Pollution takes centre stage for Louisiana congressional hopefuls

Candidates to succeed Cedric Richmond in a solidly Democratic seat in Saturday's special election have been obliged to address the toxic effects of the chemical industry in Cancer Alley

In Ascension parish at a jambalaya cookout, bathed in the afternoon sun, a politician made promises rarely heard in this heavily polluted region of south Louisiana, known colloquially as Cancer Alley.

Karen Carter Peterson, a state senator and one of three frontrunners to become the next congressional representative for Louisiana's second district, told the assembled crowd that she would fight the proliferation of polluting oil, gas and petrochemical plants.