November 26, 2025In this Cancer Alley town, residents are not giving up the fight for cleaner air

The southeastern Louisiana city of St. Gabriel has zero major fast food chain restaurants, pharmacies or laundromats. But there are nearly a dozen chemical facilities within city limits and at least 30 within a 10 mile radius. St. Gabriel is home to the Syngenta agrochemical facility, which repackages a popular but highly toxic farming pesticide known as paraquat under the brand name Gramoxone before it is distributed to other states. The plant is owned by the Chinese company SinoChem Holdings Ltd.  A report released in October by Coming Clean, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network warned of the dangers of paraquat exposure. Banned in over 70 countries, it remains one of the most commonly used chemicals by farmers in the United States for weed management — with the largest point of entry in the last eight years being the Port of New Orleans, according to Jim Vallete, a contributing researcher to the report.