Surreal scenes from Christmas parade in Cancer Alley – in pictures
The annual parade in Norco, Louisiana, is run by the local civic association, itself heavily backed by Shell, which operates a sprawling plant producing petrochemicals – and, according to the EPA, major amounts of pollution. Photographer Julie Dermansky, who has chronicled the parades for the past four years, says ‘this scene illustrates the disconnect humankind has with the damage they are doing to the environment.’
The Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex has been operating by the banks of the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana for almost a century. A sprawling set of oil refineries and petrochemical plants that dominate the landscape and pollute the air about 20 miles outside the city of New Orleans.
The complex has the capacity to refine 10.1m gallons of crude oil a day and can produce up to 3.33bn pounds of ethylene a year.