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Fight or Flight: A Story of Survival and Justice in Cancer Alley

zoefriese
Annotation of
In response to

Given the vastness of Formosa Plastics' influence, there are many ways to tell its story to the world. As environmental justice activists and researchers, how do we describe a company and its negative impact when there is so much to say? Limited by time, word count, and the audience's attention span, we must decide what goes unsaid. As a result, we could write countless answers to the same question, "What is Formosa Plastics?"

In this published academic case study, I introduce Formosa Plastics through a local lens--specifically, through the eyes of a grandmother-turned-activist in the small town of Welcome, Louisiana. Her family's history with social justice activism, as well as the area's connection to centuries of slavery, make the environmental racism of Formosa Plastics' Sunshine Project especially salient. Although Formosa Plastics is a global force, telling its story on the microscale is an equally important perspective. After all, in Sharon Lavigne's eyes, her small town is her world. How many of these little worlds have Formosa Plastics destroyed as they wreak havoc across international borders?

TebbeM Desert StoryMaps Question 5

mtebbe
Annotation of
In response to
  • In 2003, the Imperial Irrigation District signed the Quantification Settlement Agreement, in which they transferred the water from agricultural runoff that formerly fed the Salton Sea to supply municipalities in Southern California. The agreement kept water flowing into the lake until 2018 in order to give time to come up with ways to mitigate environmental effects of the lake's desiccation. These solutions have not materialized.
  • UCR scientists are collecting dust for microbial analysis

TebbeM Desert StoryMaps Question 2

mtebbe
Annotation of
In response to
  • Increased salinity
    • Waterfowl dieoffs
  • Desiccation produces toxic dust that blows
    • Childhood asthma and other respiratory conditions
    • 15% of Imperial County residents have asthma
    • wind-blown dust can act as a pathway for microbes, fungi, and viruses to enter lungs by attaching to dust particles
  • Municipal sewage from Mexicali
  • Waste from prisons

TebbeM Desert StoryMaps Question 5.2

mtebbe
Annotation of
In response to

The "Disparities in Environmental Exposures and Health Impacts" project has four goals:

  1. To establish a community advisory board to provide local stakeholder input;
  2. To identify spatial patterns and trends in population exposure and in pollutant transport;
  3. To distribute particle collectors at sites that represent the range of sources of particulate matter and to identify the elemental and biological composition of particles;
  4. To use environmental chamber exposure studies to develop a protocol for monitoring pulmonary inflammation impacts of aerosol particulates identified from the particle collectors.

TebbeM Desert StoryMaps Question 4

mtebbe
Annotation of
In response to
  • Investors who left in the first half of the 20th century
  • Residents who remained in the area (highly Latinx)
    • Labor exploitation, especially of immigrants through programs like the Bracero program
  • Indigenous groups - especially the Torres Martinez, 40% of whose land is underneath the Salton Sea
  • Agriculture
    • Historically not identified as an unwanted land use, which allowed farmers to get away with more than other industries