A Struggle for Clean Air Along the Mississippi

There is an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River that stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge that has been deemed “Cancer Alley.” With over two hundred industrial facilities emitting various types of air pollution, health risks are on the rise for the residents in that area, with cancer being the highest. Louisiana currently has one of the highest cancer rates in the United States, with Cancer Alley no doubt contributing to this placement. Not only are residents of this area at risk for health complications, but they are also experiencing environmental injustice.

In order to fully understand the entire picture, we must first delve into the history of the land before it was named Cancer Alley. The land was once called Plantation Country. This included St. James, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist Parishes. After the abolition of slavery in 1865, the sugarcane plantations started machine-based harvesting techniques, which involved pesticides and fertilizers that were obtained from oil. This led to the petroleum industry occupying the land. This was the start of the air-polluting operation, while the descendants of the enslaved people still lived on the land near the plantations.

Due to the surplus number of industrial facilities emitting toxic air pollution and the lack of government intervention, residents in the area are being exposed to multiple types of toxins in the air. According to the Lung Cancer Care Center, residents are being exposed to formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, and chloroprene. Formaldehyde is a chemical that can cause rare cancer cases within the sinuses due to inhalation. It has a strong smell and is used by industrial plants that produce insulation, fiberglass, plywood, fabrics, and other household products. According to lungcancercenter.com, “Cancer Alley residents may develop rare cancer cases of the sinuses due to inhalation.” Ethylene oxide is a carcinogen that may lead to lymphoma and leukemia. It's a colorless gas that gives off a sweet smell and is used to make detergents and cleaners. Chloroprene is also a carcinogen being released into the air in more recent years. It's used to make synthetic rubber. There were findings in 2011 of an above-average amount of this carcinogen polluting the air.

Employees of these plants are required to always wear H2S monitors to detect if there is hydrogen sulfide in the area. When asked, an employee of a petroleum plant who chose to remain anonymous said the monitors are set to beep when they get up to 10 ppm, which is the point at which it would start to affect the respiratory system. When asked if it was common for the H2S monitor to go off, the employee stated, “I haven’t been in a situation where my H2S monitor has gone off, but I have been around equipment that was going off. That unit had to be shut down.”

How are all these toxins being released into the air? Well, the answer is right in front of our faces. The employee mentioned, “You know those flames that everyone can see from the road? Those are all the main toxins being released into the air. As long as those flares are being released into the air, they (the industrial plant) are getting charged by the EPA because of how bad it is for the environment.”

When asked, residents of Cancer Alley if they were aware of the risks the area is putting on public health and the environment, one resident stated, “I knew the air wasn’t the greatest in the area, but I didn’t realize how bad it was to the extent that it was causing cancer.”

In an article by Living on earth.org, an interview was conducted with Margie Richard, who used to live across the street from a chemical plant called Shell Norco. Richard went all the way to the United Nations to seek to protect her town's public health. In the 1950s, Shell built its chemical plant in a town called Diamond. Richard fought to have the company relocate the neighborhood due to the toxic chemicals that were being emitted from the plant. In the interview, she recalls multiple people in the town suffering from health problems. Even her own sister died at forty-three years old from a condition called sarcoidosis, which is known to inflame certain organs like the lungs. After several heartbreaking events, Richard fought Shell by bringing in an environmental group that tested and detected chemicals in the air that weren’t reported to the state. Richard states that she showed up to the United Nations with a bag of polluted air and proceeded to ask the executive if he would like to breathe the air. Soon after the meeting, Shell offered to buy people’s houses near the plant with a minimum offer of eighty thousand dollars.

The Shell plant in Norco had a couple of events that occurred not related to air pollution that terrified residents. In 1973, there was an incident where a teenage boy started a lawnmower that sparked an explosion. It killed the boy as well as an elderly woman. The explosion was due to a leaking pipeline being located a few feet from the lawnmower.

Another explosion occurred in 1988 that took the lives of seven employees within the plant. It was reported that tremors from the explosion were felt up to thirty-five miles away. This was a terrifying event for the residents of Diamond. Some homes were only twenty-five feet away from the plant.

The community of the surrounding area has not been silent in their efforts to stop the air pollution. In the 1980s, the government revealed reports that three out of four hazardous waste sites in the United States were located in Black communities. This led to community activists speaking out and led to the first-ever “Great Louisiana Toxic March.” In the Library of Congress, there are photos of the march which include several people from the community holding up signs with the sayings “Clean Air is my Dream” and “I’m Tired of Smelling My Air.”

Today, local residents and activists continue to take action in fighting racial injustice, environmental hazards, and health hazards that pose a risk to their lives. Organizations such as Rise St. James and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade continue to advocate for regulations on refineries, organize protests, and conduct environmental surveillance of the area.

In April of 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration finalized stronger Clean Air Standards for chemical plants. This rule was made to significantly reduce toxic air pollution from chemical plants that emit pollutants such as ethylene oxide and chloroprene. The rule claims to “reduce the number of people with elevated cancer risk by 96% in communities near plants that emit ethylene oxide and chloroprene.” Congressman Troy A. Carter stated in regards to the rule, “This announcement is a monumental step towards safeguarding public health and the environment. By slashing over 6,200 tons of toxic air pollutants annually and implementing fenceline monitoring, this addresses health risks in surrounding communities and promotes environmental justice in states like Louisiana.” This is a significant win for residents of Cancer Alley as well as the rest of the United States.

While there have been several strides in improving air quality in Cancer Alley in recent years, there is still plenty of work to be done. There are many ways we can get involved by supporting advocacy groups like Concerned Citizens of St. John, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. Making donations to organizations, raising awareness, or encouraging elected officials to support policies that protect communities from pollution can make an immense impact on our environment and the lives of those suffering in areas like Cancer Alley. While Cancer Alley is a significant issue regarding environmental injustice, unfortunately, it's not the only area experiencing these negative impacts.

Sources:

Drugmand, Dana. “From Plantations to Petrochemicals | Sierra Club.” Www.sierraclub.org, 19 June 2023, www.sierraclub.org/sierra/plantations-petrochemicals-juneteenth.

Frazier, Reid. “One Woman Fought Shell Oil to Save Her Town.” Living on Earth, World Media Foundation, 20 Mar. 2015, www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=15-P13-00012&segmentID=3. Accessed 7 May 2025.

Groner, Anya. “Cancer Alley.” 64 Parishes, 22 Apr. 2024, 64parishes.org/entry/cancer-alley.

“LA. Toxics March / Sam Kittner.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, www.loc.gov/item/2012645408/.

O’Leary, Megan. “What Is Cancer Alley? Factories, Chemicals, and Pollutants in Louisiana.” Lung Cancer Center, 10 Feb. 2022, www.lungcancercenter.com/news/cancer-alley-louisiana/.

Terrell, Kimberly, and Gianna St. Julien. “Tulane Study: Louisiana’s Severe Air Pollution Linked to Dozens of Cancer Cases Each Year | Tulane Law School.” Law.tulane.edu, 13 Jan. 2022, law.tulane.edu/news/tulane-study-louisianas-severe-air-pollution-linked-dozens-cancer-cases-each-year.

US EPA, OA. “Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Stronger Clean Air Standards for Chemical Plants, Lowering Cancer Risk and Advancing Environmental Justice.” Www.epa.gov, 9 Apr. 2024, www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-stronger-clean-air-standards-chemical-plants.