The Dark Truth of Cancer Alley
Louisiana, my home, is made up of 64 different parishes and will always be known for its deeply robust and vibrant culture. Our culture is a deep mix of French, Spanish, Native American, and African/Caribbean cultures, recognized for our Cajun and Creole traditions. Every year, people rave about the food across all parts of Louisiana and the amount of fun they had during Mardi Gras and festival season. Our Southern Hospitality and good eats attract tourists from across the world. All great places on earth have a dark truth, and one of the ugliest truths is hiding in plain sight, Cancer Alley, located along the River parishes that hold one of the largest rural black populations in the state of Louisiana.
What is Cancer Alley?
Cancer Alley, located along the river parishes stretching approximately 85 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, is home to over 200 petrochemical plants and oil refineries. The name Cancer Alley was actually a name that us locals made up; shockingly, it has been an ongoing problem since before I was born. (I was born in 1999) This area is home to one of many Black rural communities in Louisiana, whose working class is one of the poorest and sickest in the state, ranking in the 95th percentile for cancer risk. Although all regions of Louisiana experience environmental pollution from chemical plants, this particular area has been enduring it for decades with no improvement.
Nah, why is it here?
According to Tulane's Environmental Law Clinic, reported in 2013, the government helped create this madness, and listen, if you think I sound like a conspiracy theorist, this story is truly NOT for you.
Anyways, a dude by the name of Greg Lanley, allegedly a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), said, as reported by Inside Climate News, "That term implies that there is a large geographic area that has a higher cancer incidence than the state average. We have not seen higher cancer incidence over large areas of the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans." Now, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) investigated the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to assess if these two agencies, which are supposed to protect the health and air quality, were discriminating against Black residents. The duties of the LDEQ include protecting public health and safety.
Although there is nothing updated about the assessment from the EPA, what they did find was extremely concerning.
Their findings………..
The EPA investigated a plant that was emitting an air toxin known as chloroprene, which was classified by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen over a decade ago. Breathing in chloroprene can increase the likelihood of developing cancer, but it also causes serious problems with the:
Kidneys, whose functions are to regulate electrolytes and fluid balance, filter toxins and waste from the body into urine, produce red blood cells, and regulate blood pressure.
Liver, whose function is to filter harmful substances from the blood, convert nutrients from food into energy, and store vital nutrients needed for immune function.
Lungs, whose function is obviously to help us breathe.
Cardiovascular system (the heart).
Central nervous system (the brain).
The crazy part is……..
People have been filing complaints since 2022. (Definitely before that, but I only go off evidence.) In the letter, the EPA expresses concern with LDEQ's air permitting program. According to the EPA's investigation, LDEQ downplayed residents' concerns about the carcinogenic emissions as mere "fear mongering" and misrepresented the EPA's findings as to the dangers of chloroprene. The EPA also notes LDEQ's lack of procedures for citizens to express grievances, as well as its failure to act on three plant permits that expired over two years ago.
The EPA also found evidence that LDH relied on outdated and inaccurate data and consistently failed to communicate relevant information about hazardous air pollutants to the exposed communities. (They are still reporting inaccurate data.) These agencies' actions and inactions have resulted in quantifiable harms for Black residents, according to the EPA's initial findings.
Mind you, guess what else is happening right now as we speak.
Formosa Plastics is a Taiwanese company that wants to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in St. James Parish, right in the heart of Cancer Alley. If built, it would be the largest plastics plant of its kind in the United States, occupying 2,400 acres near the historically Black community of Welcome. The plant would emit an additional 800 tons of toxic air pollution per year, along with 13.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. That's more climate-warming emissions than 2 million gas-powered cars.
The company says the plant would bring 1,200 permanent jobs and $350 million in tax revenue. But here's the thing: residents have heard that promise before. Meanwhile, the pollution would double the toxic air in a parish that is already through hell and back. Studies show people in Cancer Alley already face elevated cancer risks and higher rates of respiratory illness.
Nah, these coyouns………..
Formosa bought land that sits on what used to be the Buena Vista Plantation. In 2019, the company's own archaeologist concluded that enslaved people were likely buried on that land. Community groups found out through a public records request. Now, Formosa has fenced off the cemetery and restricted access. Two local groups, Inclusive Louisiana and The Descendants Project, sued the company, arguing that blocking descendants of the enslaved from visiting and caring for the graves violates the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. A federal judge heard the case in April 2026 and urged both sides to try to settle.
And the permits? The state keeps extending them. LDEQ granted Formosa a fourth extension of its air permit in early 2026, and environmental groups immediately sued. The permit was first issued in 2019. Six years later, the EPA has updated its safety standards for particulate matter pollution, and Formosa hasn't proven it can meet the new requirements. Sharon Lavigne, the executive director of RISE St. James, said, "Formosa wants the state to keep this project on life support, even though it would double toxic air pollution in an already overburdened parish, and LDEQ keeps extending the permit as if our lives don't count." Oh, and Formosa already has an existing plant in Baton Rouge, which just got exempted from new EPA pollution rules in April 2026. So they're polluting now and trying to expand to pollute even more.
That's the same fucking pattern.
What else?
A professor by the name of Dr. Kimberly Terrell from Tulane's Environmental Law Clinic published a study in April 2025 finding that Black communities in Louisiana get most of the pollution from petrochemical plants but hardly any of the jobs. Then in June 2025 she resigned from Tulane, saying the university silenced her research to protect donor relationships. Around that same time, a Johns Hopkins study dropped showing cancer risks in Cancer Alley are up to 11 times higher than what the EPA reports. And when a chemical industry CEO tried to dispute the Cancer Alley label in February 2026, Terrell fired back, saying parish level averages hide the real truth for people living right next to these plants. Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit is moving forward where Tulane's clinic represents residents arguing that placing 28 out of 32 industrial facilities in majority-Black districts violates the 13th and 14th Amendments. That's a fucking pattern, and I feel like I'm living in an episode of "Lead Children" on Netflix.
On January 20, 2025, hours after taking office for his second term, President Trump signed an executive order revoking two of President Biden's directives on environmental justice and climate policy. The following day, he signed another order revoking Executive Order 12898, issued by President Clinton in 1994, which had directed federal agencies to address disproportionate environmental burdens in low-income communities and communities of color. That order had been the cornerstone of federal environmental justice policy for more than three decades. And just like that, the little protection we had was gone.
In conclusion
Cancer Alley is an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, home to over 200 petrochemical plants and one of the largest rural Black populations in Louisiana, where people face a 95th percentile cancer risk and have been breathing toxic chemicals like chloroprene for decades with no improvement. And now Formosa is trying to pollute us even more. People love Louisiana for everything but don't even realize the great deal of what we suffer here. We hold our pride for this place that we call home. To be from here makes you a big dog and a soldier to anything that comes your way. We are constantly trying to bring awareness and bring justice, and just get knocked 20 steps back every single time. So while y'all are planning your trip for Mardi Gras, the least you could do is donate to the organizations below to help make a difference in our community. Because let's face it, if it wasn't for us Creoles and Cajuns down there, y'all wouldn't even have the opportunity to come down and have a great time with us. We shaped the culture in everything we do.
Donate, or you can’t come to Mardi Gras.
Here are some active organizations that you can learn about and donate to.
So I don’t get fined.
Allen, Barbara L. Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana's Chemical Corridor Disputes. MIT Press, 2003.
Associated Press. "Tulane Scientist Resigns Citing University Censorship of Pollution and Racial Disparity Research." WWNO, June 11, 2025.
Cahn, Amy Laura. "A Battle for the Soul of Title VI in Cancer Alley." Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) Journal, Sept.-Dec. 2024.
Congressional Research Service (CRS). "Trump Administration Environmental-Justice-Related Executive Orders: Potential Implications for EPA Programs." IF12922, Feb. 24, 2025.
EarthJustice. "Petition for Judicial Review: EarthJustice et al. v. LDEQ re: FG LA LLC (Formosa Plastics) Permit Extension." 19th Judicial District Court, East Baton Rouge Parish, Feb. 5, 2026.
Inclusive Louisiana and The Descendants Project v. FG LA, LLC. U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. Complaint filed July 2025. Oral arguments heard April 24, 2026.
Inside Climate News. "Greg Lanley, LDEQ Spokesman, Disputes 'Cancer Alley' Terminology."
Johns Hopkins University. "Mobile Monitoring Study Reveals Cancer Risks in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' 11 Times Higher Than EPA Estimates." Environmental Science & Technology, Oct. 2025.
Terrell, Kimberly, Gianna St. Julien, and Michael Ash. "Pervasive Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the U.S. Petrochemical Workforce." Ecological Economics, vol. 235, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108623.
The White House. "Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations." Feb. 11, 1994. (Revoked Jan. 21, 2025).
The White House. "Executive Order 14148: Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions." Jan. 20, 2025.
The White House. "Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity." Jan. 21, 2025.
U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana. Louisiana v. EPA & DOJ. Permanent Injunction Opinion. Aug. 22, 2024.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Chloroprene: Hazard Summary." Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). 2010.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of External Civil Rights Compliance. "Summary of Initial Fact-Finding and Analysis re: Title VI Complaint Against LDEQ and LDH." 2022.
Verite News New Orleans. "Federal Judge to Decide if Lawsuit Seeking Access to Slave Burial Sites Will Move Forward." April 26, 2026.