GARYVILLE, La. (WGNO) — Days following the fire at Marathon Petroleum, the cause of the incident has not been explained.
However, it left Louisiana Bucket Brigade Founder Anne Rolfes angry. She claims industries get away with so much in the state.
“Because they just dump into our air, dump into our water and there is no price to pay. Because unfortunately, Louisiana’s idea of economic development is to let these huge companies use us as their dumping ground,” says Rolfes.
Founders of the Descendants Project, Jo and Joy Banner, believe the parish and companies are not worried about the safety of their workers or those who live in the area.
“They should be able to operate no matter what the conditions are, and if you can’t, you shouldn’t be operating. This was a very still a very dangerous situation,” says Jo Banner.
“It’s very hard for me to believe that [they] care if we live or die because how can you take so long to tell us as a community,” says Joy Banner.
According to them, it will always come back to which is more cost-effective for these refineries.
“Always going to be a scale of what is going to be more important, and it seems money is more important than safety,” says Joy Banner.
Rolfes says what’s sad is that this will continue to happen until the state enforces better health codes.
“People there are sick, you know you can talk to them about it. Read about it they had real impacts from this fire and again something has got to change. This is not economic development. This is letting the state of Louisiana be used by some of the biggest companies on earth,” says Rolfes.
The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board had decided to cancel school for Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School on Monday, Aug. 28. They said that this additional precautionary measure ensures the well-being of their students and staff.
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