Though Louisiana is on the front lines of the climate crisis, with rising sea levels and rapid land loss caused in part by warming global temperatures, there doesn’t seem to be a new fossil fuel project that Governor Edwards doesn’t embrace. DeSmogBlog is the antidote to that obfuscation." “Add the long-term exposure of toxic chemicals to the virus, which has a huge impact on the lungs, then they are much more apt to get it and then to have very detrimental effects.”I asked Denka's spokesperson if the plant takes any responsibility for adding to the risk factor of the residents who live nearby and have had chronic exposure to chloroprene and other chemicals. to your inbox each morning.Jail Took My Mom: Filmmaker on How His Mother Broke the Cycle of Incarceration & Shaping The Case Against Trump Is “Open and Shut”: Kamala Harris Slams President’s Handling of PandemicWas Kamala Harris a Progressive Prosecutor? Air pollution can be a major factor in underlying health issues in their communities and at least one study has tied one type of pollutant to a higher mortality rate for Subra agrees with Cooper on these points. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. More than 100 petrochemical facilities line a stretch of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which is known to industry as the “Petrochemical Corridor” and to locals as “Cancer Alley.” Take action! Please do your part today.Democracy Now! The protest began just a few hundred feet from a factory in Reserve, Louisiana, that presents the greatest risk of cancer to the surrounding community of any in … Some of its residents, as well as activists from around the state, had come to the hall to strategize how to stop the construction of a $9.4 billion chemical plant proposed by Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics. Protesters in the Coalition of Death Alley say they are fighting to save lives. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. I did not receive a response.Hayden is also the executive director of the Louisiana Propane Gas Association. St. James is a rural community of just over 21,000 on the Mississippi River, better known for its plantations than its plastics. Harris also stated, “Further, all Louisiana parishes are considered to be in attainment of federal Subra explained that while the petrochemical plants in St. John the Baptist and St. James are in compliance with the particulate matter standard, that doesn't negate that fact that those plants, including Denka, are still emitting particulate matter that can contribute to the air quality issues. Last October, police charged Gregory Manning, the legally blind pastor of Broadmoor Community Church and a member of the Coalition Against Death Alley, with a …

Despite the large number of industrial facilities—more than 136—unemployment is high in many communities and most residents do not have a college education. "Cancer Alley" is an 85 mile-long stretch of the Mississippi river lined with oil refineries and petrochemical plants, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

'Cancer Alley' residents say industry is hurting town: 'We're collateral damage' Mobile home in St James Parish with oil tanks in the background. They shared concerns that African Americans are dying of These two small communities, with roughly 60,000 residents combined, so far have seen more than 750 confirmed Governor John Bel Edwards pointed out the racial disparity of The Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish, a community group, worries that the industrial sites around their homes might end up releasing even higher levels of air pollution since the The group has been particularly concerned about the nearby Denka plant, which emits numerous toxic chemicals including chloroprene, a likely human carcinogen, that’s used to produce the synthetic rubber Neoprene.Jim Harris, a spokesperson for Denka, said by email that those worries were unmerited.