142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Environmental and health inequities in the Lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Beverly Wright, PhD , Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA
Robert Bullard , Texas Southern University, Houston, TX
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
In 1985, the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, an 85 mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, released 800 million pounds of toxins into the air, water and soil.  The people who lived there were convinced that exposure to chemicals emitted from approximately 136 petrochemical plants and six refineries, was the root cause of their illnesses.  Many communities that experienced excess cancer mortality and morbidity rates believed that this phenomenon was due to the location of residents’ homes within three miles of clusters of Toxics Release Inventory reporting facilities. This presentation will review the history and plight of these communities in their fight to reduce pollution and exposure, with a focus on why neighborhood matters for their health and well-being.

Learning Areas:

Environmental health sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the history and plight of certain communities in their fight to reduce pollution and exposure, with a focus on why neighborhood matters for their health and well-being.

Keyword(s): Environmental Health, Environmental Justice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally and privately funded grants focusing on environmental justice, environmental health, health and safety training pre and post disaster and environmental inequities. Many of these grants were implemented in communities or for residents of communities along the Gulf Coast. Many specifically addressed environmental justice issues within the Mississippi River Industrial Corridor known as Cancer Alley.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4122.0: Why Neighborhood Matters in Assessing Environmental Health Risks