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River Parish presidents respond to President Biden’s use of the term ‘Cancer Alley’

FILE - In this June 10, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks ahead of the G-7 summit in St. Ives, England. Biden and his NATO counterparts bid a symbolic farewell to Afghanistan on Monday, June 14, in their last summit before America winds up its longest “forever war” and the military pulls out for good. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Local officials are reacting to President Joe Biden’s use of the term, ‘Cancer Alley.’

One example of when President Biden used the term ‘Cancer Alley’ was at a signing ceremony in January.


At that time, President Biden was signing Executive Orders on Environmental Policy.

Biden gave remarks during that signing using the term, ‘Cancer Alley.’

The River Parish presidents are responding to President Biden’s use of what they call, “a harmful generalization.”

St. James Parish President Pete Dufresne, St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell and Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment jointly wrote the letter seen below to President Biden.

According to St. James Parish, one intention of the letter was to urge “President Biden to refrain from using the terminology ‘Cancer Alley’ as a descriptor for our river parishes as this term is not based in scientific fact.”

The letter also elaborates on the adverse effect that the term ‘Cancer Alley’ can have on the economies of the river parishes.