You only have to smell 'Cancer Alley' to know how toxic it is

Driving to work from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and back everyday was no easy task. The rush-hour traffic was brutal both ways. To save time and my nerves, I often avoided Baton Rouge traffic by traveling on Louisiana Highway 30.

That’s when I came face-to-face with “Cancer Alley,” or, as activists now call it: “Death Alley.”

You smell Cancer/Death Alley long before you are in it. The odor changes depending on what the 150 chemical plants or refineries are releasing into air that day. It could smell like rotten eggs, burning chemicals or something even more pungent. Regardless of what I smelled, I knew it was toxic.

I don’t have a medical degree. I am not a chemical engineer. I don’t work for the Environmental Protection Agency. However, it doesn’t take a genius to know that the chemicals released by these plants are not good for any of us. For those living in communities along the 85-mile stretch from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, they are deadly. In fact, these residents, who are mostly Black Americans, are more than 50 times as likely to get cancer than the average American.

Read more: https://lailluminator.com/2021/02/10/calling-louisianas-petrochemical-corridor-cancer-alley-cant-be-a-slam-when-its-true/