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Regular Session, 2012 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 183
BY SENATOR CROWE
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee
on Environmental Quality to meet and to function as a joint committee to study the
social, economic and environmental impact of the discharge of black liquor and other
toxic or hazardous substances to the environment from the Temple Inland facility
into the Pearl River, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Senate
prior to the convening of the 2013 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the release of two million gallons of black liquor into the Pearl River
significantly and adversely affected the economy, environment, and communities, both
directly and indirectly; and
WHEREAS, owners of property adjacent to the Pearl River or other waterways in
Louisiana, business owners, and recreational or commercial fishermen affected by the
discharge became physically ill, were injured, inconvenienced or frightened due to the
contamination of the Pearl River; and
WHEREAS, black liquor impacts the environment through destruction of aquatic
ecosystems, and kills a large number of fish estimated possibly in excess of fourteen million,
turtles, mussels and other listed endangered species in the Pearl River; and
WHEREAS, the improper discharge has caused an obstruction to navigation under
the federal Rivers and Harbors Act, and impaired commerce and the ability of commercial
fishermen to harvest fish; and
WHEREAS, the citizens of our state are entitled to know the dangers posed to their
health by environmental factors, such as water pollution caused by the discharge of toxic and
other harmful substances into navigable waterways. SR NO. 183 ENROLLED
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
urges and requests that the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee
on Environmental Quality meet and function as a joint committee to study the impact of the
discharge of black liquor into the Pearl River and to report its findings and recommendations
to the Senate prior to the convening of the 2013 Regular Session of the Legislature of
Louisiana.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE