The Root, Published By: Kalyn Womack
This month, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against two petrochemical companies that may be the reason why St. John the Baptist Parish of Louisiana or “Cancer Alley” has the highest cancer risk in the entire nation, per The Guardian. Residents say the suit is too late, after being subject to poison pumped into their air and water for over 5 decades.
Dangerous Levels of Chemical Emissions
DuPont Products USA LLC constructed the Pontchartrain Works facility right beside the Black Louisiana neighborhood in the 1960s, the report says. They controlled its operations until 2015 when they sold the plant to a Japanese chemical company, Denka. A month later, the parish’s cancer risk skyrocketed.
Denka produces synthetic rubber for things like wetsuits or laptop sleeves. However, the production of this material emitted chloroprene into the air – a “likely” human carcinogen being emitted at 14 times the recommended level for the surrounding neighborhood, according to the Department of Justice.
If that sounds brutal, consider the fact the plant has been releasing these toxins just 450 feet from the Fifth Ward Elementary school and a mile away from East St. John High School, per the DOJ. The suit says the emissions are so high in the area, that children under 18 breathing air anywhere near the facility’s fence would “exceed their lifetime excess cancer risk by two years.” Read more
