NEW ORLEANS, LA – Today, human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council released a statement raising “serious concerns” about further industrialization of Cancer Alley in Louisiana, saying that the “development of petrochemical complexes is a form of environmental racism.” The statement comes after years of campaigning by Louisiana residents and the submission of a letter led by Loyola law students to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance late last year.
The following is a statement from Jane Patton, Senior Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law:
“Today’s statement affirms what those of us living and working in Louisiana have known for decades: the corporate polluters that have created Cancer Alley trample on a wide range of human rights, from the right to clean air to the rights to water, life, and non-discrimination. Through lax regulations and policies that favor corporations over people, the federal and local governments have allowed these harms not only to continue but to increase over time, magnifying the cumulative toxic impact. One of the largest petrochemical expansions planned in the area is led by a serial violator of environmental, health, and safety rules—Formosa Plastics Group.
“The statement’s singling out of the Formosa Plastics mega-complex is significant: this project is at a critical juncture in its permitting process, and we are urging our state and federal governments to heed the call from the human rights experts, and stop this plant from coming to St. James.
“Ending human rights abuses is not about one company. Just last week, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation bought land for a proposed $1 billion methyl methacrylate plant in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. To dismantle environmental racism, we need to shut down abuses from all chemical and petrochemical facilities along the corridor and to halt permitting and construction on new facilities. The people of Louisiana, the US, and the world have a right to cleaner, better jobs and living environments than these companies are offering.
“It is a systemic failure of the US government that the abuses have been allowed to continue unchecked for so long and that authorities are encouraging new development of the same polluting industries in communities of color that already bear a disproportionate toxic burden. We call upon the US government to listen to the United Nations human rights experts and take immediate actions to put an end to environmental racism. That starts with rescinding the permits for the Formosa Petrochemical mega-complex and working with the community on building a healthier Louisiana.”
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MEDIA CONTACT: Cate Bonacini, press@ciel.org