The communities of the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, more popularly known as Cancer Alley, include the parishes of West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, and St. Charles. In their early years, these communities relied on their cypress swamps, deep waterways, and fertile soil to sustain a robust fishing and agricultural economy (Colten; Surviving Cancer Alley). This began to change in the early 1900s, when the discovery of vast oil reserves across Louisiana attracted major refiners from across the nation (Colten). Baton Rouge, which marks the northern end of the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, found itself at the center of this rapid influx of industry due to its flood-proof location, deep-water access, and proximity to oil (Colten). Encouraged by the success of early refineries, tax exemptions, and waste-discharge permits from the state government, upwards of 150 industrial refineries and chemical plants broke ground along the Mississippi (Colten). By 1994, these petrochemical corporations employed more than five percent of Louisiana’s population and contributed more than $350 million annually in state taxes, which privileged them with massive amounts of influence over legislation and elections (Surviving Cancer Alley). Throughout this all, the residents of these communities, many of whom were descendants of former slaves and sharecroppers, were pushed aside as corporations brought in out-of-state workers and built sprawling refineries on what used to be plantations and burial sites (Baurick, Younes and Meiners). Unequipped with the tools or resources required to fight back against such forces, the residents of the Chemical Corridor suffered for decades without receiving a cut of the vast profits pulled from their exploitation. Today, the annual per-capita income of St. Gabriel, a town along the Mississippi in Iberville Parish, is $15,000, half the national average, and its poverty rate sits at 29% (Baurick, Younes and Meiners). Beyond this, the dumping of pollutants by refineries has led to inflated risks of cancer, lung problems, and other serious illnesses in the communities along the corridor (“Waiting to Die:” Toxic Emissions and Disease near the Louisiana Denka/Dupont Plant.).
These issues have been compounded in the last half century by the surging risk of climate change and extreme weather. Southern Louisiana, by virtue of its position on the delta of the Mississippi, is a land constantly in flux. As the river brings sediment from upstream towards the Gulf of Mexico, it creates new land and replenishes existing ground. But the construction of thousands of miles of levees and flood walls and revetments has wreaked havoc on this natural process (Kolbert). In a vicious cycle, the very measures taken by humans to prevent flooding and land loss is causing increased levels of both. Without the regular addition of sediment by the river, the soft soil of Louisiana sinks in a process known as subsidence, which brings human settlements closer to the rising tide (Kolbert). This cycle has been exacerbated by the branching network of oil and gas pipelines running beneath southern Louisiana, which further destabilizes soil and speeds subsidence (Mallman and Zoback). Remedial solutions, like pumping water out of populated areas, provides short-term relief, but further facilitates subsidence and land-loss in the long-term (Kolbert). Cumulatively, these measures have left the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor and surrounding communities especially vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather events like hurricanes and storm surges, which have been occurring at record rates due to the impacts of climate change ("Climate Change Increased Chances of Record Rains in Louisiana by at Least 40 Percent").
Worse still, it doesn't look like there's an end in sight. Recently, the state government of Louisiana further committed to its strategy of constructing levees and pumping water in a $25 billion plan ("Louisiana"). As simply a continuation of the previous “solutions”, this plan will only serve to address the short-term symptoms of a deeper, systemic issue with the state’s engagement with the natural world it inhabits. Decades of this has already led to staggering land loss and the forced displacement of several communities ("Louisiana"). As these actions are applied statewide, including along the Mississippi Chemical Corridor, they could lead to further flooding and loss of land for the vulnerable communities already overwhelmed with issues posed by pollution.
So we see again how these two issues—pollution and rising water levels—intersect in their impact on the residents of frontline communities in the corridor. Separately, they are both monumental, existential issues, but together their impact compounds into something almost unbearable. The threat of rising water levels is pressing in all communities, but for those along the corridor it represents something greater. To them, rising water levels not only pose the threat of land loss and displacement but also of an increased proximity with carcinogens and harmful chemicals in the water. It's a burden too heavy for any community to bear alone.
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