{"id":3346,"date":"2020-05-06T03:30:06","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T03:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.coreytegeler.com\/coi-temp\/?post_type=happening&p=3346"},"modified":"2020-11-05T19:14:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T19:14:21","slug":"louisianas-cancer-alley-and-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"happening","link":"https:\/\/stage.coreytegeler.com\/coi\/happening\/louisianas-cancer-alley-and-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2012:<\/p>\n

2012: \u201cPetrochemical Landscape,\u201d Kate Orff, Orff\/Misrach, \u200bPetrochemical America. Courtesy of Kate Orff.<\/p>\n

Happening Now in New Orleans: Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n

On April 7, 2020 VICE.com<\/a><\/em> published a story on “Cancer Alley” and how long-standing environmental issues were impacting COVID-19. According to\u00a0VICE<\/em>, “Cancer Alley,” a heavily polluted area which runs along the Mississippi River in Louisiana<\/a>, has been making residents sick for years due to toxic chemicals in the air stemming from the region’s numerous industrial plants and lax environmental regulations. Now it is the location of some of the highest death rates in the country from coronavirus.<\/p>\n

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Image courtesy of Brett Anderson.<\/p>\n

“Cancer Alley” is made up of predominantly black communities. The article points out that “African Americans account for 70 percent of all of the deaths in Louisiana so far. They make up just 32 percent of the population.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides suffering with the virus, we gotta be concerned about more industry because we\u2019re right next to the plant right here,\u201d said [Mary] Hampton, who at 80 years old, has spent years fighting the Denka plant and other petrochemical facilities in the area as president of the community group Concerned Citizens of St. John. \u201cIt\u2019s as if the government doesn\u2019t even care how many people are dying.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2015, the EPA found that the area near the Denka plant had the highest risk<\/a> of air pollution-caused cancer in the country, nearly 50 times the national average<\/a>. The other plants lining the 85-mile industrial stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge known<\/a> as \u201cCancer Alley\u201d have been linked to numerous health problems in the communities pressed up against their fences. As companies continue to develop new facilities with the support of pro-business politicians, Hampton\u2019s long list of family members, neighbors, and friends who\u2019ve died from cancer grows.<\/em><\/p>\n

And now, her list of friends and family getting sick with the coronavirus is growing, too: her sister\u2019s daughter-in-law, her son-in-law, her nephew\u2019s ex-wife. Her cousin died from the virus in late March, a friend\u2019s husband died last week, a husband and wife in her neighborhood died a few days ago.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the full article on VICE here: ‘Cancer Alley’ Has Some of the Highest Coronavirus Death Rates in the Country<\/a><\/p>\n

Learn more about environmental issues in Louisiana here: Standing Up on River Road: Activism in South Louisiana<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Watch the video below to hear a firsthand account from one of the residents of “Cancer Alley,” Eve Butler.<\/p>\n\n

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