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Air (2050), August 30, 2021, Cancer Alley, Louisiana (Hurricane Ida, oil and chemical spills)
Air (2050), August 30, 2021, Cancer Alley, Louisiana (Hurricane Ida, oil and chemical spills)
Mineral pigment and watercolor on Arches paper
8"x10"
2021

Real-time pollution data was not yet available. But the risks come in a state that already has the highest toxic air emissions per square mile in the country. According to an audit of Louisiana’s environmental regulators published by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office in January, the state had an average of more than 1,200 pounds of toxic air releases per square mile — far ahead of Ohio, the state with the second-highest emissions of about 900 pounds per square mile. The pollution has earned Louisiana’s industrial corridor, pummeled by Ida, the nickname “Cancer Alley.”


Reference:
Tabuchi, Hiroko. 2021. “Ida Hit One of the Country’s Biggest Oil and Chemical Hubs” The New York Times. August 30, 2021.