Activists work to reduce pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’

Photo courtesy of Jim Bowen via Flickr.
St. Gabriel, Louisiana houses multiple industrial facilities that put residents at high risk of cancer.

By Diksha Batra ’26

Staff Writer

From 2009 to 2016, there was a decrease in air pollution in the U.S., but “the annual carbon dioxide emission rate in the St. James parish [of Louisiana], where St. Gabriel is located, equaled that produced by approximately 113 countries” according to BlackPast. St. Gabriel, Louisiana, is home to what residents call “Cancer Alley,” due to the “plastic plants, oil refineries and petrochemical facilities” that make it one of the most toxic areas in the nation, BlackPast wrote. 

Despite the region’s reputation of high pollution rates, the plastic industry continues to grow. “Industrial expansion continues especially in areas with high percentages of poor and Black residents,” BlackPast reported. One example of this expansion was when the St. James Parish Council approved the “Sunshine Project,” which would build a large plastic plant in the area.  

According to the British Plastics Federation, there are four major steps in plastic production. First, the extraction of raw materials including “largely crude oil and natural gas, but also coal.” Second, the refining process “transforms crude oil into different petroleum products” which happens when “crude oil is heated in a furnace,” and then sent to a “distillation unit, where heavy crude oil separates.” The next step is polymerisation, a process “in the petroleum industry where light olefin gases (gasoline) such as ethylene, propylene, butylene (i.e., monomers) are converted into higher molecular weight hydrocarbons (polymers),” according to the British Plastics Foundation. The final step is compounding and processing, during which materials are melted and mixed together to form plastics. 

The process of making plastics creates byproducts that can pollute the atmosphere and soil, and can cause serious health problems like cancer, according to EcoEnclose. Phthalates, one of the materials needed for plastic, can affect “fertility, endocrine glands and birth defects.” In water, plastic waste can further break down into microplastics. According to EcoEnclose, “the biggest harm associated with microplastics is that they exist not only in the waterways but also the potable water and seafood we eat.” These harmful effects of plastic pollution are felt the most by those living near areas with high levels of plastic manufacturing activity. 

EcoEnclose named “Cancer Alley” as one of the areas most impacted by pollutants in the U.S., and cited environmental racism as a driving reason for that. Greenaction defines environmental racism as “the institutional rules, regulations, policies or government and/or corporate decisions that deliberately target certain communities for locally undesirable land uses and lax enforcement of zoning and environmental laws, resulting in communities being disproportionately exposed to toxic and hazardous waste based upon race.” In this part of Louisiana, the majority of the population is Black, and because of the 150 plants and refineries, the “residents are 50 times more likely to get cancer as a result of the polluted air compared to the average American,” according to Ecoenclose.  

To put an end to plastic pollution and its health consequences, many residents of “Cancer Alley'' have organized themselves to protest against the injustice. “RISE St. James, a grassroots organization founded in 2018, organized its first protest in response to the St. James Parish County Council approving the ‘Sunshine Project,’ which would build another large plastic plant in the area,” according to BlackPast. RISE St. James has been working to stop industries from increasing pollution levels in Louisiana, according to Inside Climate News. This group was founded by Sharon Lavigne, “a retired special education teacher and grandmother of 12,” She said that her work “was a calling from God,” because she found inspiration from the church where she was baptized. RISE St. James’ victories against the plastic industry include stopping Formosa Plastics from constructing a “$9.4 billion manufacturing complex on 2,400 acres in Welcome, Louisiana, less than two miles from Lavigne’s home,” according to Inside Climate News. Some of Lavigne’s other work includes organizing protests, serving as a plaintiff in lawsuits against the plastic industry and working with local governments as well as nationwide environmental groups. Even though Lavigne gives credit to attorneys and others who have been part of the alliance, she believes her cause gained the upper hand because she “put God first.” 

Many other people have been inspired by their religion to fight against the factories. An example is Florence Robinson, a biology professor who lived in the East Baton Rouge Parish, according to Inside Climate News. In 1999, she received an award for her role in shutting down a waste incineration plant, in what was called a “virtual one-woman war against toxic waste,” Inside Climate News reported. In a 2005 article, she told The Advocate that her belief in her actions stemmed from “the Judeo-Christian concept of helping others.” For many of the activists in “Cancer Alley,” faith is what inspired them to fight against the plastic industry.

Hampshire College reaches carbon neutrality goals a decade earlier than expected

Photo courtesy of Sven Manguard via Wikimedia Commons.
Five College Consortium member Hampshire College has announced that carbon offset programs allowed the institution to reach carbon neutrality.

By Lily Benn ’24

Staff Writer

Hampshire College officially announced on Feb. 15 that the institution had reached full carbon neutrality. According to the College’s website, this goal was set for 2032, but was able to be achieved by 2022, as has been calculated for a full year. 

According to an article from the European Union News, carbon neutrality is defined as achieving net, or a total of, zero carbon emissions, usually by balancing the emissions of an individual, institution or community with the amount of carbon being recycled or removed from the atmosphere through Earth’s carbon sinks. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change promotes this idea, and suggests that achieving carbon neutrality by the mid-21st century is essential.

Hampshire College, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, and one of the five colleges included in the Five College Consortium, created its plan to achieve carbon neutrality as an institution in 2012, according to Sara Draper, the College’s sustainability manager. 

Part of Draper’s work with Hampshire College includes connecting students to the various sustainability programs that are on campus so that the projects can be a part of their educational experience. These include Hampshire’s many Living Buildings, their community farm and their campus and community solar fields. She works with an environmental committee that involves students and other staff, with the goal of working towards and maintaining this carbon neutrality achievement and other sustainability goals.

To calculate this goal of full carbon neutrality on and off campus, the College had set up an annual Greenhouse Gas Analysis. Draper reported that in the past few years, due to COVID-19 and previous financial instability, the College was unable to calculate their carbon emissions. “It was really like a check-in to see, we set the groundwork a long time ago, how are we now doing?” Draper said. 

She also explained that since carbon neutrality as well as some of Hampshire’s other climate and sustainability goals were originally set to be achieved by 2032, the result of this year’s Greenhouse Gas Analysis was surprising. According to the Hampshire College Carbon Neutrality Brief provided by the College in their announcement, in 2022, the College emitted 4,712.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Draper explained that these remaining emissions that the College could not limit in 2022 are entirely balanced by various carbon offset programs that the College participates in.

To balance the metric tons omitted by the College in various aspects, this year Hampshire purchased offsets from a refrigerant reclamation program, Draper explained. “You recycle a refrigerator, and at the end of its life it has this amount of refrigerant in it, that something needs to be done with,” Draper explained, “Otherwise it will escape into the atmosphere and contribute to the climate change issue.” Hampshire College is able to recapture and recycle these refrigerants, known as HFCs, or hydrofluorocarbons, and reuse them in new products, according to Draper. If this material is not recycled, it can be destroyed, she explained, but by purifying and recycling it, it can be put back into the industry and reused, eliminating the carbon emissions created when manufacturing new refrigerants. 

Draper explained that she believes this program has real impacts in reference to carbon emissions and climate change. “This is something where the market forces for certain kinds of refrigerants weren’t really there to make this cost-effective,” Draper said, “If we can incentivize it as this carbon offset project, it starts to make more financial sense.”

Draper believes that GHG analysis and carbon offset initiatives will continue to be an annual part of Hampshire’s priorities. “What are our values, what are the kinds of projects we want to support?” Draper asked, referring to keeping an annual offset budget and investment. “I would also really look forward to having conversations with our other Five College folks about potentially creating our own, local offset projects,” she said. 

As of 2023, Hampshire College is the only college of the Five College Consortium that has achieved carbon neutrality, according to the other colleges’ and university websites. It was one of the first colleges in the country to divest from fossil fuels in 2011, according to Hampshire’s carbon neutrality announcement. 

“For me, at the end of the day, is this part of having a positive impact on our world, on our peer institutions, on our local area?” Draper said in reflection. “And I think the answer to something like this is ‘yeah!’” Draper advised other sustainability departments and colleges such as Mount Holyoke that every institution is different and has different assets available to achieve their sustainability goals. Still, colleges can look at what their strengths are, and look at what is easiest for them to leverage in terms of reducing carbon emissions, Draper explained. 

Mount Holyoke College has not actively divested from fossil fuels, despite past pressure from organizations and student groups on campus, according to a Mount Holyoke News article from 2021. 

Draper expressed that she is excited to see other colleges moving in on carbon emission reduction and other sustainability programs as institutions, and is glad to feel this sense of momentum in a larger community, even as a smaller college such as Hampshire.

Reproduce This! All about STIs: Types of STIs

Graphic by Sunny Wei ‘23.

By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Science and Environment Editor

Sexually transmitted infections are infections passed from one person to another during sexual activity, according to Planned Parenthood. STIs are common and often occur without symptoms, but can cause serious health problems if left untreated. For each STI, corresponding symptoms, testing and treatment vary. Some common STIs include:

Chlamydia: Chlamydia is one of the most common STIs and most people who contract it show no symptoms. According to Planned Parenthood, “Chlamydia can infect the penis, vagina, cervix, anus, urethra, eyes and throat.” When symptoms do occur, they may take several weeks to appear following the start of the infection. Symptoms include pain while urinating or during sex, abnormal discharge and spotting between periods, Planned Parenthood explained. If left untreated, chlamydia can spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes and eventually cause pelvic inflammatory disease.

Human Papillomavirus: HPV is a very common STI and can often go away on its own. Planned Parenthood reports that “most people who have sex get HPV at some point in their lives.” While often harmless, certain types of HPV can create serious health problems, such as cervical cancer, if left untreated. HPV can infect the genitals, mouth and throat. “High-risk” types of HPV have no symptoms, making regular testing important, according to Planned Parenthood. 

Syphilis: Syphilis is an STI that occurs in four stages if left untreated, an article from the Center for Disease Control stated. Symptoms of the primary stage include sores on the genitals or mouth. During the secondary stage, rashes around the genitals and mouth may appear during or following the healing process of the initial sores, the article said. After the secondary stage, the infection remains in the body with no symptoms. According to the CDC, most people do not experience the final, or tertiary, stage of syphilis, which occurs anywhere from 10 to 30 years following the time of infection and can lead to serious health problems.

Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is a common STI among people between the ages of 15 and 24, the CDC reported. The infection can affect the genitals, rectum and throat. Gonorrhea usually does not have symptoms, and when people do experience symptoms they tend to be mild and easy to mistake for other infections, the CDC said. Gonorrhea can be treated with medication once diagnosed, but if left untreated can lead to the development of pelvic inflammatory disease among other complications, according to the CDC.

Getting tested regularly is crucial for spotting STIs before they develop into serious conditions, the CDC said. According to the Mount Holyoke College website, testing is available for students at the Health Center.

New study finds that teens' blood pressure is affected by pollution

A study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that nitrogen dioxide pollution from vehicles correlates with lower blood pressure levels in teens. Photo courtesy of B137 via Wikimedia Commons.

By Shira Sadeh ’25

Global Editor

A study published on Feb. 8, 2023, in the journal PLOS One found that pollution affects teens’ blood pressure. While it was already known that pollution can affect people’s ability to breathe and can cause health problems such as cancer, this new study focuses on the effect of pollution on blood pressure, a CNN article about the new study reported. 

The study involved 3,200 teenagers, whose blood pressure data was compared to exposure rates based on annual pollution reports for the areas in which the teens lived, CNN said. While previous blood pressure studies have observed adults and many pollution studies have observed children, this study is unique due to its focus on teens.

According to a CNN summary of the study, lower blood pressure levels were associated with exposure to nitrogen dioxide, while higher blood pressure levels were correlated with exposure to particulate matter 2.5 — also known as particle pollution. Although the researchers did not look into the health effects of fluctuating blood pressure, low blood pressure is known to cause “confusion, tiredness, blurred vision and dizziness.” High blood pressure in youth can “lead to a lifetime of health problems including a higher risk of stroke or heart attack,” the article explained, adding that high blood pressure is “a leading risk factor for premature death worldwide.”

The Environmental Protection Agency website explains that nitrogen dioxide pollution is caused by burning fuel, and is often emitted by buses, cars, trucks and off-road equipment. The EPA states that exposure to nitrogen dioxide can irritate the respiratory system, causing breathing problems, and can cause asthma or respiratory infections. Additionally, when nitrogen dioxide interacts with water and other chemicals in the atmosphere, it can create acid rain that harms ecosystems and makes the air hazy. 

The EPA has created National Ambient Air Quality Standards that define the maximum concentrations of nitrogen dioxide permitted to be in the outside air. When an area does not meet this standard, the EPA works with regional authorities to lower nitrogen dioxide emissions.

Particulate matter is a type of pollution composed of a mixture of solid particles — such as smoke, dust, soot or dirt — and liquid droplets, the EPA website explained. PM 2.5 is a category of particulate matter made up of fine, inhalable particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. In comparison, the EPA states that the average person’s hair has a diameter of approximately 70 micrometers, making the largest PM 2.5 particles 30 times smaller than the average human hair. 

PM is emitted from numerous different sources, the EPA says. Roads, construction sites, fields and fires are major sources, but many particles also form in the atmosphere as a result of chemical reactions, often after emission by automobiles and power plants. According to the EPA, the small size of the particles means that they are easily inhalable, and can pose a danger to humans if they get into the lungs or bloodstream. Studies have shown that PM 2.5 can cause “premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function and increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing,” the EPA said. PM 2.5 has also been linked to increased haziness in the air, increased acidity in rivers and lakes, changing nutrient balances in water and soil and affecting ecosystems. Similarly to nitrogen dioxide pollution, the EPA regulates PM emissions, but these regulations exclude particles with a diameter greater than ten micrometers.

According to the study, female participants reacted to PM 2.5 pollution more dramatically than male participants, while participants of both sexes had similar reactions to nitrogen dioxide pollution. The researchers also found that there were marginally higher exposures to both pollutants in Black Caribbeans, Black Africans and Pakistani/Bangladeshis compared to white participants. The researchers recommend further study into the different reactions caused by the two pollutants and how they affect participants differently based on their socioeconomic backgrounds. “Understanding the social and biological mechanisms linking air pollution exposure to BP [blood pressure] over the life course is [a] major research and clinical gap,” the study concluded.

Reproduce This! All about STIs: prevention and testing

Graphic by Sunny Wei ‘23.

By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Science and Environment Editor

According to an article from Planned Parenthood, STIs are “​​infections that are passed from one person to another during sexual activity.” The use of a barrier — such as a condom or dental dam — is “one of the best ways” to avoid contracting an STI, the article said. This is because they prevent genital skin-to-skin contact as well as the exchange of sexual fluids. Most STIs do not cause any symptoms, so getting tested regularly is an important way to prevent their spread, Planned Parenthood explained. The type of testing used varies depending on the STI but can include a urine test, physical exam or swab. Some tests will produce instant results, while others take between days and weeks. 

STI testing is available at Mount Holyoke Health Services and is covered by the Student Health Insurance Plan, according to Dr. Cheryl Flynn of the Health Center. Students with their own private health insurance and the “prepaid plan” can also receive testing free of cost. Health Services offers STI screening for students based on “their sexual behaviors and the risk of infections associated with those,” as well as diagnostic testing for students experiencing symptoms of an STI, Flynn explained. Most tests cost between $20 and $50, with the exception of the Hepatitis B antibody test (around $65), Hepatitis C test (around $68) and the Herpes Simplex I and II test (around $330). 

Those without the student health insurance plan will have the cost of the tests added to their Student Bill. Charges are noted as “health center charges” on the Student Bill, with no further details about the visit, Flynn said. Students are informed of their results, positive or negative, through My Health Connection. Health Services also offers STI treatment, typically consisting of antibiotics or antiviral medications which are often available on-site. According to Flynn, for treatments that the health center does not carry, such as HIV and Hepatitis C, patients are referred to a specialist.