RESERVE — Residents living near Cancer Alley said the Environmental Protection Agency's recent push for deregulation has them extremely worried about the future.

Robert Taylor is a lifelong resident of St. John the Baptist Parish and he said the rollback of EPA's policies under President Donald Trump puts his community at a great risk.

The EPA recently set up an email for companies allowing them to request exemptions from pollution controls under the Clean Air Act.

“Now we have a national administration that has dropped – that is reversing everything that the Biden administration has done – going even further back dismantling rights and protections Black people have. And still, we are not coming together here to stand up and to protect our people,” Taylor said.

Organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund help residents like Taylor install air monitors in their yards, and create pollution maps that track pollution in their area.

Louisana State Director of the EDF Liz Russell said the rollbacks do not hold industries accountable.

“These rules are just requiring that these facilities are responsible and good neighbors because they are our neighbors. Actually here in Baton Rouge, there are 25 facilities in the greater Baton Rouge area that are eligible for this polluter pass as requested," Russell said.

Taylor said Cancer Alley is labeled as a sacrifice zone, and it is time for residents to stand up and take action.

“And to demand that they elected to represent them do their jobs properly and do what they are supposed to do and represent the people not the industries that are coming in here to exploit us and kill us,” he said.