'Evil economics': William Barber condemns proposed plastics facility in Cancer Alley
Source: The Guardian
Cancer Town
'Evil economics': William Barber condemns proposed plastics facility in Cancer Alley
Activist joined demonstrators in St James parish as they rallied against facility that would double the amount of toxic emissions
Oliver Laughland in Welcome, Louisiana
@oliverlaughland
Thu 24 Oct 2019 17.43 BST
Last modified on Thu 24 Oct 2019 17.49 BST
For the second time in two months the moral revival campaigner and civil rights leader the Rev William Barber has visited an area of toxic pollution in Louisiana known colloquially as “Cancer Alley” as he places the fight for clean air there at the centre of a national protest movement.
The North Carolina-based activist, thrust on to the national stage after the success of the Moral Mondays protests in his home state, joined a group of local demonstrators in St James parish, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, on Wednesday as they rallied against a proposed plastics manufacturing facility nearby.
The sprawling, $9.4bn site in the parish’s fifth ward, pushed by the Taiwanese petrochemicals giant Formosa, would consist of 14 separate plants across 2,300 acres of land and, if approved, would be allowed to roughly double the amount of toxic emissions in the parish from 1.6m lb to 3.2m.
The proposed construction, known as the Sunshine Project, has won the support of local and state officials, including Louisiana’s Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, with the promise of 1,200 permanent jobs as well as thousands of temporary construction jobs. It would be built in the parish’s fifth district, which is 85% African American.
On Wednesday evening Barber argued the project was backed by “evil economics”.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/24/louisiana-cancer-alley-plastics-facility-william-barber
