Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover announces that he has sent letters to Governor Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality urging them to deny a permit to operate the Louisiana Proteins’ rendering plant in North Shreveport.

“I met with the owner of Louisiana Proteins Tuesday and told him how much better off the City was without them in operation,” Glover says. “Although they would like us to believe that they can improve the facility enough for it not to emit foul odors, there is nothing in their track record which makes me believe that. I also told him that rendering plants like theirs did not belong in metropolitan areas, because of the odors they generate. As bad as they are, we know that they can reopen later this year, if DEQ grants them a new permit. I am trying to stop them.”

Mayor Glover’s letters describe the Louisiana Proteins facility as a “horrific nuisance to the people who lived and worked under constant bombardment from noxious odors emanating from it.” He also said it threatened events held at the City’s Convention Center and Hilton Hotel and caused problems for the City’s sewer system.

The City and numerous community groups have fought to close or more closely regulate the Louisiana Proteins facility for some time. The plant was closed last fall because it had exceeded the amount of material it could legally process in a calendar year under its prior DEQ permit. The City also gained approval last year for State legislation allowing it to regulate odors coming from the rendering plant.