Cancer Alley

Residents fighting against pollution from a nearby petrochemical plant are both relieved and disappointed after it suspended production.

People living in Louisiana’s petrochemical corridor say they’re worried about air pollution under the Trump administration. The EPA says companies can request presidential exemptions from Clean Air Act rules.

Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the region’s vast petrochemical industry.

Communities living and learning near petrochemical plants will face more pollution and less federal protection under Trump’s new policies.