"No Formosa" Sign by the activist group Rise St. James at the proposed construction site. Illustration by Kora Fortun.
Our last stop is the Sunshine Bridge, near the site where Formosa Plastics is planning to build a massive new facility in St. James parish -- which, if built, is expected to double or even triple pollution in the region. The Formosa project poses many challenges. It points to the need for legislation that would prevent new polluting facilities in already highly polluted areas, as has been passed in some US states -- legislation designed to prevent and help remediate sacrifice zones. Rise St. James, another faith-based community activist group supported by a wider coalition, is opposing polluting the new facility. This activism against the Formosa project also points to the critical need to connect communities around the world dealing with pollution from the same companies.
This is a long-running challenge in the environmental movement -- with renewed importance today with expected industry expansions because of the latest oil and gas boom. The tour and collection here-- and the related Formosa Archive being built by Tim Schütz and collaborators’ -- are designed to support this connection between communities facing environmental injustice.
