About the Series
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.” This series documents the fenceline communities abutting this industrial activity and their efforts to push back against the companies they say are already polluting their air and water and which are often trying to expand further into these neighborhoods.
In This Series
Legal challenges could delay the EPA’s ability to enact the measures, which coincide with Louisiana activists' fight against projects poised to increase air pollution.
Administrator Regan claims EPA is “using every tool in our tool box.” Environmental advocates say the agency could use emergency powers to do more.
The St. James Parish Council’s actions continue a long history of racism in this part of Louisiana, the lawsuit claims.
Leaders in the state’s environmental justice movement see signs their pressure is bringing accountability for both government and polluters.
The congressional stop in Louisiana over the Juneteenth weekend will inform an ambitious environmental justice bill a long time in the making.
State regulators left the public in the dark for weeks after a major diesel fuel spill near New Orleans. The spill came from a pipeline owned by a company the state had just granted a permit to a nearby project.
Climate advocates in Louisiana warn that environmental justice goals will be tough to meet in a state where the governor keeps welcoming new fossil fuel development.
Despite widespread destruction, the surging pandemic, toxic air, and racial inequality, members of the Concerned Citizens of St. John plan to rebuild.
Photos from around the plant show how vulnerable fossil fuel facilities are to extreme weather on the Gulf Coast and how that may compound the pollution for their neighbors in Cancer Alley.
Residences near where Formosa plans to build a sprawling petrochemical complex were severely impacted by winds from Ida, fueled by the Gulf’s unusually warm waters.
If built, the plastics plant would pump air pollutants into surrounding communities and contribute more to climate change than three coal power plants. Corps announcement deals significant blow to project's backers.
A Louisiana Cancer Alley community group responded by petitioning the EPA to take emergency action to reduce carcinogenic emissions.
Higher rates of COVID-19 infection and death have been found in people living in a stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge lined with over a hundred refineries and petrochemical plants.
