As Mardi Gras celebrations unfold in Louisiana, a contrasting reality exists in Cancer Alley, where residents face hazardous pollution from a local petrochemical plant. The Justice Department is reportedly set to abandon litigation against the Denka Performance Elastomer plant, which releases chloroprene, a probable carcinogen. This decision, attributed to the plant's economic value, has raised concerns among health advocates regarding its impact on local communities, particularly on vulnerable populations such as children, highlighting a tension between public health and economic interests in the region.
As the floats roll down St. Charles and the beads fly high over Claiborne and Jackson, spare a moment to consider the other Louisiana, the poisoned place where so many people live.
The Justice Department is poised to drop a landmark lawsuit alleging that cancer-causing pollution from a Louisiana petrochemical plant poses an imminent danger to nearby communities.
Public health advocates warn that the plant’s continued operations could harm the health of thousands of residents, including hundreds of young children who are especially vulnerable.
The facility provides significant economic benefits to the state and the region, and that the pollution concerns are overblown, argues top Louisiana officials.
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