How to Get Help

• Form a group. You gain political and moral strength with a group. Join LEAN as a LEAN member group. Click here to join. Most of our member groups form because of a problem in their community. Take the group and visit your politicians to discuss your concerns and problems.
  
  
• Get your local officials to help. This is the best thing you can do to strengthen your position. Be aware that few politicians in Louisiana are willing to go against industry. This is changing, believe it or not. More politicians are learning that environmental issues are crucial to a healthy society and, more importantly, environmental issues are increasingly impacting elections. Go find politicians sympathetic to your problems and get them working for your side. Try to change the minds of those that aren't on your side.
  
  
• Communicate with the company. More companies are willing to listen to the concerns of the public and industry is finding it increasingly important to compromise over public concerns. Some companies still won't care about your issues, but some will. The number of companies who care is growing, so go talk to yours and see which side of the fence they're on. BE PATIENT and KEEP YOUR TEMPER if possible. Expect the first meeting to be a get to know each other and each others problems. Industry has problems too, and maybe a compromise will solve yours and theirs.
  
  It may take a long time, but a successful conclusion is what counts.
  
  

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• Getting help at DEQ
  The people at DEQ are generally friendly, dedicated and willing to help. It takes lots of patiences though. Remember your working with a large government bureaucracy so expect to get passed along from phone to phone until you find someone to help.
  
  Start early. Once the public notice for a permit comes out your almost out of time.
  
  Write a letter to DEQ requesting an extension and a public hearing. This can be done after the public notice comes out or even just before it comes out. You can use this example letter if you want to: example letter for extension and public hearing.
  You can get the permit reference number from the public notice. If you don't have the reference number just describe the facility: give its name, the city its near and the Parish its in. Follow up on the letter by calling Secretary Given's office. Tell him you're a local citizen or local citizen group, that always helps.
  
  Try to get a copy of the applications and permits from DEQ for free. Again, tell DEQ you're a local citizen or local citizen group, that always helps.
  
  Read the public notice that MUST appear in your paper and get the name of the DEQ contact person for this project. (Public notices can also be found at Public Notices Online). DEQ contact people are supposed to help you find whatever you need. Call them. If your starting early call DEQ and find out who the project engineer and contact person for the project are. Make them help you, most will be friendly and willing to help.
  
  DEQ Customer Information: If you don't know who you should be talking to at DEQ call here toll free. (888)763-5424
  
  Just like any large company, some people at DEQ won't be helpful. Just move on and find someone else who is willing to help. The position of DEQ's management never changes. These are political appointees, industry gives a lot of money to politicians, so DEQ management will almost always side with industry. Be prepared for this, but don't let it stop you.
  
  

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• Learn More About the Process
  You can teach yourself how to participate in the permitting process. One good source to learn about public hearings is: "Making the Most of Public Hearings". This can be found at Making the Most of Public Hearings
  
  Public hearings are important for publicity purposes, try to get local officials involved. In Louisiana, public hearings will never change DEQ's position, but it's still important to participate. These provide a good place to get people energized and motivated towards a cause. If nothing else, they make industry nervous.
  
  
• If this is an air permit.
  Air permits are now called Title five permits because they are required in Title five of the Clean Air Act. (Title five permits are also called Part 70 permits or Title V permits, but they are all the same thing.)
  Read the Title V Checklist at Title V Checklist.
  
  An excellent, but long, discussion of how citizens can read and comment on Title five permits is; THE TITLE V HANDBOOK: Part One: How to Make Sure a Facility in Your Community Gets an Effective Title V Air Pollution Permit. This can be found at Title V Handbook, Part I. There is also a part two on the same web site.
  
  The EPA also has reference information about air permits:
  
  1. Region 6 Air Permits This has a timetable for air permits in Louisiana. Look down the page and it gives the 45 day EPA review status and the 60 day public petition status.
     
  2. The Clean Air Act Read any section of the Clean Air Act.
     
  3. New Source Review Workshop Manual
     
  4. New Source Review Policy and Guidance Database
     
  5. NSR and PSD. Find out more about New Source Review (NSR) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD).
     
     

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• Call the Region 6 Office of Environmental Justice
  Give them a call and tell them your problem, they may be able to help.
  
  EPA Region 6 Office of Environmental Justice
  Warren Arthur
  EJ Project Manager
  Phone: 214-665-8504
  Fax: 214-665-7360
  E-mail: arthur.warren@epa.gov
  and
  Olivia Balandran
  EJ Team Leader
  Phone: 214-665-7257
  Fax: 214-665-6648
  E-mail: balandran.olivia-r@epa.gov
  
  

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• Contact LEAN, the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund.
  You will benefit from technical and legal help. Try to get these groups involved. Remember, they are already working about as hard as they can, but let them know your problem. You never know when one of them is already working on your problem or really wants to work on it.
  
  However, between these three groups there are less than ten lawyers and only a few technical people. Between industry, DEQ and EPA Region 6 they have a hundred lawyers and hundreds of technical people. We will always have seriously fewer resources than they will. Our advantages are that we can move fast, the truth always benefits our position and we have the moral high ground. This gives us strength. Also, when you get all the people together who care about the environment we out number them. Our numbers grow every day, their numbers shrink every day. The future is ours and they know that.
  
  

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  LEAN		Louisiana Environmental Action Network p.o. box 66323 Baton Rouge La. 70896 (225) 928-1315 lean@leanweb.org
  Tulane Environmental Law Clinic		Tulane Environmental Law Clinic 6329 Freret Street New Orleans, LA 70118-6231 (504)865-5789 FAX:(504)862-8721
  Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund		Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund 504-522-1394

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