DONALDSONVILLE - Ascension Parish residents gathered inside the Ascension Parish Library in Donaldsonville Thursday evening to discuss the upcoming Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Mill coming to the parish.

The event was hosted by the Good Neighbors Louisiana coalition, which is comprised of organizations like the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club, and more.

Residents told the coalition that they feel their concerns are not being heard when it comes to things like jobs, potential health issues, and concerns of residents who live near the mill.

The $5.8 billion mill outside of Donaldsonville and near Modeste, which is expected to be completed by 2029, is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the parish and surrounding area.

"Direct permanent jobs are a little bit north of 1,300. Indirect jobs in the economic development space, we're looking at over 4,100 jobs, so a total potential job count of over 5,400 jobs," Ascension Chamber of Commerce President AND  CEO Donnie Miller said.

The average annual salary for employees is expected to be around $95,000; that's according to the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership.

"It's Hyundai-POSCO, so they're operations and production jobs. You're going to see skilled maintenance, engineering, and technical types of positions; of course, quality and safety are always paramount when it comes to manufacturing facilities. The jobs that I think you are going to see that are new in this space will be more on the production side and engineering and technical side," Miller said.

However, some Donaldsonville residents like Glenn Price, a member of the Sunrise Community Group of Donaldsonville, want to know how many of the job totals being predicted will actually go to people who live there.

"What we want them to do is sign what you call a community benefit agreement. You're going to tell us how many jobs our local area is going to get; also you're going to tell us how much money you're going to put in to our community," Price said.

Questions about possible air pollution were also raised. Hyundai recently made changes to its air-permit application. The changes included swapping out nine natural gas industrial heaters for electric ones, which is expected to cut down the annual greenhouse gas emissions.

However, people like Angelle Bradfors Rosenberg with Louisiana Progress say that groups need to keep going to ensure they can secure binding commitments to the use of that technology.

"Each additional project is impactful when it comes to people's health, and that's why we're demanding the cleanest Hyundai Steel project," Rosenberg said.

Donaldsonville resident Nieaka Henderson says people living close to the future plant are worried about their property.

"The Hyundai plant is right on their back door, and they want to give them nothing for their property. They're literally old people. A lot of the people in Modesto are old, and they can't go buy another house," Henderson said.

Miller says people have the right to know what's going on in their community, but also says Hyundai has done a great job putting on public events to answer questions people may have.

Concerns were also raised about the environmental permitting process. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, or LDEQ, released over 2,000 pages recently of draft air permit materials for the proposed facility. Good Neighbors Louisiana is also asking for the public comment period regarding it to be extended from 30 days to 60. 

The LDEQ will hold a public hearing about the project and proposed air permit on Sept. 1. It will take place at the Lemann Center Gymnasium on Clay St at 6:00 p.m. 

"We want folks to feel confident giving their comments; we want folks to feel really grounded in the science," Rosenberg said.