Gordon Plaza – a subdivision in New Orleans’ Desire neighborhood, was established in the late 1970s and was supposed to be an opportunity for New Orleans’ emerging Black middle class to buy into the American dream. But the dream that was Gordon Plaza quickly dissolved into a nightmare for the residents of this community when they discovered the very foundation of their community was toxic.

In the early 1900s, the land that Gordon Plaza now occupies was low lying, swampy, and largely vacant,  New Orleans used this area as a dumping ground for the city’s waste. It was called the Agriculture Street Landfill. For decades, residents in nearby neighborhoods complained about the site and eventually it was closed. But then in 1965, the city temporarily reopened the Agriculture Street Landfill as a dumping ground for debris from Hurricane Betsy. Most of the new residents who first bought in Gordon Plaza in the 1980s did not know their homes sat on a toxic site. But within a decade, debris and residue became visible as sealed oiled drums literally popped out of the ground in family’s yards.

Under intense pressure from environmental activists and distressed residents, the  Environmental Protection Agency began to test Gordon Plaza’s soil and found 140 toxic and hazardous materials, more than 40 of which were known to cause cancer. In 1994 the EPA declared the area a superfund, or hazardous waste site. In the mid-1990s, the EPA financed a $20 million remediation project to remove contaminated soil from some areas of the property and replace it with new soil, but now that residents in the area knoe the land they owned was a former landfill and dumpsite, they are seeking more than just new dirt for their backyards. They want a way to relocate, and residents are still fighting with the City of New Orleans for the funds to do so. 

In 2016, the City amended its master plan and included a portion about Gordon Plaza residents. It provided a five year timeline to “Identify and apply for Federal, State, and other funding or resources to relocate consenting residents of the Gordon Plaza Subdivision that was built on the Agriculture Street Landfill.” That five year timeline ended in 2021. Residents have estimated that it will now cost $35 million to relocate the 54 families on still living on Gordon Plaza. On January 6, 2022, the New Orleans City Council earmarked $35 million in the capitol Budget to help relocate residents. But that money is not guaranteed. 

According to a 2019 report from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, Gordon Plaza’s census tract has the second highest cancer rate in the state, although the report also says it’s hard to prove links between cancer and certain exposures.

We spoke with Wilma Subra, technical advisor to the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and President of Subra Company, an environmental consulting firm. Subra has been working as an environmental consultant for residents on the site since the late 1980s.

We also spoke with two residents, Jesse Perkins and Marilyn Amar, who currently live in Gordon Plaza. They bought their houses without knowing about the dangerous toxins they might be exposed to on their own properties. You can learn more about residents' advocacy at GordonPlaza.com.

Statement from the City of New Orleans from John F. Lawson II, Deputy Press Secretary:

The City of New Orleans is working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to identify additional resources to redevelop the existing Agriculture Street Landfill and properties near the site, such as those in Gordon Plaza, into a sustainable solar farm that would increase the City’s power resilience and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.To date, EPA has provided technical assistance to the City in funding the science and engineering work for a project Feasibility Study through its Superfund Program.

The Feasibility Study estimates building the solar farm will cost approximately $10 million. At present, $2 million in bond funding has been allocated to developing the solar farm project. The $35 million earmark by the New Orleans City Council is not actually tied to the City's project.The most critical element of moving this project forward is property appraisal and acquisition. To that end, the City plans to re-release a Request for Proposal for a third party firm to assist with determining property acquisition costs within the undeveloped property and within Gordon Plaza this month.The Cantrell Administration remains committed to bringing this project to a thoughtful resolution.