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Unwelcome Neighbors? Industrial Growth And Water Pollution In Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1940-1960, Jonathan Zachary Delaune

LSU Master's Theses

This paper focuses on the industrialization of Lake Charles, Louisiana during World War Two and the resulting shifts in pollution-related policy and public perceptions of pollution. A major impetus for the industrialization of the South was federal investment during the war. This is especially true for Lake Charles, a city where industrial agglomeration began with war-time financing of manufacturing plants to combat the shortages of aviation fuel and rubber. By tracing the public response to offensive pollution and the resulting shift in public policy, this paper will reveal a fundamental conflict between development-minded government institutions and a population interested in …