The People vs. Cancer Alley

By: Jackson Girard

Over the last two hundred years, exponential growth driven by the industrial revolution has lifted millions out of poverty, reshaping communities and societies.[1] Behind this growth lies the darker truth of the sacrifice of community health. It is time to confront who has truly borne the price of progress.[2] One of the starkest examples of the hidden costs of progress is found in Cancer Alley.

What is Cancer Alley?

Cancer Alley, an 85-mile tract of land in Louisiana, earned its moniker via the collective pollution coming from its 150 petrochemical plants; these plants contributed to a steep decline in air quality, particularly because of Ethylene Oxide (EtO).[3] [4] [5] EtO is a known human carcinogen that is used for sterilization in medical tools, spices, and a variety of other purposes within petrochemical manufacturing.[6]

In 2014, the EPA estimated the cancer risk in Cancer Alley was 95% higher than most Americans.[7]  Recent research suggests that air pollution is responsible for causing approximately 85 cancer cases annually in Louisiana, with a majority of the deaths centered in Cancer Alley.[8] The risks of these petrochemical plants were known to those in the communities around the sites, even if the specifics were not always clear.[9]

If at any point in reading that prelude, you thought to yourself  “Is anyone trying to do anything?” the answer is an emphatic yes.[10] Community leaders, media outlets, and legislators have all made great efforts to curb the damage done to these communities.[11]Below is a brief examination of the more than forty-year political and legislative history of Cancer Alley and the battle to control it.

1987: “Cancer Alley” Appears in Reference to Louisiana Land

The building of petrochemical plants in Louisiana spans the greater part of the 20th century, starting with Standard Oil building a large refinery in 1909.[12] During World War II, plantation sites were converted to industrial facilities that modernized to accommodate America’s growing commercial industrialization in the sixties and seventies, including the establishment of Dupont company’s synthetic rubber plant. [13] [14] [15]

The term “Cancer Alley” was originally applied as a description of a cluster of industrial plants in New Jersey.[16] However, the Times-Picayune newspaper published a story in 1987 about the deaths and public health concerns, including fifteen residents who died of cancer along two blocks of Jacobs Drive in Chalmette, Louisiana, near Murphy (Oil Corp.).[17] Locals took note of the term and repurposed the phrase “Cancer Alley” to refer to the street where so many had died.[18] The event was further accompanied by evidence of an increasingly toxic environment.[19] From 1983 to 1988 one-third of pregnancies in the area failed.[20] The term gained popularity as incidents increased, and it now refers to an 85-mile track of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, home to 150 petrochemical plants.[21]

1998: Louisiana State Legislators Negotiate with Shintech

While it is extremely difficult to intuit what conversations between petrochemical companies and state legislators looked like, we have at least one direct example and it provides a unique insight into how other negotiations may have looked.[22]

Japanese conglomerate Shintech sought permits to build a plant in Convent, Louisiana.[23] Shintech had previously failed to receive EPA approval on account of their permit application having more than fifty technical errors.[24] At an air permit hearing for the plant, Shintech promised jobs for the residents and tax revenue for the city.[25] Not mentioned was Shintech’s knowledge of air quality issues its plant might cause or that its facility would include an on-site waste incinerator located less than two miles from an elementary school.[26]

A Louisiana judge granted the issuance of county water permits to Shintech, which allowed an estimated daily discharge of eight million gallons of wastewater into the Mississippi River.[27] Louisiana Governor Mike Foster granted a ten-year industrial tax exemption for $130 million to Shintech if the plant would be within Convent, LA.[28]  Convent city council members provided detailed personality profiles of themselves to Shintech, including their inclinations towards the industry and economic growth.[29] When asked to make these documents public, the officials shredded the documents.[30]

Surprisingly, after all those incentives, community organizers’ activism convinced Shintech to build a smaller plant in nearby Plaquemine Parish instead of Convent.[31]

2010s: Evidence of Unsafe Air Grows Rapidly

In 2011, Steve Lerner, the research director of Commonweal, authored a book detailing twelve different communities struggling with air pollution.[32] His research found that African American households with incomes between $50,000 and $60,000 lived in neighborhoods that were, on average, more polluted than white neighborhoods with incomes below $10,000.[33] Book reviewer Robert D. Bullard described the book as “irrefutable empirical evidence that not all American communities are created equal.”[34] Lerner also popularized the usage of the phrase “sacrifice zones” to describe the way minority communities were disproportionately affected by air pollution.[35] “Sacrifice Zones” was a Cold War term which originally described areas contaminated with radioactive pollutants during the manufacture of nuclear weapons. [36] That same year, the EPA concluded that chloroprene was likely carcinogenic to humans.[37] Lerner’s research was valuable in priming the public on environmental racism and its effects.[38] In 2012, three researchers would prove that black-population dominant tracks of land in Cancer Alley had a 16% higher chance of cancer than their white counterparts.[39] This was in large part due to their redlined role as “fenceline communities” between the petrochemical plants and white neighborhoods.[40]

In 2015, Dupont would sell their synthetic rubber plant to Denka Performance Elastomer LLC.[41] Two years later, state regulators would successfully pressure Denka Performance Elastomer LLC to install equipment designed to reduce chloroprene emissions to protect a local school; the company claimed to reduced their chloroprene emissions by 85% with this method.[42] However, an investigation by the EPA three years later revealed that the levels of chloroprene near the school were up to 8,300% higher than the EPA’s recommended limits for long-term exposure.[43]

November 2021: ProPublica Publishes the First in its Series of Articles Detailing the Sacrifice Zones Across the Country, Heavily Featuring Cancer Alley

ProPublica used the RSEI model, a data-gathering tool that the EPA created in the early the early 1990s, to evaluate holistically the risks posed by industrial pollution.[44] [45] The tool was rarely used by the EPA, at the advice of department chiefs.[46] ProPublica gave the tool a second look and their chief reason for doing so was that the EPA had only considered cancer risks per industrial equipment or industrial source rather than as a series of factors that each could increase a percentage chance of getting cancer.[47]

When ProPublica applied this approach, they discovered an increased risk of cancer and other illnesses when viewed as a whole.[48] The EPA’s highest acceptable air pollution limit allows a cancer risk, that would not have developed otherwise but for pollution, at one in 10,000 of a population.[49] A detailed map of the risks showed Cancer Alley’s risk went as high as one in 210 in some areas, almost forty eight times higher than the EPA’s highest limit.[50] For an area home to almost one million people, thousands of lives deteriorated daily.[51]

In the weeks following the story’s publication, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan visited hotspots like the Houston ship channel; Mossville, LA; and Cancer Alley as part of the “Journey for Justice” tour.[52] Lawsuits from the Department of Justice followed, alleging violations of the Clean Air Act and EPA federal guidelines, targeting major contributors such as Denka Performance Elastomers.[53]

April 2024: The EPA Finalizes Nationwide Air Pollution Reforms

In April 2024, the EPA issued a final intra-agency rule, which was titled “Final Rule to Strengthen Standards for Synthetic Organic Chemical Plants and Polymers and Resins Plants.”[54] It required a substantial reduction of nearly 80% in emissions from covered sources, including EtO and chloroprene.[55] The EPA aimed to cut more than 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year which should in turn dramatically reduce the number of people living nearby who faced an elevated cancer risk due to air pollution.[56] These new standards, when upheld, will reduce cancer risk for 96% of people living near heavy industry.[57]

Two months later, in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Denka Performance Elastomers was denied its petition for a freeze on the EPA’s emissions rule, specifically on chloroprene.[58]

Conclusion and Forward

It is difficult to fathom how many people’s lives were shortened or permanently damaged in the near century of exposure. Addressing the health risks of Cancer Alley took untold hours from community organizers, and journalists, and refocusing an entire department of the Federal government.

What this timeline doesn’t capture is the maddening, years-long struggle — the relentless back-and-forth, the countless voices raised in protest, only to be ignored or dismissed before a breakthrough finally happened.[59] Even if the process can be maddening, exhausting, and oftentimes hopeless, this is how progress is made, and lives are saved. With continued effort and attention, there is hope that this trend will persist, and the fight for cleaner, safer communities will inspire even more victories in the future.

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[1] BBC, Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats – BBC,  YouTube (Nov. 30, 2010),  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

[2] Steve Lerner, Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the United States, Environmental Health Perspectives 119, no. 6 (2011): A266, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3114843/.

[3] Tristan Baurick, Lylla Younes, and 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.

[4] JC Canicosa, The term ‘Cancer Alley’ has a long history in Louisiana — and even a history before Louisiana, Louisiana Illuminator (Feb. 5, 2021), https://lailluminator.com/2021/02/05/despite-sen-cassidys-critiques-louisianans-have-lamented-cancer-alley-since-the-80s/.

[5] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, Our Current Understanding of Ethylene Oxide (EtO), (last visited Dec. 4, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide/our-current-understanding-ethylene-oxide-eto.

[6] Id.

[7] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment (last visited Dec. 4, 2024),  https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/documents/nata_2014_summary_of_results.pdf.

[8] Kimberly J. Terrell et al., Pollution Burden and Mortality in an Epicenter of Petrochemical Production, Environmental Research Letters 17, no. 1 (2022): 014001, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4360.

[9] Ken Ward Jr., How Black Communities Become “Sacrifice Zones” for Industrial Air Pollution, ProPublica (Dec. 10, 2021), https://www.propublica.org/article/how-black-communities-become-sacrifice-zones-for-industrial-air-pollution

[10] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, EPA Administrator Regan Announces Bold Actions to Protect Communities Following the Journey to Justice Tour, (Jan. 26, 2022), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-regan-announces-bold-actions-protect-communities-following-journey.

[11] Ava Kofman & Lisa Song, EPA Takes Action to Combat Industrial Air Pollution, ProPublica (Jan. 26, 2022), https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-takes-action-to-combat-industrial-air-pollution.

[12] Anya Groner, Cancer Alley, 64 Parishes (April 22, 2024), https://64parishes.org/entry/cancer-alley.

[13] Megan Faust, Plantations to Petrochemicals: St. Charles’ Geographies of Exploitation, Tulane University School of Liberal Arts (Jun. 11, 2021), https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/magazine/spring-2021/plantations-to-petrochemicals.

[14] Baurick, Younes, and Meiners, supra note 3.

[15] Maite Amorebieta, Cynthia McFadden, Katie Reimchen, & Rich Schapiro, Toxic school: How the government failed Black residents in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, NBC NEWS (Mar. 5, 2023, 5:00 AM), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/toxic-school-government-failed-black-residents-louisianas-cancer-alley-rcna72504.

[16] Canicosa, supra note 4.

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Courtney J. Keehan, Lessons from Cancer Alley: How the Clean Air Act Has Failed to Protect Public Health in Southern Louisiana, COLO. NAT. RESOURCES, ENERGY & ENVTL. L. REV. 341 (2018), https://www.colorado.edu/law/sites/default/files/attached-files/keehan_online_copy.pdf.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Id.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Id.

[29] Id.

[30] Id.

[31] Id.

[32] Steve Lerner, Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the United States, The New School at Commonweal (September 19, 2010), https://tns.commonweal.org/podcasts/steve-lerner/.

[33] Lerner, supra note 2.

[34] Id.

[35] Lerner, supra note 32.

[36] Id.

[37] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, LaPlace, Louisiana – Frequent Questions (last visited Dec. 4, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/la/laplace-louisiana-frequent-questions.

[38] Lerner, supra note 2.

[39] Wesley James, Chunrong Jia, & Satish Kedia, Uneven Magnitude of Disparities in Cancer Risks from Air Toxics, 10 INT’L J. ENVTL. RES. & PUB. HEALTH 4365–4385 (2012). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3546767/

[40] Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw, Lisa Song, & Maya Miller, Poison in the Air, ProPublica, (Nov. 2, 2021), https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air.

[41] Amorebieta, McFadden, Reimchen, & Schapiro, supra note 15.

[42] Id.

[43] Id.

[44] Younes, Kofman, Shaw, Song, & Miller, supra footnote 40.

[45] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, EPA’S Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) Methodology: RSEI Version 2.3.11, https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/rsei-methodology-document-v2311-March2023.pdf.

[46] Younes, Kofman, Shaw, Song, & Miller, supra note 33.

[47] Id.

[48] Id.

[49] Al Shaw, Lylla Younes, & Ava Kofman, ProPublica, The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S. (updated August 28, 2023), https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/#hotspot/2.

[50] Id.

[51] Id.  

[52] Ava Kofman, The EPA Administrator Visited Cancer-Causing Air Pollution Hot Spots Highlighted by ProPublica and Promised Reforms, ProPublica (Nov. 24, 2021), https://www.propublica.org/article/the-epa-administrator-visited-cancer-causing-air-pollution-hot-spots-highlighted-by-propublica-and-promised-reforms.

[53] Halle Parker, St. John’s Denka Plant Sued by DOJ Over Cancer-Causing Emissions, WWNO (February 28, 2023), https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2023-02-28/st-johns-denka-plant-sued-by-doj-over-cancer-causing-emissions.

[54] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, Final Rule To Strengthen Standards For Synthetic Organic Chemical Plants And Polymers And Resins Plants (last visited Dec. 4, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide/final-rule-strengthen-standards-synthetic-organic-chemical.

[55] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Stronger Clean Air Standards for Chemical Plants (April 9, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-stronger-clean-air-standards-chemical-plants.

[56] U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, supra note 54.

[57] Id.

[58] Denka Performance Elastomer LLC v. EPA, No. 24-1135 (D.C. Cir. filed June 16, 2024), https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/DenkaPerformanceElastomerLLCvEPAetalDocketNo2401135DCCirMay162024/3?doc_id=X4J2N5U2NFD8OSOAE0PICUQEO2M.

[59] Canicosa, supra note 4.