On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet series, we are speaking with environment reporter Mark Schleifstein and Sharon Lavigne, founder of Rise St. James, a grass-roots environmental justice organization in St. James, Louisiana.
We are discussing the environmental and health impacts of hundreds of chemical and oil industries on the residents of 'Cancer Alley,' an industrial, polluted stretch of land along the Mississippi River. It is now a COVID hotspot
Guests:
Mark Schleifstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning environment reporter with The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate
Sharon Lavigne, activist, and founder and president of RISE St. James
Web resources:
The Guardian: 'Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer'
Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice: The Fight for Life in Death Alley: Testimony from Sharon Lavigne, St. James, Louisiana
Propublica: New EPA Rules Aim to Reduce Toxic Emissions. But Many “Cancer Alley” Chemical Plants Won’t Have to Change.
Propublica: What Could Happen if a $9.4 Billion Chemical Plant Comes to “Cancer Alley”