Public Project
Beyond the fence line
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Beyond the fence line
Location: New York, NY
Nationality: Canadian
Covering:
Asia,
Europe,
Latin America,
Middle East,
USA & Canada
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Exxon Mobil in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the 4th largest petrochemical plant in the United States and 12th largest in the world, producing just over 500,000 barrels of oil per day.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Dow Chemical plant in Morrisonville, Louisiana as nearby livestock and animals roam.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Ray Brent, a resident of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, and a member of the local rezoning committee has fought against the expansion of more industrial plants in the St. Gabriel area. St. Gabriel is presently home to industrial companies: Syngenta, Olin Chlor Alkali Products, Nachurs Alpine Solutions, Nova Chemicals, and Honeywell.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Pastor Harry Joseph of the Mount Triumph Baptist Church has led the community of St. James Parrish in the fight against the expansion of more petrochemical plants and has fought for fair and equitable buyouts for residents most strongly affected by the proposed Bayou Bridge Pipeline being proposed that would run through the town of St. James.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Holy Rosary Cemetery in Taft, Louisiana sits adjacent to the Dow Chemical Corporation. Chemical and industrial plants cannot build or expand on the land of those who are buried without the consent of the family members of the deceased. It remains an arduous duty to find and receive permission from the families of the deceased. Often burial grounds remain untouched and instead complexes are built around them.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Southern Memorial Gardens in Scotlandville Lousiana sits adjacent to a tank farm where fuel and petrochemicals are stored by the Exxon Mobil Corporation.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Deltech Corporation plant in North Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Deltech is a chemical manufacturer of
monomers and polymers. Some of their waste byproducts airborne ethylbenzene and benzene, both known to cause short-term respiratory and eye irritation. Long-term exposure can lead to cancer.
monomers and polymers. Some of their waste byproducts airborne ethylbenzene and benzene, both known to cause short-term respiratory and eye irritation. Long-term exposure can lead to cancer.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Terry Frazier is a resident of St. Gabriel, Louisiana who has been diagnosed with cancer. She reports suffering from health effects from nearby industrial plants. Economically disadvantaged African Americans are more likely to
reside close to industrial plants and are exposed to higher levels of toxic pollution compared to more affluent whites who live further away.
reside close to industrial plants and are exposed to higher levels of toxic pollution compared to more affluent whites who live further away.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Port Allen Middle School located in West Baton Rouge Parish is located just one and a half miles from the Placid Refinery facility. Airborne releases from Placid include neurotoxicants, respiratory toxicants, gastrointestinal or liver toxicants.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A residential street in The Standard Heights neighborhood sits adjacent to the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Residents often complain about noxious smells due to crude oil that contains higher levels of sulfur.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
In 2017 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Justice fined 8 Exxon Mobil facilities in the Gulf Coast $2.5 million dollars for allowing excess flaring of gases leading to exceeding pollution quotas. In 2017 alone, Exxon Mobil reported profit earnings of $19.7 billion dollars in profit.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A family living in Standard Heights adjacent to the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baton Rouge. Residents close by often report noxious smells during rainstorms and early in the morning as the refinery burns off excess chemicals and waste throughout the night as people sleep indoors.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Lousiana is one of the richest states in natural resources but ranks near the bottom in wealth in the United States. Government tax exemptions have allowed petrochemical companies to set up in the state to drain it of its resources but not contribute to local state taxes which have left many of the local economies stunted. In one particular example, government tax exemptions that have granted ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge a 67% property tax exemption leaves the local community without money to go towards education, infrastructure and roads, police and fire departments.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Exxon Mobil refinery was established back in 1909, by the Standard Oil Company. Shortly thereafter, the Standard Heights community was built for many of those employed by the refinery. The majority of employees at industrial sites in Cancer Alley travel from a great distance from towns and communities further away. Local residents are not usually hired to work in the plants in their community to avoid potential whistleblowers that could expose any wrongdoing, accidents or excessive pollution.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Mary and Joseph Triplett are two of the few remaining residents of Standard Heights in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Large corporations offer buyouts to members of the community to relocate to another area as a strategy to avoid possible lawsuits due to pollution and its health effects on the locals. Often the buyouts are very low and residents cannot purchase a new home with what has been offered.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Standard Heights neighborhood that sits adjacent to the Baton Rouge Exxon Mobil is littered with empty plots of land where houses and a community once stood. Exxon Mobil has offered buyouts to residents of the neighborhood preemptively to avoid any legal action from the community and residents.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A camping and recreation area in Bonnet Carre Spillway in Destrehan Louisiana sits adjacent to Norco Fractionation Chemical Plant.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Where many homes once stood, remain barren and empty today in Standard Heights as a result of a buyout program from Exxon Mobil.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Doctor Barry Kohl a scientist and professor at Tulane University in New Orleans has studied the effects of Mercury contamination throughout Lousiana. Much of the poorer population rely on subsistence fishing have been affected most by this, and it's especially harmful in unborn and young children whose brain and nervous system are still developing leading to possible links to autism and ADHD. Its effects are irreversible.
Many of the culprits responsible for emitting mercury into the environment has been coal-based power plants, petrol and chemical plants, pulp and paper mills. Atmospheric mercury has no odour.
Many of the culprits responsible for emitting mercury into the environment has been coal-based power plants, petrol and chemical plants, pulp and paper mills. Atmospheric mercury has no odour.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A residential street in St. James Parish sits next to a tank farm owned by the Nustar Energy Corporation. Tanks often store gasoline, petroleum, and diesel fuel. Some of the potential hazards of tank farms include contamination of groundwater and chemical leaks. A large accident would require evacuation of the neighborhood.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Pipelines from Entergy Power Company in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, process fuel and oil which is pumped through the pipes that run either under or over the ground into barrels. The barrels are then loaded onto an awaiting barge on the Mississippi River to be shipped downriver through New Orleans and into the Gulf of Mexico and onward to its final destination.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Lt. General Russell Honoré who once led the relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005, now leads communities in the fight against toxic pollution, Louisiana’s chemical corridor.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Denka chemical plant in Reserve Louisiana is the only plant in the United States that produces the chemical chloroprene used to make synthetic rubber such as neoprene. Chloroprene is perhaps one of the most toxic chemicals produced, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that the community surrounding the Denka plant has a cancer rate fifty times higher than the national average.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Shell petrochemical plant in Norco, Louisiana captured from the top of the levee on the Mississippi River looking northeast. The barges are visible in the foreground while the processing plant can be seen in the background.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
The Entergy Louisiana facility in Norco is an energy and power company situated on River Road, next to a residential area. Proximity to the Mississippi River is a desired attribute by both business and homeowners, leading to dangerously close neighbors.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
In North Baton Rouge along Highway 61 is the an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site where toxic and petrochemical waste were dumped in the 1960s and 70s by Petro Processors of Louisiana. According to the EPA, the site is located over “400-foot sands,” a major drinking water aquifer.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A neighborhood park in Norco Lousiana sits adjacent to the Shell petrochemical plant in the background. The Shell refinery was ordered to spend $10 million dollars on pollution control equipment to resolve decades of allegations the plant was in violation of the Clean Air Act.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Portrait of Kelvin York, a city councilor in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Mr. York fights against the expansion
of industry in the small Southern town and advocates for more retail and small businesses which would create jobs for its residents. Industrial plants often do not hire local residents to avoid whistleblowers on practices and, operational procedures that potentially harm the community.
of industry in the small Southern town and advocates for more retail and small businesses which would create jobs for its residents. Industrial plants often do not hire local residents to avoid whistleblowers on practices and, operational procedures that potentially harm the community.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
A home that has been demolished for industrial plant expansion in St. James Louisiana.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Tank farms owned by Dow Chemical in Morrisonville, Louisiana. Morrisonville was founded by freed slaves in 1790., by 1989, the entire town was bought out by Dow Chemical and were relocated several miles away.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Sidney Poray of Standard Heights in Baton Rouge Lousiana. The ever aging century-plus old Exxon Mobil refinery in Baton Rouge plant suffers from extensive corrosion of pipes, outdated inspections, inadequate emergency procedures, and emergency staff making the facility more vulnerable to accidents.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Motiva Enterprises industrial plant in Convent Louisiana sits adjacent to sugar cane crops in the foreground. It is not uncommon in Southern Louisiana to find agriculture and industry operating closely alongside one another.
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© 2024 Edwin Tse
Dow Chemical in Taft Lousiana at sunset along the Mississippi River.
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