"That skepticism is rooted in hard experience - and in a broader history of environmental racism that has left Black communities shouldering disproportionate burdens. The gap has left residents in a state of prolonged uncertainty about their water, their health, and whether the legal action unfolding in distant courtrooms will ever reach their homes. It is a familiar pattern, particularly in Louisiana, where environmental disasters have consistently hit Black and low-income communities hardest while leaving them last in line for recovery."
"Much of that belief stems from the fact that despite repeated calls for help, the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the town's properties, according to Van Showers, the mayor of Roseland, Louisiana. "People want to know when they're going to receive help, and there is nothing to make them think that this process would lead to that," said Showers, who works at a local chicken processing plant and has struggled financially through the clean-up process."
An August blast at a Louisiana oil facility released dense black sludge that drifted across homes, farms, and waterways up to 50 miles away. The U.S. Department of Justice and Louisiana environmental regulators filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Smitty's Supply, which ran the facility storing oil and vehicle lubricants. Many Roseland residents remain skeptical that the lawsuit will bring help because black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of over half the town's properties. Residents face prolonged uncertainty about water and health while managing cleanup costs amid a history of environmental racism disproportionately burdening Black communities.
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