LAKE CHARLES, La. — As a girl growing up near refineries and chemical factories in this part of the Gulf Coast, 77-year-old Lois Malvo thought nothing of the way her eyes burned when she played outside. Now she sees dangers all around her.
The smell of rotten eggs and gasoline frequently fills her low-slung home, which lacks running water and leans to one side. Most days, she wakes up in the grips of a coughing fit. Cancer, which she blames on the toxic chemicals in the air, killed her sister and afflicted both of her brothers as well as herself.
“Our health lets us know that something isn’t right,” she said. “We’re being attacked by the industry because we’re vulnerable people and really, nobody cares about us.”
But with less than a year left before the next presidential election, the EPA is struggling to carry out the kind of aggressive enforcement that would make a difference in the lives of Malvo and others on the Gulf Coast. The agency has only recently begun to crack down on air pollution in the region, according to interviews with five current and former EPA employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation, and a review of public enforcement documents and emissions data compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group. Environmentalists and residents fear it may be running out of time.
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LAKE CHARLES, La. — As a girl growing up near refineries and chemical factories in this part of the Gulf Coast, 77-year-old Lois Malvo thought nothing of the way her eyes burned when she played outside. Now she sees dangers all around her.
The smell of rotten eggs and gasoline frequently fills her low-slung home, which lacks running water and leans to one side. Most days, she wakes up in the grips of a coughing fit. Cancer, which she blames on the toxic chemicals in the air, killed her sister and afflicted both of her brothers as well as herself.
“Our health lets us know that something isn’t right,” she said. “We’re being attacked by the industry because we’re vulnerable people and really, nobody cares about us.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan tried to change perceptions of those like Malvo when he [toured](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/11/28/epa-regan-environmental-justice-tour/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4) pollution-choked communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas two years ago, assuring residents that the Biden administration was committed to reversing years of inaction.
But with less than a year left before the next presidential election, the EPA is struggling to carry out the kind of aggressive enforcement that would make a difference in the lives of Malvo and others on the Gulf Coast. The agency has only recently begun to crack down on air pollution in the region, according to interviews with five current and former EPA employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation, and a review of public enforcement documents and emissions data compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group. Environmentalists and residents fear it may be running out of time.
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