DONALDSONVILLE - Just days away from the groundbreaking of the new $5.8 billion Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Plant, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing Tuesday at the Lemann Memorial Center in Donaldsonville on the plant's air permit. 

Hyundai-POSCO representatives discussed the company's plans for the new facility, but hundreds of residents and several organizations showed up to voice concerns about the project.

"I think it's interesting that it's an air permit hearing, yet so many of the proponents, about 99% of them, didn't talk about air pollution, and I understand why. It's because Ascension Parish is already in the top 10 parishes nationwide for air pollution," Louisiana Bucket Brigade Director Anne Rolfes said during the hearing.

Hyundai says that its facility will be much more environmentally friendly than traditional facilities.

"So we use what's called the electric arc method, and that utilizes electricity instead of burning coal, and that is where the 70% reduction in emissions actually comes from. We're going to be ushering in that next generation of cleaner manufacturing," Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Senior Media Relations Manager Stephanie Malin said.

However, residents in Donaldsonville and Modeste near the planned site say they need much more than words.

"We want Hyundai to tell us, as a matter of fact, not just tell us, put it in writing what you're going to do for our community. Now we want to know what you're going to do for us," Donaldsonville Sunrise Community Group President Glenn Price said.

Before the meeting, a coalition of groups called Good Neighbors Louisiana, which features West Ascension residents, and groups like the Sierra Club, spoke with WBRZ, reaffirming its demands that Hyundai-POSCO be more transparent and answer questions about topics such as plans to reduce emissions and hire locally.

Groups like the Sierra Club say they're worried that thousands of tons of pollution could be released in the area, which they say is already overburdened with pollution.

"One of the most offensive things about this whole process is the way that everybody is suddenly claiming to care about Modeste and Donaldsonville, and the model is really clear. Let's neglect a community for decades and generations, and then suddenly we're going to pretend that we're going to save it and we suddenly care by throwing a steel mill on top of it," Rolfes said.

Residents living near the proposed plant told WBRZ it has not been easy with the planned site.

"Starting with the trucks coming down our lane, tearing up our roads. Making it uninhabitable for the children to even ride the school buses. It's not safe anymore. We had a quiet neighborhood," Donaldsonville resident Nieaka Henderson said.

Even though the hearing was about an air permit, many of the concerns from residents were about other topics, with one of the biggest being about jobs.

The site is expected to bring in thousands of jobs, but who they're going to is a concern amongst residents.

"When they come into the communities, they don't want to hire the people that live in the community. They hire everybody from out of state, and never the people here. I don't think that's fair," Donaldsonville resident Catina Price said.

Hyundai says it's working with River Parishes Community College, Louisiana Works, schools like Donaldsonville High School, and other organizations to prepare Louisiana residents for the plant's job opportunities.

"By simply promising jobs, it's not enough. We need to create a pathway that prepares local residents to compete for those careers. Hyundai expects approximately 77% of its projected workforce to consist of operators and technicians," Hyundai-POSCO External Affairs Specialist Tamiko Stroud said.

Several elected officials spoke in support of the facility, including Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment.

"This is a completely new generation of American steelmaking. The old, outdated images of tall, dark smoking stacks do not reflect the reality of what's coming to our community," Cointment said.

Hyundai-POSCO is set to have a groundbreaking for the site on Friday. However, Rolfes questioned how this is allowed to happen.

"Also offensive in this process is that they can have a groundbreaking on Friday, three days after the air permit hearing. If this permit is really in question, then why should they be allowed to have a groundbreaking ceremony?" Rolfes asked.

The period for the public to submit comments on the permit to the department is open until the end of this month. WBRZ was told that after that, DEQ will make a decision on the permit.