The World Fair came to New Orleans in the summer of 1984. Its theme was ‘Freshwater as the Source of Life’. Yet, the freshwater that surrounds New Orleans, including the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, is polluted. So should the people of New Orleans consider freshwater the source of life? Or should the people of New Orleans see freshwater as a potential source of death and disease? Our lakes, rivers, bayous, and swamps are polluted. The Mississippi River is heavily polluted from the discharge of the many petrochemical plants that line its banks. The people of New Orleans and the surrounding area suffer the highest rates of stomach and lung cancer in the United States. As the Worlds Fair is being constructed so is the Waterford III nuclear power plant which will contribute to the pollution of our freshwater sources and further increase the rates of stomach and lung cancer in this area.
In fact the people who sponsored the 1984 World’s Fair are the same people who control Midsouth Utility Company and built the Grand Gulf and the Waterford III nuclear power plants. In fact the major contractor for the Waterford Nuclear Power Plant, J.V. Jones Construction Company, was also one of the major construction companies involved in constructing the World’s Fair.
