There are 21 article(s) tagged Memphis Community Against Pollution:
As local groups push against xAI’s turbines as part of a fight against pollution, the Health Department director said she will schedule a public hearing on the permit for the company’s Southwest Memphis plant.
Environmental groups are asking Memphis Light, Gas and Water to slow down approvals for xAI’s supercomputer construction in southwest Memphis.
South Memphis residents were celebrating Tuesday as Sterilization Services of Tennessee left its home of nearly 50 years.
After decades of toxic emissions and nearly two years of community pressure on the company, Sterilization Services of Tennessee is leaving its South Memphis facility.
Under new federal guidelines, one Memphis company will have to slash emissions and another seems to be in the process of shutting down.
The Shelby County Health Department is charged with protecting and promoting environmental health, but advocates say the agency is not doing enough to keep the area’s air and water safe.
The attorney representing Sterilization Services said in a recent letter that the company will leave its Florida Street facility before next May.
The EPA returned to Memphis officially for the first time since last fall when the agency explained the health risks created by local EtO emissions. Representatives discussed proposals to reduce the community’s risks from the chemical.
Ethylene oxide, or EtO, has been on the community’s radar since the Environmental Protection Agency identified a Florida Street business as one of 23 high-risk polluters.
However, it could take years for the proposed regulations, which would govern emissions of a cancer-causing chemical, to be finalized and enforced.
“Community members shouldn’t have to wait years for relief. Instead of making excuses and dodging questions, the Shelby County Health Department needs to act now to make the facility reduce its emissions or — if it continues to refuse — shut down completely.”
The Shelby County Health Department shared the results of its first-ever cancer incidence study on Tuesday, March 28. It found no evidence of cancer clusters near a South Memphis facility that emits a cancer-causing chemical called ethylene oxide, or EtO.
The County Commission vote approves a nonbinding piece of legislation, but it’s a show of support for residents and groups such as Memphis Community Against Pollution.
When a study last year looked at how much of cancer-causing chemical was seeping into the air, and potentially harming local residents, it used standards better suited to indoor air quality and workers in protective equipment.
The Southern Environmental Law Center said that EtO pollution in Memphis justifies the use of the Shelby County health officer’s emergency powers. The health department disagreed.
Justin J. Pearson is the only Memphian on the list, joining other leaders including LeBron James, Tyler Perry, Jordan Peele and Solange Knowles.
The Shelby County Health Department is in danger of losing its authority to monitor local air pollution as the state pressures the program to address understaffing, numerous audit findings and a permit backlog.
“MLGW’s decision on its future power supply is one of the most consequential single decisions that any community has made in the history of SACE’s work throughout the Southeast region over the past three decades,” said the executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
After the Byhalia Pipeline project was canceled on July 2, 2021, the residents who opposed it met at Alonzo Weaver Park for a celebration. A year later, they returned to the same spot to mark the occasion once again.
The organizations said it’s a crucial moment as MLGW’s board prepares to make a recommendation on its next electric supplier contract.
A billboard depicting a young girl holding melting ice cream now stands on Interstate 55, across from the Valero refinery in South Memphis.
About 21 results