cancer alley () is an area along the mississippi river between baton rouge and new orleans, in the river parishes of louisiana, that contains numerous industrial plants. locations in this area with clusters of cancer patients have been covered by the media, leading to the "cancer alley" moniker. ==history== in 1987, some residents in the tiny community of st. gabriel, louisiana, called jacobs drive, the street on which they lived, "cancer alley" because of fifteen cancer cases in a two-block stretch. half a mile away, there were seven cancer victims living on one block. the eighty-five-mile stretch of the mississippi river from baton rouge to new orleans was formerly referred to as the "petrochemical corridor" but after media coverage of cancer victims in the small rural communities on both sides of the river, the entire area became known as cancer alley. in 2002, louisiana had the second-highest death rate from cancer in the united states. while the national average is 206 deaths per 100,000, louisiana's rate was 237.3 deaths per 100,000. at the same time, the death rate from cancer in the area dubbed cancer alley was lower than the rest of louisiana, as well as the national average. in 2000, toxics release inventory (tri) data showed that louisiana ranked second throughout the nation for total onsite releases, third for total releases within the state, and fourth for total on- and offsite releases. louisiana, which has a population of 4,469,970 people, produced 9,416,598,055 pounds of waste in 2000. seven of the ten plants in the state with the largest combined on- and offsite releases are located in cancer alley, and four of the ten plants with the largest onsite releases in the state are located there.centers for disease control. (2002). cancer prevention and control "cancer burden data fact sheets, louisiana." atlanta, ga.coyle, marcia. (1992). "company will not build plant: lawyers hail victory." the national law journal, october 19, p. 3. ==cancer studies== a peer-reviewed study by scientists at the shell oil company found that the cancer rate in this area was lower than state and national averages. as one of the corporations which owns plants in the area, shell oil has a conflict of interest with respect to this issue. a peer-reviewed study by frederic t. billings iii, m.d., found that while louisiana has a much higher than average lung cancer rate, the source is not the "cancer alley" parishes, but the other parishes of louisiana, where above-average [[tobacco smo
Environment_of_Louisiana Environment_of_Mississippi Environmental_issues_in_the_United_States