For 15 years the residents of the Diamond
district, an African American community in Norco,
Louisiana, have been demanding that Shell
relocate them from their neighborhood adjacent to one of the corporation’s chemical plants. Despite the pollution, accidents and health risks caused by the plant, Shell refuses to relocate all the residents of Diamond. Send a free fax Shell CEO Steven Miller! Demand justice for the families of Norco…
For 15 years the residents of the Diamond
district, an African American community in Norco,
Louisiana, have been demanding that Shell
relocate them from their neighborhood adjacent to one of the corporation’s chemical plants. Despite the pollution, accidents and health risks caused by the plant, Shell refuses to relocate all the residents of Diamond.
Send a free fax Shell CEO Steven Miller! Demand
justice for the families of Norco:
http://www.corpwatch.org/action/2001/027.html
But first, read some facts:
Diamond is an African American neighborhood made up of four streets in the town of Norco, LA, 25 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
Many of the Diamond residents are descendents of
the sharecroppers and slaves that worked the land
since the days before the Civil War.
Since the 1950’s, Shell has devoured much of the
land for its ever-expanding industrial needs.
Shell ‘s operations now extend to within 15 feet
of the neighborhood.
A community group in Diamond — Concerned Citizens of Norco — has been battling Shell for 15 years for a fair and just relocation from Shell’s
hazardous operations.
Shell has had fatal accidents, one in which a boy
mowing a lawn was burned alive when a Shell
pipeline exploded.
Shell never apologized and paid the family a mere $500.
The deaths, the health risks of breathing toxic
chemicals, and the ceaseless noise from the plant
have sent Diamond property values plummeting.
In August of 2000, Shell made an offer to buy only
half of this historic community, excluding two of
the neighborhood’s four streets.
Shell is destroying this strong social fabric of
Diamond. The elderly and the sick are being
divided from their primary caretakers, children
are being ripped from those that care for them.
The community demands that Shell provide fair and equal resettlement for all of Diamond’s families.
For more information check out the Louisiana
Bucket Brigade:
http://www.labucketbrigade.org
[ also see related items:
West Scrambles for Africa’s Diamonds
– http://www.theexperiment.org/articles.php?news_id=734
Author: Concerned Citizens of Norco
News Service: CorpWatch: Holding Corporations Accountable
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