Julie Dermansky /Photojournalist

Sharon Lavigne at her house in St. James Parish, Louisiana, two miles from where Formosa plants to build a petrochemcial facility., less than two miles from where Formosa plants to build a plastics and petrochemical facility. Lavigne’s property, which she shares with her family, is a 20-acre private oasis off Highway 18, which runs along the levee. Industrial developments have already taken a toll. Her fruit trees stopped producing fruit a few years ago, and though she can’t see the 10 existing petrochemical plants in District 5 or any of the numerous oil storage tanks from her yard, she can often smell their emissions.