HJNO Mar/Apr 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAR / APR 2020 23 In what would become a recurring theme, the competing findings provided little clar- ity to residents of Cancer Alley. No scientific study has ever proved a link to miscarriages — or cancer — but many residents remain convinced one exists. Like many states, Louisiana attempts to track every reported case of cancer. The resulting “tumor registry”doesn’t show any clear cluster in the river region, which state officials tout as evidence that the plants pose no health risk. But the tumor registry doesn’t rule out such clusters, either. The data is aggregated by census tract, irregularly sized areas across which emissions can vary widely. In order to protect residents’ privacy, some data for less populated areas, including St. Gabriel, isn’t published. The specific loca- tions of cases are not revealed. EPA modeling that estimates the danger posed by industry, however, shows ample reason for concern. Near the Denka neo- prene plant in St. John Parish, which emits chloroprene, EPAestimated the concentra- tions of cancer-causing chemicals and con- cluded they are among the highest in the country. The same is true for the section of St. Charles Parish near the Union Carbide plant, a major emitter of ethylene oxide. The risk of cancer and respiratory disease will only go up with the crush of new plants slated for Louisiana’s river corridor. State and corporate officials, meanwhile, downplay the risks outlined by EPA. Bowser, of the chemical association, said a 2018 EPA report “dramatically overstated”the danger posed by ethylene oxide in the river corri- dor, and Denka officials have consistently challenged the “acceptable threshold” for chloroprene set by EPA — a standard that lacks the force of law. Comparison to the Nation By the 1960s, the American public was growing apprehensive about the dense “The old custom of sitting outside on summer evenings fell out of favor long ago, residents said, thanks to nighttime chemical releases — sometimes so thick they’d fall as a golden mist. ‘It’d look like raindrops but yellow,’ Grace said. “We’d have to hose our yards clean.’”