power and low land values of people of color. It is also a well-documented and well-known fact that communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by polluting industries and lax regulation of these industries. Environmental impacts The location of Cancer Alley also poses more environmental impacts other than air pollution. Since Cancer Alley is located closer to the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes pose a great risk and have caused large amounts of damage in past years. For example, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused almost 11 million gallons of oil to spill into the water near New Orleans. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused power outages which led to unrefrigerated chemicals in a plant in Houston decomposing and igniting into a large fireball. In 2020, Hurricane Laura caused a fire at a plant that produced pool chemicals which led to chlorine gas being burned for three days. One of the largest environmental impacts happened when Hurricane Ida hit in 2021. The storm’s projected path was through the industrial region. The threat of the hurricane’s destruction caused the industries located in Cancer Alley to release unprocessed chemicals and gases into the air via "flaring." Even though flaring causes chemicals to be released into the air, the process is legal in emergencies and burns the chemicals directly into the air. After the hurricane, residents were not only left with damaged homes but also more pollution in the air and water than usual. Activism and environmental justice In recent years in the United States, the environmental protection and civil rights movements have merged to form an environmental justice movement in response to minority and low-income communities throughout the country being constantly threatened by pollution. Many communities that face the largest burdens from pollution tend to be poor and consist mainly of minorities. Due to this, poor and minority communities will resort to grassroots activism to protect themselves. In September 2022, environmental justice advocates in southern Louisiana were able to declare victory after two decisions denied two major petrochemical complexes from moving forward. The state district court Judge Trudy White released a decision that reversed and vacated 14 air regulations permits that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) had issued for the proposed Formosa Plastics Group complex in the town of Welcome. The town already has multiple oil refineries and industrial plants and is located in Cancer Alley. Another group that has been