The site of Mitsubishi Chemical’s proposed petrochemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana. (Google Maps)
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is on track to approve an air pollution permit for a $1 billion petrochemical plant in Geismar, which would be the world’s largest plastics plant of its kind.
Mitsubishi Chemical Co. plans to build a $1 billion facility on a 77-acre site in Geismar that’s capable of producing 385,000 tons annually of methyl methacrylate (MMA), a chemical used in a variety of paints, adhesives, building panels and other acrylic polymers. The company is asking LDEQ for a permit that would allow the plant to emit hundreds of tons of toxic gasses, as well as nearly 781,000 tons of greenhouse gas per year. It would rank the plant among the state’s top 50 pollution emitters, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Located along the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, Geismar is within the so-called “ Cancer Alley ” petrochemical corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that has among the worst air quality and highest rates of cancer in the country. More than 5,000 residents live within a 3-mile radius of the proposed Mitsubishi plant, and they are already surrounded by a number of petrochemical plants such as those owned by BASF, Occidental Chemical Corp, Shell Chemical, Rubicon, Westlake Chemical and Air Products.