Residents of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” an industrial corridor along the Mississippi River, have long been saddled with pollution from chemical plants and oil and gas refineries.
Two months after visiting the area on a “Journey for Justice” tour, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced plans on Wednesday to better monitor air pollution along the 80-mile stretch in Louisiana. Of the 10 census tracts with the highest cancer risk in the country, according to the EPA, seven of them are located in this corridor.
The agency plans to install “mobile” air monitoring units in hot spots like Calcasieu Parish, St. James Parish, and St. John the Baptist Parish to “dramatically improve EPA’s ability to measure pollution quickly and assess situations in real-time,” according to a statement. It’s part of a larger Biden administration effort to protect public health in low-income, marginalized communities in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
The EPA’s efforts won’t stop with data collection. The agency also announced the creation of a pollution account... Read more
