Community Denounces Air District Plan to Give Oakland Polluter New Permit, workshop stop'd

Community Denounces Air District Plan to Give Oakland Polluter New Permit

West Oakland Residents Stop Bay Area Air District Sham Meeting On Proposed New Rule for Lesaffre Yeast (formerly Red Star Yeast)

Last night residents of West Oakland blasted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, disrupting and totally preventing the BAAQMD from proceeding with its
planned workshop on a new rule they are going to implement for the polluting Red Star Yeast/Lesaffre factory that poison the community every day.  It was an inspired community direct action to let the BAAQMD know that their environmental racism must end. About 50 community people participated in the meeting.

Located at 5th and Mandela in West Oakland, Lesaffre Yeast emits noxious odors and large quantities of cancer-causing chemicals into the neighborhood.  Residents suffer high rates of asthma and want the factory moved away from homes.

The audience was furious at BAAQMD's failure to inform the community that the real purpose of the rulemaking process was to enable the BAAQMD to issue the controversial Title V Clean Air Act permit to the
company despite their daily odor nuisances and flunking of their air emissions source tests they needed to pass to be in compliance with the new permit.

The Air District was challenged immediately. Youth from the community (from the Youth Empowerment Center) made strong statements about the suffering of kids and the whole neighborhood from the noxious odors - breaking into song and rap.  One after another people demanded a permit denial, documenting
the company's violations and health threats.  Attempts to quiet the crowd and begin the workshop were futile.  The people took over the meeting!

45 minutes into the raucus meeting the Air District finally admitted they planned to issue the permit and allow the company to continue operating out of compliance.  The community repeatedly documented the BAAQMD's years of never enforcing permit conditions, so a new rule that we know won't be enforced is not the answer.  BAAQMD claimed that by giving the company a new permit despite the problems, and allowing them to operate without being able to comply for at least a while would end up bringing the company into compliance - no one bought this!!

After two hours of community demands for a permit denial and denunciations of the BAAQMD's pro-polluter actions, the meeting ended and the workshop never happened.

The coalition including Chester Street Block Club Association, Citizens for West Oakland Revitalization, Youth Empowerment Center, Pacific Institute and Greenaction made it known that we plan on challenging the BAAQMD's plan/scam to issue the permit, will plan a large action at the factory, and will protest at Air District headquarters in San Francisco.

Visit the Greenaction website for more about the campaign against Lesaffre Yeast and about other campaigns for healthy communities and environmental justice.

http://www.greenaction.org

Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
http://www.greenaction.org

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