Mossville, LA: the historically Black town brought down by the chemical industry.

When I joined the environmental justice movement almost 15 years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Delma and Christine Bennett. They were residents of Mossville, LA (aka cancer alley). They raised their family there and felt the impact of neighboring chemical facilities firsthand. The town, for all intents and purposes, no longer exists. It was founded in the 1790s by free and formally-enslaved people. When South African chemical company Sasol finally offered to buy residents out, Black residents were short-changed, leaving many to abandon mortgage-free living for rentals due to the inability to purchase other homes. Below, I will link to the website for the grassroots environmental justice organization Mossville Environmental Action Now. The webpage has not been updated in years. I will also connect to news articles about the last days of the town and the injustices residents faced as they fought for a cleaner environment where they worked, lived, worshiped, and played.

With the loss of Mossville, the world lost a tremendous history and culture. There are Mossville all over the U.S. and the globe. These cities and towns demonstrate that the impacts of our fossil fuel-based chemical industry reach beyond health impacts.

As always, we encourage you to share this information with your networks and reach out to groups in your community fighting for justice.