the area because of the prevalence of industries that produce iron/steel, rubber, paint, aluminum, and other chemicals. the university network for human rights (unhr) conducted a research study in 2018 in which they collected health data from residents within 2.5 kilometers of cancer alley. the survey focused on what symptoms those with lung cancer were having. one-third of the participants responded by saying that they regularly have a hard time breathing and frequently wheeze. more than 40% of participants experience frequent coughing and tend to have a sore throat. around 30% of participants also reported feeling fatigued. cancer clusters a cancer cluster can be defined as "the occurrence of a greater than expected number of cancer cases among a group of people in a defined geographic area over a specific time period." a cancer cluster can also be suspected when multiple family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers become diagnosed with the same type of cancer. there has been some controversy about whether or not cancer alley can truly be considered a cancer cluster. since cancer is a somewhat common disease, cases of cancer can appear to cluster even if there is no connection among them, causing cancer clusters to arise by chance. a study on cancer clusters in the united states revealed that extensive efforts to find causes of community cancer clusters have not been successful in the past 20 years. this study did look at all 50 states and the district of columbia and investigated cancer types, exposure, confirmation of clusters, and conclusions about a link between cancers of concern and environmental exposures. government action the epa's national air toxic assessment looked at toxic emissions around the nation in 2011 and released the findings in 2015. the study found that the air in laplace, louisiana, which is an area in cancer alley, had a higher-than-expected level of chloroprene. this subsequently caused the epa to begin working closely with the owner of the neoprene plant in the area, denka performance elastomer, and the louisiana department of environmental quality to lower chloroprene emissions. the overall goal was to lower chloroprene emissions by 85%. the state of louisiana says that denka has reached the goal of lowering emissions by 85%, but some residents remain skeptical. many residents believe that instead of reducing emissions by a percentage, the emissions should be 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, which is what is considered a safe level by the epa. mossville, louisiana mossville is a small and predominantly african american community located on the outskirts of lake charles in calcasieu parish, louisiana. it was founded in the 1790s by jack moss, an ex-slave, and was one of the first communities of free black people in the south. a previously thriving community was soon in proximity to multiple industrial plants that were located in the neighboring town of westlake. the industrial plants that sit surrounding mossville include an oil refinery, several petrochemical plants, and one of the country's largest concentrations of manufacturers of vinyl chloride which is the main ingredient in polyvinyl chloride, or the plastic known as pvc. all of these facilities emit millions of pounds of toxins into the air, water, and soil each year. lifelong resident allen leblanc told his story about living in mossville in 2015. leblanc is on disability and has had seizures, liver problems, a stroke, tremors, insomnia, fatigue, and depression plague his life. he also attributes his health problems not to unhealthy habits or that they are hereditary but to the toxic emissions from the industrial plants that are located in westlake. leblanc said that he has known for more than 15 years that his body courses with toxins and would trade anything for a new life. the mossville environmental action now (mean) was organized in 1998 by a group of local residents. mean had the help of greenpeace to convince a federal agency within the centers for disease control and prevention to conduct toxicological testing. the agency for toxic substances and disease registry drew blood from 28 mossville residents, including leblanc. the screenings were essentially looking for dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, also known as some of the most hazardous chemicals in science. the toxicology results showed that the average dioxin level among the mossville community was triple that of the general united states population. the dioxin rates were also among the highest ever recorded in the country. environmental racism many scholars and residents of cancer alley have referred to the area as a "frontline example of environmental racism." environmental racism can be defined as the institutional rules, regulations, policies, or government/corporate decisions that deliberately target certain communities for locally undesirable land uses and lax enforcement of zoning and environmental laws, resulting in communities being disproportionately exposed to toxic and hazardous waste based on race. environmental racism can also be caused by several factors. these factors include intentional neglect, the alleged need for a receptacle for pollutants in urban areas, and a lack of institutional power and low land values of people of color. it is also a well-documented and well-known fact that communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by polluting industries and lax regulation of these industries. environmental impacts the location of cancer alley also poses more environmental impacts other than air pollution. since cancer alley is located closer to the gulf of mexico, hurricanes pose a great risk and have caused large amounts of damage in past years. for example, in 2005, hurricane katrina caused almost 11 million gallons of oil to spill into the water near new orleans. hurricane harvey in 2017 caused power outages which led to unrefrigerated chemicals in a plant in houston decomposing and igniting into a large fireball. in 2020, hurricane laura caused a fire at a plant that produced pool chemicals which led to chlorine gas being burned for three days. one of the largest environmental impacts happened when hurricane ida hit in 2021. the storm's projected path was through the industrial region. the threat of the hurricane's destruction caused the industries located in cancer alley to release unprocessed chemicals and gases into the air via "flaring." even though flaring causes chemicals to be released into the air, the process is legal in emergencies and burns the chemicals directly into the air. after the hurricane, residents were not only left with damaged homes but also more pollution in the air and water than usual. activism and environmental justice in recent years in the united states, the environmental protection and civil rights movements have merged to form an environmental justice movement in response to minority and low-income communities throughout the country being constantly threatened by pollution. many communities that face the largest burdens from pollution tend to be poor and consist mainly of minorities. due to this, poor and minority communities will resort to grassroots activism to protect themselves. in september 2022, environmental justice advocates in southern louisiana were able to declare victory after two decisions denied two major petrochemical complexes from moving forward. the state district court judge trudy white released a decision that reversed and vacated 14 air regulations permits that the louisiana department of environmental quality (ldeq) had issued for the proposed formosa plastics group complex in the town of welcome. the town already has multiple oil refineries and industrial plants and is located in cancer alley. another group that has been actively fighting against the petrochemical industry in cancer alley is rise st. james. rise st. james is a faith-based grassroots organization that fights for environmental justice and works to defeat the proliferation of petrochemical industries in st. james parish, louisiana. the organization successfully defeated the construction of a $1.25 billion plastics manufacturing plant in 2019 and is currently fighting to prevent formosa plastics from building a multibillion-dollar plant in the parish. rise st. james is also committed to educating the community and those outside of the community about the chemicals they breathe in every day. the organization's website includes a "chemical of the month" page and provides information on a specific chemical and how much it is found in certain areas of cancer alley. in popular culture british industrial metal band godflesh used a digitally altered image of a crucifix in front of cancer alley as the cover art for their 1996 album, songs of love and hate. sociologist arlie russell hochschild discusses the environmental and health conditions in cancer alley, as well as the socioeconomic and political ramifications, in her 2016 book strangers in their own land.