Inside Louisiana's horrifying 'Cancer Alley,' an 85-mile stretch of pollution and environmental racism that's now dealing with some of the highest coronavirus death rates in the country

Giles Clarke/Getty

• "Cancer Alley" is an 85 mile-long stretch of the Mississippi river lined with oil refineries and petrochemical plants, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
• People living in the area are more than 50 times as likely to get cancer than the average American.
• For years, residents have suffered from illnesses, but they've been unable to prove a causal connection between industry and the health effects.  
• COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus is the latest threat to residents. Inside 'Cancer Alley', St Johns the Baptist Parish has the highest death rate per capita of any county in the US. 
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The coronavirus pandemic is hitting people living inside 'Cancer Alley' hard.

Surrounded by smokestacks, 'Cancer Alley' is one of the most polluted places in America. It got its name through the high number of people living with cancer in the alley, which runs for about 85 miles along the Mississippi River, from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. It's made up of a dense concentration of oil refineries and petrochemical plants that run alongside suburbs and vulnerable communities. 

There, people don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows. According to ProPublica, they see cancer everywhere.

Rolling Stone called it the "frontline of environmental racism."

According to the CDC, COVID-19 cases are more severe to people with health conditions aggravated by pollution. Vice reported on April 8, St Johns the Baptist Parish had the highest death rate per capita of any county in the US, with 24 deaths. St James Parish, not far away, had the fourth highest death rate with six deaths. 

But while residents think the industry is responsible for health problems, it's hard to prove a causal link.

As environmental reporter Sharon Lerner wrote for The New York Times, "Even when there is severe suffering and a seemingly obvious culprit, it's often impossible to pin blame on any single cause."

Here's what Cancer Alley is like. 

Entering Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley,' an industrial, polluted stretch of land between train tracks and a twisting river, might not be good for your health.

Giles Clarke/Getty

Source: The Intercept

Unlike the black soot that used to linger in mining towns, here, the pollution registers quietly. It's in the oily taste of the water, on the blackened leaves of fruit trees, and in the acrid odor in the air, according to the Washington Post.

Giles Clarke/Getty

Sources: Rolling Stone, NPR, The Nation, Washington Post

To get an idea of the toxicity, people living in Reserve, Louisiana, are 50 times more likely to get cancer than an average American.

Eric Gay / AP

Source: The Guardian

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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