In 2000, The Times-Picayune published a four-part series examining the issue of environmental justice and the disproportionate share of pollution, declining property values and diminishing quality of life suffered by poor and minority communities living near polluting industries.

The series received the seventh annual John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Reporting.

By John McQuaid, Photos by Thom Scott

Imagine waking every morning to acrid fumes; horizons marred by towering pretzels of metal and pipe; fear of hazardous-waste spills. History, geography and the legacy of latent if not outright racism have conspired to place factories, dumps and chemical plants next to the poor.

With help from environmental groups, some residents are rallying around a controversial banner -- environmental justice, a coming together of civil rights and environmental activism.

The debate is reshaping the American landscape, pitting those who point to the benefits of jobs and growth against those who say they don't get enough benefits and don't want the problems. In the middle is the federal government, which is struggling to give an emotional and political debate a scientific foundation.

May 21, 2000

Unwelcome Neighbors: Race, class and the environment (2000)

David Prince's home looks out over the Condea Vista VCM chemical plant in Mossville. Both Prince and his wife tested with high levels of dioxin in their blood and the VCM plant could be a source.

Too Close for Comfort
Burdens on the Horizon
Two-page spread created in 2000 for the "Unwelcome Neighbors" series
Chemical corridor
Racial statistics open doors, cloud issues
Transforming the Land
Taken on tradition
Landfill is fertile ground for political fight
Policy, but not law
Q&A: What is environmental justice?

May 22, 2000

Unwelcome Neighbors: Race, class and the environment (2000)

Chickens in Diane Prince's coop strut across the street from Mossille chemical plant. The plant, which produces chlorine, may be a source for dioxin-contaminated blood in many Mossville residents. Eggs are a major source of dioxin contamination and many residents eat eggs from local chickens.

Change in the air
The reluctant warriors
Re-balancing the wheels of justice
Proving ground
Legal battlegrounds
Race and the environment
EPA caught in crossfire over civil rights
Measured impact
Calling in help risks 'outsider' label

May 23, 2000

Unwelcome Neighbors: Race, class and the environment (2000)

All that remains of the large scale Uranium mines in the Southern section of the Navajo nation are concrete slabs capping the mine shafts. When the market price of uranium dropped, the mines closed, leaving hundreds unemployed. Navajos are mostly opposed to any new mining, having experienced many ill effects from the industry. Many workers like Larry King were left without work.

Placing blame
Assessing risk mixes science with emotion
A health risk
The menace within
Living a nightmare
Uneasy proximity
Uranium held promise, curse

May 24, 2000

Unwelcome Neighbors: Race, class and the environment (2000)

Tully Rizzuto, a machinist at Quality Machine Works in Gran Pointe, grinds down a conveyor shaft for a local plant. Quality lost a large potential amount of business when Shintec pulled out.

Unconventional wisdom
Standing their ground
Climate of change
States prodded to get communities involved
'Cancer Alley': Myth or Fact?

May 25, 2000

Unwelcome Neighbors: Race, class and the environment (2000)

The Pleasant Hill Cemetery behind the Freetown Community in St. James Parish. Many generations of Freetown families are buried here. Shintech would have built its PVC plant in the adjacent sugar cane field. Motiva refinery is in the distance.

Editorial: Justice and the environment