Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish wants the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to allow it to increase emissions: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, volatile compounds, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) and Toxic Air Pollutants (TAPs). Venture Global wants to increase VOCs, HAPs and TAPs by 132 percent. These are substances that can impact health.

John Allaire lives a little over a mile from the facility’s dock, and he’s been taking photos of flaring since the beginning of 2022, and continues to do so. Flaring, he said, can represent operational problems and release pollutants into the air. His most recent photos show flames of 50 to 80 feet.

“They promised they were going to flare only 60 hours per year,” Allaire said. “They want to increase that to 500 hours per year, an 833 percent increase over what they said they wanted to do.

“This is supposed to be clean energy for the world, but it’s not clean energy for us. The flares light up the whole horizon. Last night the wind was from the northeast and the noise was roaring. That’s noise pollution, light pollution and air pollution,” he said.

He purchased his property in 1998 with the intention of retiring there.

“My kids grew up out there, stargazing and duck hunting,” he said.

Anthony Theriot has been a shrimper for 20 years. He lives 1.2 miles from Venture Global.

“I feel like I’m battling a losing battle,” Theriot said.

In addition to competing with low-priced imported shrimp, he said that fewer shrimp are available for inland fishermen like him. He thinks it’s because of Venture Global.

“I don’t know if it’s because they dump their equipment cooling wastewater into the Gulf or if it’s the vibration and the noise,” he said.

Venture Global is one of the largest producers of LNG, and it has not been penalized for over 2,000 violations in 2022 and 900 violations in 2023. Despite not being fully commissioned, the company sold its LNG – but not to its long-term contract customers. The company said it can’t sell its gas to them because Venture Global does not meet the requirements for commercial operation.

John Allaire is against exporting natural resources to countries that “are not our friend on the world stage,” he said. “When we raise prices here that puts our industry at a competitive disadvantage. Our labor rates are higher, and countries like China subsidize industry.”

Venture Global hopes to build and operate a second facility on Calcasieu Pass, CP2, on 550 acres.

In June, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Venture Global’s application to construct  Calcasieu Pass 2, a second operation situated next to the existing plant. The National Resources Defense Council, counsel for Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment and Turtle Island Restoration Network challenged FERC’s approval last month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Venture Global did not respond to an email sent out over a week ago. DEQ responded that it is working on the request.