Editing Cancer Alley (section)

{{short description|Area in Louisiana with larger than usual clusters of cancer patients}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
[[File:A MOUNTAIN OF DAMAGED OIL DRUMS NEAR THE EXXON REFINERY - NARA - 546000 (cropped).jpg|thumb|280px|A mound of [[drum (container)|oil drums]] near the [[Baton Rouge Refinery|Baton Rouge ExxonMobil Refinery]] along the [[Mississippi River]] in December 1972.]]

'''Cancer Alley''' is the regional nickname given to an {{convert|85|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of land<ref name=Blodgett2006>{{cite journal |last1=Blodgett|first1=Abigail D. |title=An Analysis of Pollution and Community Advocacy in 'Cancer Alley': Setting an Example for the Environmental Justice Movement in St James Parish, Louisiana |journal=[[Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability|Local Environment]] |date=December 2006 |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=647–661 |doi=10.1080/13549830600853700 |bibcode=2006LoEnv..11..647B |s2cid=143642013}}</ref> along the [[Mississippi River]] between [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]] and [[New Orleans]], in the [[River Parishes]] of [[Louisiana]], which contains over 200<ref>{{cite web |last1=Younes|first1=Lylla |last2=Shaw|first2=Al |last3=Perlman|first3=Claire |date=2019-10-30 |title=In a Notoriously Polluted Area of the Country, Massive New Chemical Plants Are Still Moving In |url=https://projects.propublica.org/louisiana-toxic-air |access-date=2023-02-15 |publisher=[[ProPublica]] |language=en |archive-date=February 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215022902/https://projects.propublica.org/louisiana-toxic-air/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[petrochemical industry|petrochemical plants]] and [[oil refinery|refineries]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Castellón|first=Idna |title=Cancer Alley and the Fight Against Environmental Racism |journal=Villanova Environmental Law Journal |date=February 12, 2021 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=15 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/elj/vol32/iss1/2/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210163506/https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/elj/vol32/iss1/2/ |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2012, this area accounted for 25% of the [[petrochemical]] production in the United States.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=James|first=Wesley |date=2012 |title=Uneven magnitude of disparities in cancer risks from air toxins |journal=[[International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health]] |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=4365–4385 |doi=10.3390/ijerph9124365 |pmid=23208297 |pmc=3546767 |doi-access=free}}</ref> By the 1970s the EPA documented serious water and air pollution. Environmentalists consider the region a [[sacrifice zone]] where rates of cancer caused by air pollution exceed the [[federal government of the United States|federal government]]'s own limits of acceptable risk.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021-11-16 |title=What are 'sacrifice zones' and why do some Americans live in them? |first=Adrienne|last=Matei |url=https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/16/what-are-sacrifice-zones-and-why-do-some-americans-live-in-them |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519233754/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/16/what-are-sacrifice-zones-and-why-do-some-americans-live-in-them |url-status=live}}</ref>

Community leaders such as [[Sharon Lavigne]] have led the charge in protesting the expansion of the petrochemical industry in Cancer Alley, as well as addressing the associated [[racial inequality in the United States|racial]] and [[income inequality in the United States|economic]] disparities.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021 |title=Letter from Sharon Lavigne to Pres. Biden on Cancer Alley & Formosa Plastics |url=https://labucketbrigade.org/letter-from-sharon-lavigne-to-pres-biden-on-cancer-alley-formosa-plastics |url-status=live |publisher=[[Louisiana Bucket Brigade]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720004428/https://labucketbrigade.org/letter-from-sharon-lavigne-to-pres-biden-on-cancer-alley-formosa-plastics/ |archive-date=2021-07-20}}</ref>

Cancer Alley in a larger sense extends further west along the Gulf Coast into Texas to the area of [[Freeport, Texas]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 22, 2020 |title=Cancer Alley' Among Worst Areas for Chemical Risks, Groups Say |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/poor-gulf-coast-exposed-to-worst-chemical-risks-groups-say}}</ref>