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.

uk/Kemi Badenoch’s Policy Chief Attacked Net Zero Climate Target

ByAdam Barnett

onNov 29, 2024 @ 03:04 PST

Victoria Hewson called the 2050 ambition a “huge own goal” while working for a Tufton Street think tank.

Industry Group Pre-Wrote Comments for ‘Workers’ Opposing Vancouver Gas Ban

ByGeoff Dembicki

onNov 28, 2024 @ 15:21 PST

Ahead of a city council vote, Resource Works launched an influence campaign with stock submissions for restaurant owners, hospitality workers, and residents.

Nitrates Derogation is a 'Con', Says Ireland's Farmers

ByPhoebe Cooke

onNov 28, 2024 @ 03:38 PST

Ahead of the November 29 election, dairy producers tell Irish government to step off the “treadmill” of unsustainable milk production – and share a more holistic vision.

Series: Investigating Ireland’s Influential Ag Lobby