A Forgotten Community in New Orleans: Life on a Superfund Site

onJun 22, 2014 @ 11:00 PDT

Shannon Rainey lives in a house that was built on top of a Superfund site in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

“I bought my house when I was 25, and thirty years later, I still can’t get out,” she told DeSmogBlog.

Rainey’s home in Gordon Plaza is part of a subdivision developed by the city in 1981 on top of the Agriculture Street landfill. No one disclosed to the buyers that their new homes were built on top of a dump that was closed in 1965.

Rainey has a view of two other city-owned properties also built on the landfill: the shuttered Morton Elementary School and Press Park, an abandoned housing project developed by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO).

“If it were white folks back here, this would be all gone,” Rainey says bluntly.

By Julie Dermansky

Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers University’s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

Doug Ford’s Policies Increased Ontario’s Energy Dependency on U.S., Say Experts

ByTaylor Noakes

onApr 1, 2025 @ 10:12 PDT

Importing fracked gas during a trade war undermines Canada’s energy security, environmentalists warn premier.

uk/Reform Candidate Arron Banks Has Repeatedly Mocked Basic Climate Science

ByAdam Barnett

onApr 1, 2025 @ 08:44 PDT

The multi-millionaire Brexit funder has claimed “CO2 and climate change is the ultimate hoax”.

Czech MEP Appointed to Climate Role While Paid £10k a Month as Car Consultant

ByPhoebe Cooke

onMar 31, 2025 @ 23:00 PDT

The appointment of Filip Turek to a new rapporteur position is a “disaster” for the integrity of EU climate policy, say campaigners.

Danielle Smith and Ben Shapiro Discuss Canada Electing ‘Solid Allies’ to Trump at Florida Event

ByGeoff Dembicki

onMar 27, 2025 @ 21:39 PDT

On stage at a PragerU fundraiser, the Alberta premier, under fire for allegedly encouraging U.S. leaders to influence Canadian politics, said 'I come in peace'.