Gen. Honoré, Enviros Call for Stronger EPA Refinery Rule

"Millions of people living near refineries will be directly affected by a long awaited updates to regulations the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for oil refineries. Their new proposed rule includes a reduction of flaring, monitoring benzene emissions, and upgrading emission controls during the crude oil refining process.

'We need 21st century monitoring devices for fenceline communities,' former General Russel Honoré, founder of the Green Army, a coalition of environmental groups and concerned citizens fighting against pollution, told DeSmogBlog. 'The new rules the EPA has put forth still don't require that. Industry's objective is to reduce liability, because they want to avoid liability. They don't want good monitoring,' he says.

Honoré became an advocate for clean air and water after being invited to Bayou Corne, Louisiana. He visited the community as the first anniversary of its sinkhole disaster approached. Victims who had been under a mandatory evacuation reached out to him for help after losing faith that the government would act on their behalf.

'You broke it, you fix it,' became Honoré’s message to industry."

Julie Dermansky reports for DeSmogBlog August 20, 2014.