GILES CLARKE

'Cancer Alley' is the regional nickname given to an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in Louisiana which contains over 200 petrochemical plants and refineries. This area accounts for 25% of the petroleum production in the United States. 

Louisiana’s economy has long relied on oil refineries and shipyards, both of which used and contaminated workers, soil, and air with asbestos. Soil throughout the state has been contaminated by mud left behind by hurricanes, by landfills, and by industrial sites. Soil pollutants include oil, arsenic, lead, and wood and creosote treatment chemicals.

Cancer rates are amongst the highest in the country, especially in the poorest pre-dominantly Black communities, such as Standard Heights in Baton Rouge. These neglected neighborhoods are located in high-emission areas next to these belching industrial plants with Louisiana residents in general over 50 times more likely to develop cancer than elsewhere in the general U.S. population. 

The "Cancer Alley' label was first applied in the 1980s for the area’s inordinately high number of cancer cases, especially among low-income Black communities near the numerous industrial sites along the river.

A residence overshadowed by an oil refinery near Norco on the banks of the Mississippi River. In US State rankings, Louisiana ranks on top for air pollution that includes ozone and particles released from industrial sites. Waterways in the state are among the most polluted in the country and contain nitrates, dioxin, arsenic, mercury, and benzene.

Amy, aged 13, by the banks of the Mississippi in Norco, Louisiana. Norco, located just a few miles north of New Orleans with a population of 3,000, has some of the highest cancer rates in the US.

In Norco, just north of New Orleans, one of the many plants used to refine oil and produce LNG (liquid natural gas). 

The Environmental Protection Agency considers gas turbines major sources of toxic air pollution, since the combustion process releases a slew of cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde. 

A resident of New Orlean's ninth ward by his car.

A  derailed train on tracks in Port Hudson just north of Baton Rouge. On closer inspection, the spilt cargo on the tracks are an agricultural fertilizer. No apparent attempt to clean up or move the train was evident.

Oil well beside the road near Baton Rouge in Louisiana. Hundreds of these grinding wells litter the landscape creating deeper water pollution issues. 

Micheal Roberts at home in Standard Heights, Baton Rouge. Due to constant toxic emissions, he has not opened his windows in over forty years. 

Air pollutants in Louisiana put people at risk for all kinds of respiratory conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). 


An abandoned house in the Standard Heights area of Baton Rouge. 

A flare from a rural smokestack pierces the morning air. When the wind dies, the air is rancid with the smell of toxic emissions from refineries, smokestacks, and flares burning off gases used in the refining process. 

A young resident of Standard Heights, Baton Rouge. 

All that remains of a house in New Orlean's ninth ward following Hurricane Katrina 

A local Standard Heights activist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

A public road through Exxon Mobile in Baton Rouge. This plant has operated here since 1909 and is the 6th largest oil refinery in the US. Entire neighborhoods have been built next to the sprawling site over the years - with the majority being poor, low-income residents. 

A resident and local environmental activist from Standard Heights, Baton Rouge. 

A raised Bayou house built on stilts to protect from frequent flooding in the Mississippi Delta. 

A refinery chimney near Baton Rouge. The EPA, in both 2016 and 2020, reported that those residing in Cancer Alley are exposed to more than 10 times “the level of health risk from hazardous air pollutants” than other residents in the state.

The photographer and Percy, a local resident of Standard Heights who has battled cancer and severe bronchial issues since childhood. His family home lies just a couple of hundred yards from the vast Exxon Mobile Baton Rouge plant. 

An empty school bus in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge has some of the highest cancer rates in the US. In May 2024, Louisiana had the second-highest cancer rate in the country, at 486.6 per 100,000 people, behind Kentucky (516 per 100,000)

Rising salt water levels leave trees dying in the Mississippi delta. The over-digging of canals- that provides water to the growing industry further up-river - now flood vast areas as sea levels rise and natural drainage is hindered. Climate change further threatens the entire low-lying region of southern Louisiana. 

A Standard Heights resident in Baton Rouge located next to the sprawling Exxon Mobile petroleum plant. In March 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Committee discussed the industrial plants projects alongside the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The UN

A Standard Heights resident in Baton Rouge near the sprawling Exxon Mobile petroleum plant.

In March 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Committee discussed the industrial plants projects alongside the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The UN council on contemporary racism strongly condemned what they defined as 'environmental racism' in their discussion with experts and other UN officials:

"This form of environmental racism poses serious and disproportionate threats to the enjoyment of several human rights of its largely African American residents, including the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to life, the right to health, right to an adequate standard of living and cultural rights."

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