By: Andrew Jacobs
What is “Cancer Alley”?
“Cancer Alley” is often considered to be the roughly 130-mile corridor of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.[1] The area’s population is roughly 45,000 people and is predominantly composed of Black communities.[2] Home to over 200 industrial facilities – mainly oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and plastics manufacturing plants – the harmful pollution from these sources makes Cancer Alley “the greatest hotspot for cancer cases in the United States.”[3]
The statistics concerning health issues in Cancer Alley are staggering:
- Every census tract between Baton Rouge and New Orleans ranks in the top 5% nationally for cancer risk from toxic air pollution and in the top 10% for respiratory hazards.[4]
- Industrial emissions in Louisiana are between seven and twenty-one times higher in communities of color compared to white communities.[5]
- Up to 46 individuals per million in Cancer Alley “could potentially develop cancer over a lifetime exposure to all carcinogenic air toxics in ambient air,” compared to the average of 30 individuals per million across the United States and 37 individuals per million in the rest of Louisiana.[6]
- In St. John the Baptist Parish – about thirty miles west of New Orleans – the risk of cancer is about fifty times greater than the national average.[7]
So, why are there so many industrial facilities in this one area? In short, the land is cheap, the Mississippi River provides easy access to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and Louisiana state officials “equate industrial investment with progress.”[8] But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The very decision to begin industrializing the area was rooted in racism.[9] In the 1950s, major companies looking for land to build their large industrial operations wanted to avoid populated and wealthy areas but ignored Black communities entirely in their decision-making.[10] Since the Black communities were “invisible,” companies set up shop right next to them without a care for the myriad adverse effects that would befall those communities.[11]
Yet, Louisiana isn’t done – the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) continues to approve permits for even more industrial facilities in Cancer Alley.[12] The state continues to allow these injustices to persist for several reasons, but a particularly salient one is the deafening silence of its political leaders.[13] Politicians on both sides of the aisle and at all levels of government have failed to take action; Democratic governor John Bel Edwards reportedly said he would “study” the issue but refused to commit to reducing pollution levels.[14] In 2021, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy denied that the increased cancer rates in the area are a product of harmful pollution, instead suggesting that it is due to “lifestyle choices,” like smoking and bad diets.[15]
The Louisiana-EPA Legal Battle.
In April of 2022, the EPA opened an investigation into LDEQ and Louisiana’s Department of Health (LDH) over complaints of racial discrimination in the agencies’ permitting processes and air pollution regulations.[16] In October of 2022, the EPA sent a letter to the agencies with its findings, concluding that LDEQ and LDH’s “failure to seek out, consider or analyze available information and data about health risks appears to…be subjecting Black residents of Louisiana to adverse disparate impacts.”[17] The EPA’s willingness to bring attention to environmental racism and utilize civil rights enforcement tools was “remarkable.”[18]
The EPA asserted that LDEQ violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and urged LDEQ to amend its regulations accordingly.[19] Shortly after receiving the EPA’s letter, LDEQ agreed to work with the EPA to develop new air pollution and permitting regulations.[20] Early this year, a forty-three-page draft agreement was produced, which included a commitment from the LDEQ to consider the potential disproportionate adverse health impacts felt by “people of a certain race, color, or nationality” in its permitting decisions[21] Consequently, the agencies seemed to be on the verge of creating meaningful change. But negotiations ended abruptly, with no resolution in place.[22] Cancer Alley residents felt bereft and abandoned.[23]
In May of this year, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry sued the EPA, the Department of Justice, and the Biden administration in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, alleging that the EPA’s civil rights investigation into LDEQ and LDH was improper and challenged “any federal review of disparate impact as a result of environmental permits.”[24] Though not confirmed, it is widely believed that the EPA backed out of negotiations with LDEQ when it became aware of the impending litigation.[25]
In the lawsuit, Attorney General Landry – who is now the frontrunner in the state’s gubernatorial race – argues that the Civil Rights Act prevents only “intentional discrimination,” not incidental disparate impacts stemming from legal permitting processes.[26] Landry calls the EPA “social justice warriors,” claiming they are interfering with the lawful actions of a state agency only because these actions “occur proximate to the ‘wrong’ racial groups.”[27] Implicit in the complaint, of course, is the refusal to accept that the adverse health impacts on Cancer Alley communities are a result of environmental racism, marking yet another denial of the racial discrimination occurring in the region.
The Future of Cancer Alley – How Can These Issues Be Solved?
Though its negotiations with LDEQ fell through, the EPA’s work in Louisiana is not done. In February, the EPA sued Denka Performance Elastomer – a neoprene manufacturer with a plant in Cancer Alley – claiming that the plant’s chloroprene emissions exceed legal levels.[28] The EPA has indicated that it also plans to conduct a cumulative impact study in St. John the Baptist Parish.[29]
Crucial to enacting meaningful change in Cancer Alley will be forcing the state’s politicians and regulators to acknowledge the root cause of the issue. The body of data on the adverse health impacts in Cancer Alley is significant, but the EPA’s litigation-entangled investigation aside, research and data establishing a direct link between these health impacts and the state’s discriminatory policies is sparse.[30] This scant body of literature allows Louisiana’s politicians to escape blame for the plight of Cancer Alley’s residents and reach unsupported conclusions about the cause of the issue.[31]
Though sparse as of now, research definitively establishing the connection between the state’s discriminatory practices and adverse health impacts in Cancer Alley continues to grow.[32] Several non-profit groups have also taken matters into their own hands, such as Rise St. James, which successfully prevented the construction of a new petrochemical plant in the area and worked diligently to raise awareness.[33] Nationally recognized groups like the Sierra Club have also joined the charge and are currently working to prevent the construction of three proposed industrial facilities in Cancer Alley.[34]
This combined body of research and heightened awareness, once large enough, could establish environmental racism in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley as utterly and patently irrefutable, even to the most skeptical eye – and force politicians and regulators in the state to set aside their slippery excuses and come to terms with the problem they created.
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[1] Kimberly A. Terrell & Gianna St. Julien, Air Pollution is Linked to Higher Cancer Rates Among Black or Impoverished Communities in Louisiana, 17 Env’t Rsch. Letters 1, 1 (2022).
[2] What is Cancer Alley?, Lung Cancer Center, https://www.lungcancercenter.com/news/cancer-alley-louisiana/#:~:text=Cancer%20Alley%20Louisiana%2C%20known%20in,population%20of%20about%2045%2C000%20residents. (last visited Sep. 26, 2023).
[3] Kimberly A. Terrell & Gianna St. Julien, Air Pollution is Linked to Higher Cancer Rates Among Black or Impoverished Communities in Louisiana, 17 Env’t Rsch. Letters 1, 1 (2022); What is Cancer Alley?, Lung Cancer Center, https://www.lungcancercenter.com/news/cancer-alley-louisiana/#:~:text=Cancer%20Alley%20Louisiana%2C%20known%20in,population%20of%20about%2045%2C000%20residents. (last visited Sep. 26, 2023).
[4] Kimberly A. Terrell & Gianna St. Julien, Air Pollution is Linked to Higher Cancer Rates Among Black or Impoverished Communities in Louisiana, 17 Env’t Rsch. Letters 1, 1 (2022).
[5] Kimberly A. Terrell & Gianna St. Julien, Discriminatory outcomes of industrial air permitting in Louisiana, United States, 10 Env’t Challenges 1 (2023).
[6] Wesley James, Chunrong Jia & Satish Kedia, Uneven Magnitude of Disparities from Cancer Risks in Air Toxics, 9 Int’l J. of Env’t Rsch. and Pub. Health 4365, 4369 (2012).
[7] Chelsea Stahl, Toxic school: How the government failed Black residents in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, NBC News (Mar. 16, 2023), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/toxic-school-government-failed-black-residents-louisianas-cancer-alley-rcna72504
[8] Tristan Baurick, Lylla Younes & Joan Meiners, Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse, ProPublica (Oct. 30, 2019), https://www.propublica.org/article/welcome-to-cancer-alley-where-toxic-air-is-about-to-get-worse
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] See generally Chelsea Stahl, Toxic school: How the government failed Black residents in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, NBC News (Mar. 16, 2023), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/toxic-school-government-failed-black-residents-louisianas-cancer-alley-rcna72504 and Wesley Muller, Cancer Alley’s been ignored by state’s top Democrats, activist says in Poor People Campaign event, Louisiana Illuminator (Mar. 2, 2021), https://lailluminator.com/2021/03/02/in-national-interview-st-james-parish-resident-accuses-top-democrats-of-ignoring-cancer-alley/
[14] Wesley Muller, Cancer Alley’s been ignored by state’s top Democrats, activist says in Poor People Campaign event, Louisiana Illuminator (Mar. 2, 2021), https://lailluminator.com/2021/03/02/in-national-interview-st-james-parish-resident-accuses-top-democrats-of-ignoring-cancer-alley/
[15] Louise Boyle, ‘A slam upon our state’: Republican senator takes offense to Biden’s remarks on Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, The Independent (Feb. 4, 2021), https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/bill-cassidy-biden-louisiana-cancer-alley-environment-pollution-b1797627.html
[16] Halle Parker, EPA investigation into Louisiana agencies yields evidence of racial discrimination, WWNO – New Orleans Public Radio (Oct. 14, 2022), https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2022-10-14/epa-investigation-into-louisiana-agencies-yields-evidence-of-racial-discrimination
[17] Letter from Lilian S. Dorka, Deputy Assistant Adm’r for External Civ. Rts., U.S. Env’t Prot. Agency, to Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Sec’y Louisiana Dep’t of Env’t Quality and Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, Sec’y Louisiana Dep’t of Health (Oct. 12, 2022) (https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aa35ad083-20c3-4033-9de5-5deaa3655672).
[18] Lisa Song & Lylla Younes, EPA Calls Out Environmental Racism in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, ProPublica (Oct. 19, 2022), https://www.propublica.org/article/cancer-alley-louisiana-epa-environmental-racism#:~:text=In%20a%20%E2%80%9Cremarkable%E2%80%9D%20letter%2C,of%20a%20cancer%2Dcausing%20chemical.
[19] Letter from Lilian S. Dorka, Deputy Assistant Adm’r for External Civ. Rts., U.S. Env’t Prot. Agency, to Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Sec’y Louisiana Dep’t of Env’t Quality and Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, Sec’y Louisiana Dep’t of Health (Oct. 12, 2022) (https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aa35ad083-20c3-4033-9de5-5deaa3655672).
[20] Halle Parker, Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought ‘meaningful reform’ in Cancer Alley, documents reveal, WNNO – New Orleans Public Radio (Aug. 29, 2023), https://www.wwno.org/2023-08-29/shuttered-epa-investigation-couldve-brought-meaningful-reform-in-cancer-alley-documents-reveal
[21] Id.
[22] Id.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.; State of Louisiana v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Case 2:23-cv-00692-JDC-KK (W.D. La. May 24, 2023).
[25] Halle Parker, Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought ‘meaningful reform’ in Cancer Alley, documents reveal, WNNO – New Orleans Public Radio (Aug. 29, 2023), https://www.wwno.org/2023-08-29/shuttered-epa-investigation-couldve-brought-meaningful-reform-in-cancer-alley-documents-reveal
[26] Chris Rosato, New poll numbers give better insight on governor’s race, WAFB News (Sep. 18, 2023), https://www.wafb.com/2023/09/18/new-poll-numbers-give-better-insight-governors-race/;
[27] State of Louisiana v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Case 2:23-cv-00692-JDC-KK (W.D. La. May 24, 2023).
[28] United States of America v. Denka Performance Elastomer, LLC and Dupont Specialty Products USA, LLC, No. 2:23-cv-735, 2023 WL 5615946 (E.D. La. Feb. 28, 2023).
[29] Halle Parker, Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought ‘meaningful reform’ in Cancer Alley, documents reveal, WNNO – New Orleans Public Radio (Aug. 29, 2023), https://www.wwno.org/2023-08-29/shuttered-epa-investigation-couldve-brought-meaningful-reform-in-cancer-alley-documents-reveal
[30] Kimberly A. Terrell & Gianna St. Julien, Air Pollution is Linked to Higher Cancer Rates Among Black or Impoverished Communities in Louisiana, 17 Env’t Rsch. Letters 1, 2 (2022).
[31] See Louise Boyle, ‘A slam upon our state’: Republican senator takes offense to Biden’s remarks on Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, The Independent (Feb. 4, 2021), https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/bill-cassidy-biden-louisiana-cancer-alley-environment-pollution-b1797627.html
[32] James Bruggers, Q&A: Cancer Alley is Real, And Louisiana Officials Helped Create It, Researchers Find, Inside Climate News (Feb. 8, 2023), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08022023/louisiana-cancer-alley/.
[33] Rise St. James, https://risestjames.org/ (last visited Sep. 26, 2023).
[34] Cancer Alley, Sierra Club – Delta Chapter, https://www.sierraclub.org/louisiana/cancer-alley (last visited Sep. 26, 2023).