations had been proposed to prevent future leaks near the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term, but those proposals were tabled when President Donald Trump entered office.
To continue, the project needs a coastal use permit from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy and a Clean Water Act permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Air Products submitted the applications early last year. Representatives from both departments said they will consider the project’s impacts on the community when granting the permits, but are more concerned about impacts to coastal waters and wetlands.
Federal and state regulations require pipelines to avoid populated places like business, schools, and neighborhoods, said Patrick Courreges, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy. But pipelines can still be within 50 feet of those populated places if they have additional cover to protect against surface ruptures. In fact, there are already two active hydrogen pipelines surrounding the school, one of which is owned by Air Products.
The potential adverse health effects and little documentation of Air Products’ plans in case of an emergency, prompted environmental law nonprofit Earthjustive to partner with a scientist who modeled the CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia and commission a model of what a rupture could look like near Sorrento Primary School.
“What this report shows is that the pipeline would put these kids and teachers in harm's way,” said Earthjustice scientist Cyndhia Ramatchandirane. “There would be a very large cloud of CO2 that would cover the area, the houses, the school very quickly — within like 10 minutes.”
Because carbon dioxide is so dense, concentrations of it would be higher near the ground, where children are, Ramatchandirane said. The model predicts that the levels of carbon dioxide released could trigger respiratory distress and elevated heart rates in healthy adults, based on thresholds set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But it's unclear how the effects of CO2 exposure would be different for children who already have respiratory illnesses, such as Monks’ kids.
Even if a leak is discovered and the pipeline is shut off relatively quickly, the model still predicts “serious health effects” for those in the school and in the neighborhood, Ramatchandirane said. And emergency response could also be slowed down in the event of a leak, as high levels of carbon dioxide in the air prevent combustion engines, which need oxygen to work, from starting.
Emergency response is just one thing that parent Estefania Aultman, who has been working to inform her community about the plant to prevent its construction, worries about when it comes to the project. Aultman’s son attends Sorrento Primary School, and she said the town doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with a full response to a leak.
In an email to WWNO and Verite News, Air Products said it has engaged with local first responders through the Ascension Parish Community Awareness and Emergency Response group, a collection of chemical and industrial companies that have plants in Ascension Parish working with local government to prepare for industrial emergencies.
James LeBlanc, the group’s chairman and Ascension Parish’s fire chief, did not make himself available for an interview for this story.
As part of an effort to improve community relations, Air Products has also made a $280,000 donation to the River Parishes Community College to start a year-long afterschool STEM program at Sorrento Primary and Lowery Elementary schools. The program, which started this fall and currently serves third graders, is meant to boost career readiness so that students can one day join the energy industry.
Aultman said that students at Sorrento Primary don’t often have opportunities to pursue specialized afterschool programming. She has criticized the program and sees it as a way to keep parents from speaking out against the plant.
“Do you think parents really want to talk about how they're against Air Products if they just funded [this program]?” Aultman said.
Aultman and Monks said there has been little communication from Air Products and the parish about the project and its potential risks. Aultman said she’s reached out to members of the school board and Sorrento Primary’s principal, Honey Lundin, to ask if they’ve received information about the project from Air Products, but hasn’t received a response.
In a statement to Verite News, Ascension Parish Schools spokesperson Jackie Tisdell said the district is committed to providing safe learning environments and collaborating with community partners.
“Ascension Public Schools is focused on educating students and supporting their success,” Tisdell said. “We value our relationships with community and business partners who share in that commitment.”
Aultman, a former insulator at Exxon who used to patch leaks by tanks and pipes, said that a leak near the school would be “catastrophic.” It’s not a risk she’s willing to take. Aultman said her family will move if the project continues.
“We started looking for homes,” Aultman said. “We're willing to fight this, but if we can't get our voices heard and get enough community involved and engaged, like if it is just me speaking or a handful of people, it's just not gonna be enough. And I can't, I can't have my family here for that.”
