Genealogist uncovers identities of five slaves buried at Cancer Alley site

Industrial plants line the Mississippi River in St. James Parish where Formosa Plastics plans to build one of the world's largest petrochemical facilities, adding to an already heavily-polluted region dubbed "Cancer Alley." (Photo courtesy of Louisiana Bucket Brigade).

A Louisiana environmental group has uncovered the identities of five slaves buried at the site of a proposed Formosa Plastics complex along the Mississippi River.

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which has long engaged in legal fights over industrial pollution in the so-called Cancer Alley petrochemical corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, will hold a news conference Tuesday to share the details of its research.

Louisiana Bucket Brigade staff genealogist Lenora Gobert conducted the research that led to the names and other identifying details of five enslaved individuals ranging in age from 9 to 32 at the time of their death.

The Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office first discovered their remains in 2017 in unmarked graves on the site of the former Winchester/Buena Vista plantation in St. James Parish, a site that was soon to be under construction at the time for a Formosa Plastics industrial complex that would be one of the largest plastic manufacturing plants in the world.

Neighbors of the site are currently battling the Formosa proposal in court.

Gobert’s research will be unveiled in a report titled Buried at Buena Vista: The Untold Stories of Five Enslaved People. The news conference will begin 11 a.m. at the André Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice, 2541 Bayou Road, New Orleans, Louisiana.

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