"In a pocket of Louisiana known as "Cancer Alley," Black residents bear the generational toll of "plantation country" becoming " pollution country." Seven times as many people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer than the national average in these disproportionately Black communities. Now, a federal district court has given those residents something they almost never get: a chance to put the whole system on trial."
"On Feb. 9, a judge in New Orleans ruled that groups representing residents of Louisiana's Cancer Alley, which stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, can proceed with their landmark lawsuit seeking a pause on toxic industrial plants in two majority‑Black districts in St. James Parish. The court rejected the parish government's attempt to throw the case out and allowed every claim to move forward."
Cancer Alley stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and contains dense concentrations of oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and chemical industries next to predominantly Black communities. Residents in these areas face cancer rates seven times the national average and elevated asthma, heart, lung, and neurological illnesses linked to pollution. A federal judge in New Orleans permitted representatives of St. James Parish residents to proceed with a lawsuit seeking a pause on new toxic industrial plants in two majority‑Black districts. Plaintiffs argue that decades of parish land‑use practices violate the 13th Amendment and the 14th Amendment's equal‑protection guarantee. A jury will decide whether facility siting disproportionately targeted Black neighborhoods.
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