Review of Documentary: Green (2000)

Summary of the Documentary

Green is a film made in 2000 that was written and directed by graduate student Laura Dunn.  The documentary travels along the last 100 mile stretch of the Mississippi from Baton Rouge, LA to New Orleans, LA to uncover the truth about one thing: money changes everything. 

This stretch of the river is home to over 150 petrochemical plants that are responsible for producing 25% of the nations petrochemicals.  This stretch has the highest amount of chemical users, chemical disposers, and chemical industry.  According to the people with the loudest voice, it is an area with an abundance of jobs, an area where intense revenue for the nation is made, and an area where safety and health are not of concern because the industries care enough to report when they find anything suspicious.  To the rest of the nation, and the communities affected by these plants, it is the "chemical corridor", or "cancer alley". 

Baton Rouge, LA

It is such a breath-taking site to see the capital of Louisiana placed just perfectly in front of a beautiful backdrop of chemical plants. Even more beautiful is the trip to the farmers market, where fresh produce is sold right outside of the plants.  What a great way for the community members to get their daily fruit intake with a side of carcinogens....??? 

In Baton Rouge, one 13 year old girl told her story of the rare case of cancer she had, producing tumors all over her body to be removed as often as they grow.   

Another woman couldn't have explained the problem at hand more perfectly: "when it comes to chemical plants, everyone is thinking green. And by green I mean M-O-N-E-Y." 

Gonzales, LA

We heard a story about a very loved little boy named Caleb.  Caleb suffered from a rare form of cancer as a small boy, so rare that only 1 in a million people have it.  In fact, it is so rare that 2 other kids on his block had the same disease??  But don't make any assumptions, if the petrochemical plants in Gonzales were linked to this rare form of cancer, the tumor registry would report this data so that community members may take precaution.  It is good to know that the tumor registry is funded by the Louisiana Chemical Association.  So back up the train, would those reports be made?  Apparently, they aren't.  But according to the Louisiana Chemical Association, those reports do not need to be made because their data shows that per plot of land, the rates of rare forms of cancer are normal.  Of course their data doesn't support the concern, because they divide their land into plots instead of collecting data parish by parish.  This section of the documentary was concluded by introducing the audience to some new evidence: recently, clusters of rare types of cancer found in children have been reported mainly in southern Louisiana. Did anyone see this coming??

Norco, LA

A local Shell plant that is not-so-local sized, has a majestic tower for the whole town to see.  At the top, it even has a flare which serves as a release valve for many "vapors".  So what happened when this Shell plant experienced an explosion killing seven people and alarming the members of the community?  Well of course the town now has a new look!  Oh thank God, we were all so worried about the way the town looked.... 

Shell is producing the chemical benzene and numerous other toxins that have been linked to malformations and health concerns for developing fetuses and small children.   

Narco is a town with both white and black people.  It is predominately white away from the plants, and predominately black in the plants' backyards. One citizen of this town enlightened the audience with his thoughts: "environmental civil rights are not about black people, its about all of the low socioeconomic citizens that involuntarily live right next door to these plants". 

New Orleans, LA

In 2000, this was a wonderful place where Mardi Gras and beautiful people existed.  Now lets move outside of our tourist eyes, travel to the outskirts of the town and see something else.  A landfill. 17 feet deep but thankfully had the first 2 feet removed for the safety of the residents whose homes were built right on top of it. One citizen, Don Lewis was a gardner in the area that had to stop growing because his ground tested positive for toxic substances.  His daughter who ate from the garden at the age of 16 died from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. 

This is an area of toxic wasteland, and according to the mayor of New Orleans, "the EPA hasn't been an ally of the citizens of the community dealing with the landfill."  

New Terms: (Not already linked in paragraphs above) 

polyvinylchloride: abbreviated as PVC, it is the third most used thermoplastic polymer. 

environmental justice: the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to development, implemenation and enforment of environmental laws. 

environmental racism: refers to intentional or unintentional racial descrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities for the siting of polluting industries, or the exclusion of minority groups from public and private boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies. 

Executive order 12898: Federal actions to address environmental justice in minority populations and low-income populations. 

Concepts that challenged my thinking

1. Viewing this documentary tied in perfectly with the Working Group eye-opener.  The products we choose to use, are indirectly supporting the petrochemical plants in Louisiana that are irresponsibly poisoning the community members that live near the plants. 
2. I think it would be easier to not know of this issue, because now that I do, I am compelled to do everything I can to stop supporting the petrochemical industry. 
3. Rare cancers intrigue me.  I feel as though I want to broaden my knowledge on where they are located and find out what they may be linked to.  I firmly believe (along with most of the Southern LA citizens) that they are linked to the petrochemical industry. 
4. This country isn't so great after all.  Correction: this country's government system isn't as protective as we all thought after all.  Why on earth would the EPA allow this?  Why would the government allow the LA Chemical Association to fund the LA tumor registry?  Why would they allow data to be skewed the way it is?
5. According to some, certain groups of people are determined to be expendable in our nation.  Really?? No human life is expendable. That is a new opinion I have formed in regards to the placement of industry. 

Additional Resources

In the paragraphs above I linked to numerous websites to expand your knowledge including: The LA Tumor Registry, The LA Chemical Association, The EPA, and a couple of others. Check those sites out...very intersting!!

One additional site I found for you is the Citizen Perspectives on Environmental Health Hazards in "Cancer Alley".   This is a report written by Angela Hackel, a MA candidate at the Center of Environmental Studies at Brown University.  Check it out! It seems to be somewhat of a follow up to the film!!