A Forgotten Community in New Orleans: Life on a Superfund Site

onJun 22, 2014 @ 11:00 PDT

Shannon Rainey lives in a house that was built on top of a Superfund site in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

“I bought my house when I was 25, and thirty years later, I still can’t get out,” she told DeSmogBlog.

Rainey’s home in Gordon Plaza is part of a subdivision developed by the city in 1981 on top of the Agriculture Street landfill. No one disclosed to the buyers that their new homes were built on top of a dump that was closed in 1965.

Rainey has a view of two other city-owned properties also built on the landfill: the shuttered Morton Elementary School and Press Park, an abandoned housing project developed by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO).

“If it were white folks back here, this would be all gone,” Rainey says bluntly.

By Julie Dermansky

Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers University’s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

Russian Gas Giant Given Access to Global LNG Summit Alongside German Government

ByEdward Donnelly

onDec 13, 2024 @ 06:32 PST

The decision to allow Novatek to attend the flagship conference was described as “disappointing” and “disturbing” by campaigners.

uk/‘Net Zero Sceptic’ Kemi Badenoch Accepted £10,000 from Chevron Director

BySam Bright

onDec 13, 2024 @ 02:32 PST

Badenoch’s leadership campaign was part-funded by a board member at one of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies.

Analysis

uk/Kemi Badenoch’s Climate Denial Tour

ByAdam Barnett

onDec 12, 2024 @ 03:41 PST

The Conservative leader, who attacked “radical green absolutism” in a Washington DC speech, recently met with a host of influential anti-climate figures.