This is a bad news/good news post about a major threat to public health that most folks outside of Louisiana don't know about, and how a hearty band of citizens was able to get results in the face of a Big Oil giant that's hellbent on lying and state regulators who are normally prone to help big corporations cover things up. In the past, I've told you that Louisiana -- in addition to the natural and environmental threats that get so much national publicity, such the aftermath of the BP oil spill and Hurricane Katrina -- also copes on a daily basis with an array of massive oil refineries and chemical plants, many of them with poor environmental track records. One of the biggest complexes, and one of the most dangerous, is located in the capitol city of Baton Rouge and is operated by the same folks who brought you the Exxon Valdez disaster, the ExxonMobil Corp. Here the world's biggest oil company operates both the nation's third-largest oil refinery as well as a large chemical plant. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a top-notch group of environmental activists, has documented an alarming rate of accidents, especially at ExxonMobil's refinery. Over one five-year stretch, accident ...
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