"The Biden administration vowed to protect communities from dangerous pollution. But refineries continue to exceed safe levels."
"LAKE CHARLES, La. — As a girl growing up near refineries and chemical factories in this part of the Gulf Coast, 77-year-old Lois Malvo thought nothing of the way her eyes burned when she played outside. Now she sees dangers all around her.
The smell of rotten eggs and gasoline frequently fills her low-slung home, which lacks running water and leans to one side. Most days, she wakes up in the grips of a coughing fit. Cancer, which she blames on the toxic chemicals in the air, killed her sister and afflicted both of her brothers as well as herself.
“Our health lets us know that something isn’t right,” she said. “We’re being attacked by the industry because we’re vulnerable people and really, nobody cares about us.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan tried to change perceptions of those like Malvo when he toured pollution-choked communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas two years ago, assuring residents that the Biden administration was committed to reversing years of inaction."
Anna Phillips, Amudalat Ajasa, and Timothy Puko report for the Washington Post December 29, 2023.
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