March 4, 2025
Living Downwind: Survivin’ Down in Smokestack Town
If you live in Sulphur, Louisiana, or anywhere in Southwest Louisiana, you know what it means to be “downwind.” You can see the smokestacks from your porch, smell the chemicals in the air, and feel the impacts of industry in your everyday life. But being downwind isn’t just about location; it’s about being on the receiving end of decisions made by others—decisions that affect our health, our infrastructure, and our future.
To live downwind means more than just geography—it means experiencing the consequences of industries that have long shaped our region. It means shelter in place warnings, worrying about whether your water is safe to drink, and watching roads and neighborhoods deteriorate while industries profit.
It’s not just that easy to “go live somewhere else”, especially for those of us who have family and heritage here. Even after overcoming the difficult logistics of financing, securing employment, and finding housing in a new place, if you have friends and family here, you’ll still worry every hurricane season. Your body can leave, but sometimes your heart can’t.
Recognizing the Issues
I’ve lived here most of my life. My family heritage is here. Sulphur is a town with deep roots and hardworking people, but it’s also a town facing serious challenges:
● Industrial Pollution & Health Risks – We breathe the air from refineries and chemical plants daily. We are always on alert for chemical spills and industrial accidents. Study after study link these emissions and toxins to respiratory issues, cancer risks, and other chronic health conditions.
● Aging Infrastructure & Neglect – Roads are crumbling, drainage systems are failing, and some neighborhoods are left behind when it comes to investment and repairs. When storms hit, recovery is slow, and communities bear the brunt of the damage.
● Environmental Injustice & Disadvantaged Neighborhoods – Not everyone in Sulphur is impacted the same way. Lower-income and historically marginalized communities are often closest to the industry, most affected by pollution, and least represented in decision-making.
● Lack of Accountability – While industries bring jobs, they also bring hazards. Regulations often favor corporations over people and promises of economic benefits rarely trickle down to those most affected.
Where is the Hope?
Being a part of Micah 6:8 Mission has empowered me, as well as many other community members, with information and education that can help us continue to address these issues. The first step towards improvement is being able to understand what is contributing to our challenges and who the representatives are that vote on our behalf for our community’s well-being. For this first blog post, I am sharing the tools that I have found most helpful for educating myself and knowing where to start.
Tracking & Educational Tools:
● Oil & Gas Watch is a free, public inventory with a searchable database that tracks permits, records, and analysis of major oil and gas developments.
● M6:8M has donated PurpleAir monitors to several locations in Sulphur to enable our community to track air quality with real time maps.
● For all the good and bad, FEMA maintains the National Risk Index which enables users to visually explore data for a better understanding of what is driving a community’s natural hazard risk.
● The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collects information from our satellites as well as satellites from other nations. National, State, and Local governments depend on this information to provide us with the data we need to operate safely and effectively according to our weather.
● Information about our elected representatives, contact information, what they are working and voting on is available at USA.Gov.
● For emergencies and emergency response, the Calcasieu Local Emergency Planning Committee provides the public with resources and contacts for community emergencies.
In my next post, I’ll share information about other organizations in our community and how you can use the information from the sources above to get involved and make sure your voice is heard in present and future decisions about our lil’ town of Sulphur, Louisiana.
There is Hope, y’all. It’s a lot, it’s big, and it’s complex. It’s going to take a whole bunch of us working together and I’m committed to finding, sharing, and standing on the common ground in which we all have a stake.
Till the next breeze,
