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Louie Miller Since we have been hit with the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history, the pattern of making the Gulf Coast a sacrifice zone for industry with high toxic emissions continues, as if Katrina had been a mere breeze. Sites at Port Gibson and in South Louisiana made the final cut for the first nuclear power plant to be built in the U.S. in 30 years. And now Chevron has filed an application for a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal in Pascagoula. One of these LNG tankers has the energy equivalent of 60 Hiroshima bombs! Don't we have enough risks already? The whole Gulf Coast has been turned into a toxic zone from the hurricane destroying so many vehicles, boats, homes, businesses, industries and contaminated former industry sites like International Paper and Rohm & Haas in Pascagoula. Our highways are ripped up, traffic is horrible, the waters are clogged with debris. And meanwhile, the Mississippi DEQ put out a press releases saying there were no toxic releases from DuPont DeLisle following the hurricane, and that the fish are safe to eat. Meanwhile, the governor's lobbyist nephew, Henry Barbour, has been put in charge of rebuilding the Gulf Coast. What a great deal for the lobby clients! Go right to the front of the line for lucrative no-bid contracts for reconstruction. Remember: this firm was hired by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to fight for caps on punitive damages so it would be cheaper for industry to kill people. Two members of this commission represent the two biggest polluters in the state: Anthony Topazi, head of Mississippi Power Company, and Pat Nichols, with DuPont DeLisle. There are two pro-environment people -- Gerald Blessey and Felicia Dunn Burkes -- on the commission, but they are way outnumbered by the usual good ol' boys. Meanwhile, we have only a couple of environmentalists appointed to the governor's commission, and the public is not invited to attend the meetings which, since it has not even been officially established by the governor, is not subject to open meeting laws. The public is not invited to attend the charette meetings which will be used to draw up a template for redevelopment. Women, minorities and environmentalists are all greatly under-represented on this commission. Louie Miller is the Sierra Club's Regional Representative in Mississippi. Back to Notes from the Gulf main page. Have your own story from the Gulf Coast? Contact us. Photo: Louie Miller/Sierra Club collection; all rights reserved. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club