Community Atlas

Reveilletown

Reveilletown, a six-acre plot of land, was founded by formerly enslaved people in the 1870s. In 1969, Georgia Gulf PVC built a vinyl-resin plant less than 1,000 feet from the community. In the mid 1970s, the company began to buy out property in order to create a buffer zone in case of chemical release.

In the 1980s, a toxic groundwater plume of vinyl chloride seeped into the residential area of Reveilletown (Center for Health, Environment & Justice). Residents filed suit against Georgia Gulf over health issues and contamination. Georgia Gulf settled with all 106 residents of Reveilletown, who either received a cash payment for their homes or were moved to a small suburban cul-de-sac several miles upriver (New York Times 1990). Residents were given 30 days to move, and then Georgia Gulf bulldozed the community (Louisiana Weekly 2013).