During a community meeting where north Baton Rouge residents aired out their contempt for ExxonMobil’s public safety protocol, state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, promised to bring forth legislation aiming to improve the way statewide emergency notifications are handled.
Star of Bethlehem Baptist Church was filled to standing-room-only for the meeting Wednesday night—one week after a fire erupted in ExxonMobil’s north Baton Rouge refinery and nearby residents claimed emergency responders failed to notify them of potential hazards in a timely manner, with some even saying they were never notified. (ExxonMobil maintains they notified about 1,900 phone numbers the night of the incident.)
“I want to make sure we have real-time monitoring that goes to the state immediately,” Fields said. “We’re going to try to define ‘immediately.’ ‘Immediately’ is going to mean immediately in Louisiana. I don’t want people to have to depend on industry to let them know when something is happening.”
Organized by Fields, the meeting’s goal was for community stakeholders to develop an action plan that the state senator could pre-file as a bill before his Feb. 26 deadline. While a draft has yet to be written, the action plan included addressing the public notification process, implementing 24/7 real-time air monitoring, upgrading the current supply of safety devices, and establishing a clear and transparent emergency plan.
Fields also referenced California’s air monitoring laws several times in admiration, pointing to the state’s law as potential inspiration for some of the language in his bill.
In a report released Tuesday evening, ExxonMobil said air monitoring inside the plant and around surrounding neighborhoods did not detect the release of harmful concentrations of chemicals into the air or among the broader public.
At last night’s meeting, officials explained to community members how they typically respond in emergency situations and gave a timeline of their actions the night of the fire. Among those in attendance were ExxonMobil representatives, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokespeople, members of Louisiana State Police and the Baton Rouge Fire Department, and state and city officials.
Residents’ disdain for the oil and gas giant dates back further than last week’s fire, with many sharing anecdotes that reveal decades of anxiety surrounding emissions, fires and spills in the area, some of which they claim have led to cancer diagnoses and other lifelong diseases.
They also lamented over what they described as “lack of oversight” where the industry giant is concerned. Their complaints ranged from one woman calling Baton Rouge “Exxon City” to another fuming that “Exxon has been dragging the community through years of litigation.”
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