Entry 4, Emily Gatto

Before arriving in Norco, I was eager to see what the town would be like. All that I knew was based on a documentary called “Green” that I saw last semester. What I knew, was that “Norco” stands for New Orleans Refining Company, and that the town was first built as an oil refinery. When we arrived in Norco, I think we were all a bit confused as to where we could go; it seemed as though there were not many businesses at all except industrial supply companies. All we saw were residential neighborhoods comprised of relatively small houses. As we drove down Apple Street, we found a sandwich shop that was open so we decided to go inside and talk to whoever we could find; it was a Saturday, so I figured there would be people out and about. We went into the shop and decided to speak to the owner, who was at the cash register. The owner quickly informed us that he lived in Metairie, and that we should speak to one of the employees, a woman named Rose.

Rose was a very interesting lady, and she had a lot to say about Norco. She grew up in New Orleans, but ten years ago she inherited her sister’s house so she moved out to Norco with her two children. Rose told us that she works two jobs just to pay the bills. She had very strong opinions about the Shell refinery, and is convinced that her sister died of inflammatory breast cancer resulting from exposure to the toxins from the refinery. Rose told us that the refinery knowingly emits toxins and chemicals, often late at night when they think people are sleeping (this may or may not be true). Several years ago there was an explosion at the refinery that damaged numerous houses in the town. Rose told us that her sister’s house had a lot of damage and that Shell paid her $100,000 for repairs. Despite all of the problems that the plant seems to have caused, Rose did tell us that Shell helped to rebuild and repair Norco after Hurricane Katrina. Furthermore, she told us that the refinery helps school districts and puts money into the school system.

After we spoke to Rose, we decided to drive around some more to see if we could find any other places to meet people. We found a bar called Club 99 and Jordan and I went in because we are both over the age of 21. We met three men at the bar named Robby, Kenny, and Jason. These guys were great to talk to because two of them worked at the refinery, so they offered us a different perspective of a resident of Norco (a plant worker vs. a non-refinery worker). At first, the three men were reluctant to talk to us because they thought we were there to "bad-mouth" the refinery. Once we explained to them that we were simply doing a project about the town of Norco as a whole (not just the refinery) they were much more eager to talk to us.

One significant thing that we learned from the men at Club 99 was that the Diamond Neighborhood, which was once the area where the majority of African American residents lived, no longer existed because the Shell refinery bought out all (or most of) the homes. Furthermore, Kenny, Jason, and Robby explained to us that there were not really any spots for young people (adolescents/teenagers) to hang out, and that everyone had to go to Kenner or to LaPlace to find things such as a mall, or an arcade or bowling alley. When we arrived in Norco and couldn't find anywhere to go to talk to people, we basically assumed that there weren't many places to hang out, which seems to be true based on what the guys from Club 99 and Rose told us.

In terms of the police force in Norco, the general feeling is that the police are somewhat corrupt, and that they look for people to arrest. This may or may not have been true, but both Rose and the men from Club 99 told us about an incident back in December when at least 40 people were arrested in Norco; the guys from Club 99 told us that it was called "Operation Sleigh Ride," and that it may have involved drugs.

Ultimately, I learned several things from my trip to Norco. The town itself seems to be extremely limited in both local businesses and in places for residents to "hang out" or spend time. Furthermore, there is a great stigma about the oil refineries; many residents seem to have problems with the refinery, while workers refuse to talk about it and have nothing bad to say. The saddest thing that I saw was a playground literally up against the fence of the refinery. Regardless of what the residents have to say, there are toxins emitted by the refinery which are hazardous to the health of the residents of Norco, and the site of the playground next to the refinery was somewhat jarring for me to see.