environmental analysis and meaningful
community outreach.”
The Corps needs “to thoroughly review areas of
concern, particularly those with environmental
justice implications,” Pinkham wrote.
Major construction has been on hold since the
Corps agreed in November to reconsider its
permit for the plants in Welcome, where the
Census Bureau estimates that nearly 97% of the
880 residents are Black.
Pinkham’s tweet and letter provide little detail
about what procedures the Corps intends to
use, said an emailed statement from FG LA. “The
company will continue to work with the Corps
as we receive more guidance on the additional
evaluation and has no further comment at this
time,” it said.
The memo does not identify the Corps’
commanding general. He is Lt. Gen. Scott A.
Spellmon, according to the agency’s website.
One of the people who challenged the
permit, Julie Teel Simmonds of the Center for
Biological Diversity, said the decision was a step
toward greater oversight even if the permit
wasn’t scrapped.
“Although it does not revoke the permit, it at
least lays out the proper process for an adequate
environmental review of the project, which the
Corps failed to do before,” Simmonds said in
an email.