ST. GABRIEL - St. Gabriel City Council will soon decide if a water-recycling plant can expand, though may people are worried about it.

Those people were not allowed to speak at a council meeting Thursday, however, since the project was just being introduced.

"Typically when we have an introduction of an item, there is no public forum on that item," Mayor Lionel Johnson said.

Outside, retired United States Army General Russel Honore' encouraged residents to speak up about Adsorbent Solutions.

The company has been operation in St. Gabriel for years recycling chemical waste. Tyrone Williams lives less than four miles from the plants and thinks expansion would cause more harm than good.

"There are more than a thousand people being affected by this is you include the prison system," Williams said. "And there have been significant violations, emission, cancer causing chemicals being released into the environment, the ground, the air, the water."

Adsorbent Solutions President Stewart Fulton said the company did have violations in the past, but they continue to work with the Department of Environmental Quality to fix them.

"Our goal in this expansion is to bring environmentalist responsibility, not only to the community but also to customers," Fulton said.

Residents will be allowed to speak on the issue at the next council meeting.