On the narrow peninsula between lake Maurepas and Ponchartrain, extending to Laplace and the outskirts of the New Orleans metropolitan area, St. John the Baptist Parish comprises a large, green and beautiful chunk of French Louisiana. Of the many benefits to having a Bayou environment is the plentiful opportunity to fish gar, canoe throughout waterways of black mangroves and enjoy scenery from one of the most distinct and beautiful regions of the United States. But residents of this place must face a sad reality: the community’s children are exposed to the highest amount of a cancer-causing chemical in the country and, according to St. John the Baptist Parish residents quoted by “The Intercept,” the effect is visible on “cancer alley.”
Fifth Ward Elementary School – a Laplace, Louisiana, chemical manufacturer known for its chloroprene, formaldehyde, arsenic and chloroform production – reportedly “sucks in” a “carcinogenic cloud” of cancer-causing chloroprene and ethyl oxide chemicals through the building’s air conditioning, exposing schoolchildren to the pollution. Over 90% of Fifth Ward Elementary School’s 500 students are those of color.
Denka Performance Elastomer LLC, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, had purchased their manufacturing facilities in St. John from the DuPont corporation, a legacy pharmaceutical and chemical firm in Delaware. Employees of Denka and DuPont sit comfortably in upper middle-class homes, while the children of St. John the Baptist Parish are literally inhaling their toxins.
The Associated Press reported on Saturday, April 9, that the EPA is investigating companies in Louisiana’s “cancer alley,” which extends along an industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. A $9.4 billion complex built by Formosa Plastics is being constructed in St. James Parish, yet little is being done to correct or inhibit cancer rates in this region, which are 95% above the national average. In fact, according to a 2014 Air Toxics Assessment by the EPA, the area surrounding Denka’s plant had the highest rate of chloroprene-and ethyl oxide-related cancers in the country. The company continues to deny that activity in St. John’s causes cancer, even asking the EPA to remove chloroprene from its carcinogenic advisories, and industrial projects continue to illicit concerns from residents and regulatory bodies.
Last December, a grain elevator in St. John the Baptist Parish installed by Greenfield holdings, or storage and processing facilities of various crops like soybeans, corn and wheat are came up on the radar of environmentally conscious Louisianans, who are concerned about fine particle pollution – the EPA lists this as dangerous for compromised groups, “Once inhaled, these particles can affect the lungs and heart and cause serious health effects in individuals at greatest risk, such as people with heart or lung disease, people with diabetes, older adults and children (up to 18 years of age)” – as a result of grain elevator activity. In March, a rubber fire in Avoyelles Parish caused incarcerated people in Raymond Laborde prison to report respiratory problems and headaches from travelling smoke. Government and private industry in this region are not functioning correctly. The state is not protecting its citizens from abusive and vulgar treatment of the Earth and local environment, and the alleged economic benefit from private investment in southern Louisiana is paying off in sky-high cancer rates.
“Cancer alley” is an easy caveat to yell about on the internet. Of course, the Deep South has always been plagued with social or economic issues long before the advent of environmental consciousness, especially in places like the Bayou, extending from east Texas to Alabama. It is easy to flip past these reports and consider that there must be an idiosyncratic enabler, allowing those rednecks to continue dumping plastics and industrial waste through the Earth’s water and air. However, that’s a blatant and blind way to approach vulnerable groups, including children, in danger.
