Gordon Plaza: Residents Fight for Fair and Just Relocation
Tour Description
In 1981, the City of New Orleans oversaw the construction of Gordon Plaza, an affordable housing development, on the former site of Agriculture Street Landfill. This tour details negligent landfill operations, the construction of affordable housing targeted at low-income home buyers, and the on-going health complications residents endure as they fight for fair and just relocation.
Locations for Tour
Agriculture Street Landfill Opening and Operations
In 1909, Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL) opened to accommodate trash produced by half of New Orleans residents. ASL occupied 95 acres of previously undeveloped swampland surrounded by Abundance Street, Industry Street, and the Northeastern Railroad…
Toxic Chemicals Deposited at Agriculture Street Landfill
In 1948, facing increased public health concerns, the Louisiana State Legislature passed a law prohibiting open-air landfills in highly populated areas. [1] However, New Orleans city officials sidestepped this law to continue operating Agriculture…
Local Residents Demand Closure of Agriculture Street Landfill
Throughout the 1950s, the local community suffered from horrible stenches, pest infestations, and smoke emanating from Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL). Spontaneous combustion commonly occurred at the site when incompatible wastes came in contact…
Constructing Gordon Plaza
In the 1970s, under the administrations of Mayors “Moon” Landrieu and his successor “Dutch” Morial, the city planned and built housing for elderly and low-income families on the former site of Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL).
The city of New…
Gordon Plaza Deemed EPA Superfund Site
By 1985, just four years after the first residents moved into Gordon Plaza, state environmentalists recommended testing soil and air in the Gordon Plaza subdivision to determine the extent of hazardous wastes underneath the houses that were built…
Robert R. Moton Elementary School
This building, now boarded up and abandoned, once served as the elementary school for residents of Gordon Plaza and Desire neighborhoods. Opened in 1987, Robert R. Moton Elementary School was built on the former site of the Agriculture Street…
Gordon Plaza Residents' Present Day Political Activism
For decades, residents of Gordon Plaza engaged (and continue to engage) in political activism to spread public awareness about toxic contamination in their neighborhood. Residents hope to achieve fair and just relocation from their tainted…