Monthly Archives: December 2015

LETTERS NEEDED MONDAY: Request a Public Hearing for Plains’ Magazine Point tank farm air permit

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Fellow Mobile Residents,

Please join us in writing a letter to permitting regulator, Ronald W. Gore at ADEM’s Air Division, respectfully requesting a public hearing so that impacted communities may participate fully in the air permitting process that affects most but rarely engages any.

Please do not hesitate. These must be received by the regulator by Thursday, December 24, 2015!! You can mail it in first thing Monday, but the safer bet is to hand deliver them to the ADEM office at Mobile Coastal Field Office, 3664 Dauphin Street, Suite B Mobile, AL 36608.

Plains has applied for a Major Source Operating Permit (MSOP) through ADEM’s Air Division. MSOPs are 5-year permits required for facilities triggering Title V “regulation” under the Clean Air Act. Continue reading →

A Sultry Public Hearing in Africatown on the Petrochemical Storage Tank Ordinance

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Update 12/3/15: The City of Mobile Planning Commission Chair Jay Watkins announced that the vote on their proposed above ground petrochemical storage tank zoning ordinance amendment would be held over until January 7, 2016 due to the high number of holiday absences and recusals, like his attorney-advised recusal related to an ongoing ethics investigation by the Alabama Ethics Commission.

Louise Moorer: "Out here we have heavy industry, trucks, trains and you can smell the #oil in our area. . . Help us build up our community. . . I say no more tanks or any hazardous chemicals in Africatown."

Louise Moorer: “Out here we have heavy industry, trucks, trains and you can smell the oil in our area. . . Help us build up our community. . . I say no more tanks or any hazardous chemicals in Africatown.”

December 1 was a hot night in the Robert Hope Community Center in Africatown. Attendees were using a handout of MEJAC’s critique of the Planning Commission’s ordinance to fan themselves in the hearing room as the air conditioning failed to cool the passion coursing through the hall.

The Planning Commission agreed to hold this public hearing on their petrochemical tank ordinance during the week after working hours to facilitate the participation of working Africatown community members who would find it difficult to participate during the Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting hours. Continue reading →