Field Notes: Interview with Eve Butler

Eve Butler is a resident of “Cancer Alley” (a rural community in southern Louisiana) and a member of RISE St. James and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. During this recording, Eve was driving with the interviewer through her neighborhood, which is adjacent to an exposed sulfur pile. Eve reflects on the poor air quality and respiratory ailments of the residents of St. James Parish due to chemical processing and on the loss of services due to petrochemical expansion, which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and home quarantine. The respiratory ailments she speaks to are indicative of the region as a whole, which is substantially more at risk of COVID-19 deaths than other communities due to pre-existing health conditions and poor air quality in fenceline communities.

Ella McIntire, University of New Orleans alum, interviews Eve Butler. Butler is a “Cancer Alley” resident and member of RISE St. James and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. interviews Eve Butler. Butler is a “Cancer Alley” resident and member of RISE St. James and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. Courtesy of Ella McIntire.