- hey, i'm valerie june. comin' up on "reel south." - [woman] it became this place at was a safe haven for black famies to build commuty. - [verie] th histori african-erican town is enguld by indtr - [womyove got 1 dustrialacilities and tremendous potential for incidents and releases every day. - [verie] anone man refuses to leave his home and his ancestral community. - [stacey] my relatives are direct descendants the people who found mossville. freelave - alerie] discov "mossvie" up nexon el south.

- [announcer] major funding for reel south was provided by etv endowment, the national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media and by south arts. additional funding for "mossville: when great trees fall" was provided by: [laid-back blues music] ["man done wrong" by valerie june] ♪ [sizzle sound] [dt thumpi] - we dburial siteand headones and weocated ilouisiana. pretty f me was e moville ar, you kn? i bury lotta pple come ota mossvle. mossvills not a bisettleme, it's a smcommunity. but lotta pele do di [machiry whirrg]

[dark foboding mic] [axe chopping] - [m] oncehere was commity found by freslaves oignt piano music] whlived in pce and happiness; a thriving community. we raised our own food. we looked out for one another. we insisted. [ax chopping] [poignt piano sic] [sger humming]

yoknow, th's gone. it's a gone. shed oveand [spes faintl. [eerie feboding sic] inger huing] [people chattering] [birds chirping] - we hustlin' ballright no see whoot the mt bas. don't ve until the ball move. javon, htle. don'move 'ti you t the ball. whever theall go, u goet it, y hear me? dot you st hustlin'.

goor i [b clinking] gogo geit, get it! goet i javogot it. he's juslike mmother for erythingn the world. like gonever ok her away. yeah, that's her. [man] le bk. hule back,ay. [bat cliing] yo'bout toun. - you goa ru yogoa hust for it. he we don'have no temr tantru you rk for what you nt. [man] ma sure to gehim backere. me. - me. - he'sour? - justurned fi. next yea you gon a terro [chuckl] - t that bl. - t it [b clinking] the you go. i coulprobablynd up getti him a t, he coulpracticehat. [car eine whirng] fr you teln' me y'al had change e plugs

althe way ck in how 's reactin'. i do belve you he a blow ad gaskeon this ing. i just can'thange the ter mp and say y, take ur money yeah, i preciate it. you know lots of chanics thatust, "ye, ok. "we' gonna put ter pumpn it they do at and t car'still norunn', so apprecie it - n't do y like that. ali could is showou. started in' th in mosslle aty dad'shop and they hadars backg up and first j i ever done w a hondaccor head jobn it 12 yrs old not knon', go' back a rth to t libry readinbooks, wteve yeah - wh that fit little t of mon hit my hand 0-some bks. - oh, itas or. - [scoff school anmechanicork. theysed to cl me greasy in school 'cause ias so fullf engineil. [poignant piano music] i was nda g for my a, you know? but i walike a gtle giant,he bookworm, readg sciee books, exoring space. always wted toe a tronauwhere i ew u

my fher taug me and el that guides hand evertime i tch a wrench. e thingse taughte will lasa lifeti. and thway my d died laying on the ound nerv twitchi, it's viv in my mind. - [phographer]ne, two. ♪ go meet sis ♪ we comeogetr an lauing] - d you thk all ofe can t in thilitt section? [fily chucing] [man] i ven't be t here. huckle - last na is jackson. my mothewas a haman, t we areishe. we are w the strt is nameafter, fher stre. [bir chirpin les e.

this he's my greagreat-grdmother anthat's ma allie. ntie's ne is aloaine, but call hepatsy. d th is my gndmother call r toug-aay, t her na is loaine. my gramother w the bacone. myrandmother tght me a childreto belie in god anto not bk down froanything. [poignt piano sic] is is myreat-grafather. we cald him pappo. his re name isrank fher and thisicture a frame is or 100 yes old. our nd means lot to beuse my gndfatherame re and heuilt a he for myrandmother

at's ouroundatio [soft ponant mus] [singer humming] - [woman] after slavery was abolished, there was seven families that came here and we built a community. - [man] my grandfather migrated to a place that seemed to be more free. - [wom] oh, ll you gottundersta the's just brutal raal violence. after e civil r through constrtion and intoim crow louisiana, it became this place that was a safe haven for black families to live and to build a community. - [erica] we had our schools, we had our church, we had our stores. we were safe here. mossville, you were free.

everybodknew evebody where erybody most was kin toverybody. yoknow, yojust weren'afraid. - oman] weere lf-sustaing. th real see you ow, we a a commuty. [pgnant orestral mic] - [m] l aroundhis area, ey have uit tree wild plu, muscade and pes. buwhen the plas came i ere, allhem treedie. - oman] itas one pnt overnigh then thnext pla little b by litt bit and he we are rroundedy 'e - i remeer my fit time, my fir drivento the moville counit

actuallyi cried. [hicopter ades whiing] you've got 14 industri facilities where thers tons oles, lots ofugitivemissions antremendo potential for cidents and releas every day. thfaciliti operati as thought was noa communy, as thoh there weren'children, ashough the weret hos where ople slept. [fire ooshg] parts othe unit ates thaare tuck awa is is wh dustriization oks like [sofforebodi mus] - eporter]ossville ispeaking t tonight saying ty belie the fire at axil's westke chemicallant was rse than orinally rorte a elter inlace was eventually issued for mossville in parts of sulphur and moss bluff. - [announcer] the public learned of a chemical spill fr a pipine rangg from between to 47 mlion pounds of eylene chlode. it was a sll considered on the larst in usistory. oft intruing music]

- eporter] federal agcy testethe blood 28 areaesidts and founhigh levs of dions, chical comunds tha ve been nked to ncer diabetesnd reproducve problems. [sofintrigui music] - is is a mmunity at has beme transrmed. inger huing] finally,t was realed tha ay, sasowants th lan - wee here tay to maken announment that sas limited cod be invting in louiana's largest ecomic devopment project in ourtate's eire history. - sasol ands forouth africayntheticil liqui s-a-o-l. and they begin purchasing land in mossville. [truck engine roarin

- we're beautif wntown msville. populaon: e. [tck enginroaring] weere apprched by thproject nager. the rst offethey annound to me s $2,000. ttin' th fence u itends a msage to em that i'mot goingnywhe. my trailer ielf, it'not big, b it's coortable. it can sleep five. it's just been holdin' one, sotimes twif my son co and visit. he has tlive withis mom acss the rer

due to a the conructn. it not safreally for m to bhe. asou go do the roa every culvt you e was a use. rit here w my granarents. my parents are buried two miles away from here. both o'em diedrom cancer. i lost bh grandfhers a52. justuried oubrother x weeks agto liveramag i st a unclet 56. he died days afr my momied. lost ancle a 37, aunt at 44. l these mplicati alin' wi cancer. most othe peop moved oua this aa. 's just elte stay bend beuse thers no other place r me [poignant piano music]

my relates are direct desceants of t people o founded ssvie: freelaves whsettled here in the 00s. i'm justot gonna lethem runver me. [dll whirrg] [soft forebodingusic] - we're in the middle of the voluntary buyout area. but me, there sayin', "you have no choice." "y either ay here ande miserable r you mo out wit at we ofr you." ird cawing]

well basally ey're rcin' yoout. ey're go' on wit eir consucti right ere in mosille and wee still vin' there. - rely? you wa some mo pizza? - p. [chuckle where'sour plate? - [destie] here ster, come. - he, put th on [speakfaintly]. i n't knowhere hislates. - ere's yo plate, ndso? who that, ly? - aunt. auntieyeah i mod outta ssville few years o when iot marri, but is istill home myreatrandmoth used to live ere axia is and bere that,t was ppg. they had tir homes, theicommunits and theyere boug out and th they moveto mossvle. and it's li history repeat' itself. myom lerally does no know whe she's gna move. - cannot sl my prorty, but th're not nna op buildg the plant. m look' every day. t every y that ioo seem li everything is getng higher

d highernd higher. don't knowhere i'moin' to this day, i don't know where i'm goin'. [bird cawing] [soft foreboding music] - [stacey] ts tape holds the testony fromy parents. - heo, i'm sdra ryan and iss my husbanalan ryan. wee all ve sic i' had cgested hearfaile, ereas myusband was und withance and 's in ste iv of ncer not ly in thlungs, b the liv andhe spleen. whis it thwhole counity has e same pblem this picturef my family. my hband hasancer. i'vead cancer. th is my dghter dene. dene has eometriosis.

she cat have cldre my sons not in the piure here his me is stey alan an. has a b health oble he has ahemica sh arounhis neck, problems with hiurin he's hin' justs many problemsn his ma are asy daught's havin th endomrios. he's hin' thesproblems. doesn'take sens a familof fe and evybody in thhouse isick. - ey're huing realed. th took evythi. everytng. will thabe everying? everythingy whole tire lif everhing i he no ey're goa kill m - we areuman beis too. the coloof my in don't makee a g. itoesn't me a guin pig m humajust likyou. i eathe, ihink

ye i thinkust likeou. [stic whooing] this tooplace inuly. septembe1st, he s dead. d then whin 10 yrs, mom's sge iv caer wiout her owin they ratr sit onop of us a dump chicals ons anwait fors to dieo they can t the la dirt cheap. you ow, thiss it. this is y i fight. [soft fobodingusic this traer here, th is all have. tell mewould you ght to kp it? [sofpoignantusic

[singer humming] - i nna ask u now abt the instment caseor sasol sto. is this game-chaer? 14illion udolls. the vernor olouisian extrely excited about e foreig rect invtmt. in fac if he'sorre, it'she bigge in historof the us. let's talk about thfunding ney. is it sol and sol alone? - will coider other ternatives. but weor that ecific site, our prefence bfar woul to be wlly sasoowned d to r that cunda inouisiana. [dark foboding mic]

- [man] sol's plt at sunda is the bgest soue of carbonioxide othe planet. [man] secun, peopleave en forceoff theiland. you have aindustryhat n polluteveryone. - sasol was the state-owned energy company established by the south african apartheid government. cotries li great britn were sin', "they' not gon ship oil you anyre." uth afrin governnt sd, "wwill fina way to ma our ownnerg" they estlishedasol for thpurpose being an enginfor raci apartheid. [dark foboding mic]

- we're rrently sasolbu. everythi is run sasol here. everytng in e town is ned by them. we have one huge petrochecal sect, thene have dferent chemal plants. therwas an aa where white ople werlivi. bubecause the wind decti, e peopleere reseled. so bla people re dumped izaela townip. [st poigna music] [man speaking in foreign language] irds chirping] - when you we up in the mile of thnight, that when you wi see wha happeni outsideasol

it's le they a saying, "let pollutehem ile theyre sleepg." our township is called zamdela and many people from rural area were bught to sol for jooprtunities. they're l coming fr their helan th came he because they tught the liv argoing tomprove aording to t promiseof sasol. th will co here an ey will rk here. ey will t go bachome that'shy they ll it zaela. means fgetting abt the peon. [fe crackling] [soft ponant mus] [peoe chatteng]

- we a on a day bas organing again oil angas coanies, our chemal indusies. weust ma sure th our peoplere partipati the decion-maki ocesses. in aica, lanis importanto life. thout la, you dot have hum dignity. indigeno basutu peopleived here before these plants arrid here and eir landere takeaway anyou see at acss the wld: africaasia and cuently thus. [soft ignant mic] - an] envinmental instice anracism e stilvery cloly link concepts. is idea disposae others. if peoplhave a fferent in color you n treat em as if there not han. they calive in e sme, ey can le in theollution. they c be the fee-line cmunities.

[winwhooshin - stacey still tre. sasostill was his prerty compies likeasol are us to gett' their y. cal publ officials sically ld staceryan that he'been livg the. "butow that ur property heavy iustrl, e can't give yoany utilies. "we can'give you ansewer, wer. "wcan't geyou rmits for elecical - i've hadhe pow nes takedown around mmobile he, bein' deed water.

i d my ser systedestroye anythi that cabe done th'll try discoure has beedone all the ue barre e my wat barrels lorined,eady-to-go. is is a memade stic syst d it'll eadily dp chlori in tcut downn the odor. when ieed to per up t mobile me or fire uplectric ater, turn on e truck,lug 'em in, th gives mat let two ouets where could tu on elecic burr or heater or per up myaptop and for theoment. ght now,y body became fl of inftion. i d boils eaking out l over me. have one'm coverg up that tryin' develop.

♪ that's the und of t n workinon the tin ♪ l right. ft ht, war. that'lwork. oft foreding mus] - a tta peop like tose the "whyidn't th fight?" buyou coulstart wi avery. [uckles stly] welways foht. it's in r blood to fight. it's natal to fight. ♪ sicess, canr thatou gave ♪ ♪ senng us tourningras ♪ sickns, cance at you ge ♪ ♪ sendi us to bning graves - we saynougisnoug ough is ough. - enough - [dothy] th is about r human ghts.

- [man] at'sight [protests cheering] ♪asol buyout isn't fair ♪asol givus our fr she ♪asol buyt isn't ir ♪ sol give our fr she - s that mossvil's first prest? - mossvie's firsprott. r and brklyn you sebrooklynn the back? guess wh the polic ca at 'em,e had go. yeah, a tta peop t arrest that day. - this protestas here. - ah, it was uat the ldfill that w comin' mossville. okay, th they und t th were duin' all th stuffack there before they en got t permito do theandfill. you rember that? anthat's wt the plan do at nht: they lig up the skies. - ye indeed. - whher you n or lose, yocan go qetly or yocan get anday at lst my voe was hed.

uel tricing] [generor rumblg] oft serene music] i'm addied to e light. it's le a furistic cityn front you. yourmaginati takes hd and you eam of t future. from a dtance th the eie glow, that's wt it loo like: a ci from thfutu.

oft sere mus] we're intrange stranglandere. is places like no m's land. nce i walittle, te at night wh you layn the rch and yocould se ese flar go off. you n actuly feel e heat. was beaiful, dangous too. buwe didn'know tha moke whohing] [sofforebodi music]

[sinr hummin thaverage rson vising our cmunity, theyould ask hat's thsmel" buwhen y lived in iall yourife, you dot smell thsmellsnymo. e plant worked a ey made nochlori. that ia known rcinogen it attac the nerus system to whereour bodyhuts down. it'sell-knowif you wk there brthin' th stuff i it's sta like tire with aail in it. it swly, swly goesown to the pnt wheret'd take you f the fa of thisarth.

oft foreding mus] [singer mming] [tor whooshi] th is my oy way to rlly cook annot burnoo much gaor electci. [raipatterin [thuer cracking] [tru engine mbling]

[rn pattering] [thund crackin [soft soothing music] i was like 11 years old when i planted this thing. the thing gave way due to ground-wateraturation, poor drainage due to all the construction work going on. it just couldn't hold itself up anymore. [soft poignant music] axchopping

[siren wailing] [fire crackling] - there's a fire and then a secondary explosion ananother oud of black sme, you kw? that's jusa typica y in mosille. i gueslater onhey'll he a reportbout whahappened. 'll knowxactly wt it was this idefitely notn'ew. [p sizzling] yeah, still do wo in the ant. i'm a unn board ker. woed in five different ants arod here. f city svice roa they make asti. jet fuel or here asaso they maka lotta ings thateally hes the worlgo 'roun you know? t i justhink theshould be away om residtial are.

this iabout th10th house looked . th the aunt of mey that sas's gon give us we're nna ben debt aft we ve and it discourin - [realt] you do' the buut from sol? wod you bepen a mobilhome you're en to oking at so bigger ree bedrooms that maybe you could double people up somethin', you know? let know abt that. - [erica] i'm willin' to do that too. - how do i keep you in that price range? lemme see what i can find. i'll send you an email with options when i get that done later on. - ay, thatl wo. - ke emailinme pleas

okay, well we'll keep lookin'. [st poignant mus] - well wgonna slidon this,oy. c'mon. comeff the rain, son. the prince of lechles. you stila prince. you kn that? - yeah. - i'a princeoo. - ye - yo grandpaas a prince. - d pop pois a prie. - mm-hmm. - dad, wch this. - at you g? - look ame. oh o - him vin' withis m is strsful for me. he just nnot liv a trail witme because my livi nditions now forced un me, yoknow th'll behe fir christmas he w't have ristmas inde the mile home. so it what it is. - ok. dad, looat this.chuckles i [speakfaintly]. [truck eine roaring]

- it's sorta like someone droppin' tap water on your skull 24/7. and now they built dirt so high, they can just walk live down on your property. norivacy wtsoever,ou kw? nstant cstant ise. the fencis suppod to t down othe noise. yeahrit. to them, i don't exist they tell people tha one liv here. i'm treatin'em like th don't exist. they don't wave, i don't wave back, you know? they tn their he, i turny he anthat's h we're coexting outere. [tru enginesoaring]

- [secury guard]hat up? easy. cat block . oft foreding mus] - turn ioff. turnt off. he has aight to ave. not onhis street. rn it off. - fr access my prop. turn it f though. you' not on e free stet ride mor - why 're t? - not this stet. - itas to beo my place. it haso be free ign to mhous you caot blocke from goi to my hse. in fac you bloin' me rig now this is ee access. [soft triguingusic]

yes, mam. i ne a membeof a sheff departme or someone to come t to vcmlant road. it's fth avenu i'll nd access tohe sasolite. well i'mtill reside of mosslle ani'm havi problem gettg off myropey. sol secuty is blocng the road. won'let me et ofmy property, san' tt it inow a prive road wch it's t. it hado be lefpublic f me. - [offer] okayhow long? - i've bn fighti this for a ye and a half. but moso now t past month, ey've beenore aggresve with is, deny' me accs to my me. they sd that they re goa log threport [soft ponant mus] [singer calizing

- me on, tus. mon. and tit would take little lk through e neighbhood it our lite routine. the ki would r from hi 'cause ty were sred. [titusanti] the was a tta peop in t neighboood. [truckoari] would s and vis with some of e people at the urch or miss rnard wh usedo sit onhe pch and ve at mell the tim oh yes, miss tha [tru roaring thschool igone. whe my auntie ed to st, they n have an ovpass goi up.

oft poignt music you don'see any tres of usnywhere. toveryone se, all th see nows sasol. it doesn look likee were he. th're ering everything. everythi. [st poigna music] [sger hummg]

- me andy fath. me wn i was ttle. r andre. i nsider melf like ald dinosr, thfossil w stayed hind yoknow? theyay that u're notere; it like u don't ist. [soft ponant mus]

they'vbeen sloy slowly increang theiruyout amnt, trying tget me ofthe propty. [drillhirring]

[soft foreboding music] ru engine aring]

[tractor enge rumbli] [dt thumpi] [soft rebodingusic mom, m, mom, d? justive me aittle stngth. he your soout. give h a littlstrength. need you, big man stairs, dear ld. leme hold t long enough to s my babyaised. want to e my chi raised. then can go et my pants. [engine aring] tacey siing]

[soft rebodingusic] [enginroaring] [stacey eathing avily] [eine sputtering

[dark foboding mic] [engine aring] onitor bping] for some reason i started bleeding from the ears. i got on the ground and laid on the ground for the longest of time. [monitor beeping] [stacey coughing]

m just f up. fed up just wi this placcompletely. - we're at destinee's house, my youngest daughter in maplewood. it's predominantly white, but i'm sure she deals with some of the samehings we dealt with in mossville. she's not quite as clo as am toonoco ansasol, b e's justs close axil. - so we moved here to maplewood and w axiall expanding. ishereonna be good enoh bufferone betweeus and them? u know, om wheree are now, don't know. fr generatn generation, we've en force out our homes. my greatrandmoth, my grandmher, my m, you know? and whatre they gonna with us? i don'know - he you wan see theruck

you see e truck? at's a b truck, huh? beuse of t ttlemente go i've gen u okin' for a ho. [titusarki] so i'm bin' a pie of prort and i'm ttin me trails ont d possib rentingome ailers tsome worrs. so i he when wmove, weind a ple where 're not suounded bplan. and our ter isn'contaminated with sethinghat's poising our dies and it dsn't irrate our in d we won have as manyealth prlems. oft somb mus]

- i have photo of my andfathe and father oks st like grandfather and look jt like mfath and my s looks jt like me. you go wn the le and yosee peop ing of ccer, is ts the fa meant f me? thdoctors ll me, y know, might noeven liv seeim graduate as bad as my body's deteriorating. my wish is for him to be far away from this place tond this curse.

[st poignt music thislace rht here xas, looat the ction. they'lwelcome hand overoot if io come. "votedest placto raise ki in texas." defitely no ants or nothi involved and voa, a mapf the place. everythi is justerfect. thiss my dream for him and myuture fomy grandchiren withim. - by my signature and stacey ryan signature below,

stacey ryan hereby accepts sasol's offer. hereou go, y nna signight her this'll happ fairly qukly, stay. t somberusic - i ju can't kp up withousome outsideupport. at this point, i need to do whatever i can as a father d make se that he'sakenare of beforey body deteorates a more. oft foreding music]

- you can see all of the township from here and you can see the view of the refinery. we fd that black people are continuously being settled in betwe oil a emical riners. [soft ignant mic] our stggle is llectivetruggl 's auman strgle for hun surviv. - the mo we can sethe conntivity beeen what happeni in mossvie and whwe a, i thk the mo portunits there to make the nd of re seismic changehat's need. how many more mossvilles do we need

before we say enough is enough? [soft poignant music] [destinee and child chattering] - i nt my ki to lookack. i want them know abt myreat gramoth and hehome ander street, sher street. there's reets med after r family becae we liv her th's wherehis journestarted r us. everold piure, i've gta find it. i'm nna keept and i'm nna hordit. i'm gonnshow thetheir people and i'm goa show themhe houses that werthere an m gonna ow tm noto let t same thinhappen ain. you fighfor youreople. neveforget wre you co fro becausyou comerom a litt place cled mosslle. sohen you' out doing g things

u never rget where u come from. oft poignt music] [child chattering] [sinr hummin oft poignt music - on there w a commuty found by freslaves who lid in pea d happins.

i wa people knowe existe [tv stic] [sombemusic] ♪ ♪ ♪ [soft poignant music]

♪ ♪ ♪ [laid-back blues music] ["man done wrong" by valerie june] ♪ - [announcer] major funding for reel south was provided by etv endowment, the national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media and by south arts. additional funding for "mossville: when great trees fall" was provided by: ♪♪ u're wating pbs.

♪♪

>> today, on "earth focus," the risi cost of changing climate. coming up, on "earth focus." we have never confronted a crisis like this. in its early stages it's producing record- breaking heat, coastal flooding, and extreme precipitation. and the cost is way too high in lives lost, in damage to propey, and livihood. and it may get worse. unless addressed, climate change stands to affect the security of the nation, the stability of stands to affect the security of the nation, the stability of the u.s. economy, and ultimately