Case Study 3.
Homer
LEAN Region 1
North Louisiana is home to clear water lakes and pine forests. Northwest Louisiana is also where you can find Mount Driskill, the highest point in the state as 535 feet. This region includes:
- Bienville Parish
- Bossier Parish
- Caddo Parish
- Claiborne Parish
- De Soto Parish
- Red River Parish
- Sabine Parish
- Webster Parish
About Homer
In 1989, Louisiana Energy Services (LES) proposed building a uranium enrichment and nuclear waste facility in rural Claiborne Parish.The proposed site was adjacent to the predominantly African American communities of Center Springs and Forest Grove, approx. 5 miles from Homer, LA. Residents of the area organized a group called CANT ( Citizen Against Nuclear Trash) to oppose the construction of the uranium facility in their community. CANT organized support from a wide coalition of local residents as well as national environmental groups. In 1997, an unprecedented legal ruling from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found that the siting of the plant constituted environmental racism. LES became the first license applicant before the NRC ever to be denied a license and they were denied on the grounds of environmental racism.” The prevention of the construction of this facility was seen as a major environmental justice victory and a win for the community members who would be most affected by the potential pollution and risks created by the facility.
Standards
Grade 8
CCSS-RI.1-8
Cite the relevant textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS-RI.2-8
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS-RI.6-8
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
Grades 9-10
CCSS-RI.1-9.10
Cite relevant and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CC-RI.2-9.10
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS-RI.6-9.10
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
Grades 11-12
CCS-RI.1-11.12
Cite strong, thorough, and relevant textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CC-RI.2-11.12
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS-RI.6-11.12
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is considered particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the student interpretation of power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
Civics
C.13f
Explain ways in which competition, free enterprise, and government regulation influence what is produced and allocated in an economy, including national and global consequences.
World History
WH.20
Describe the causes of trade, commerce, and industrialization and how they affected governments and societies from 1300 to 2010
WH.22
Analyze trends of increasing economic interdependence and interconnectedness in world history from 1300 to 2010.
WH.24
Analyze the effect that humans have had on the environment in terms of resources, migration patterns, and global environmental issues.
World Geography
WG.6a
Explain the spatial patterns of industrial production and development.
WG.6e
Explain how economic interdependence and globalization affect countries and their populations.
WG.8c
Analyze causes and effects of local, national, regional, and global environmental issues
Grade 8
8-MS-ESS3-3
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing human impact on the environment.
Earth Science
HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
Life Sciences
HS-LS2-7
Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
Environmental Science
HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
Reading Resources
Uranium Plant Poses Test for Industry, Senator
A 1990 Washington Post article about the proposed uranium enrichment plant in Homer.
Excerpt | Source
Honoring a Landmark Environmental Justice Victory in Louisiana
A write up of the Homer, Louisiana case by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Excerpt | Source
Louisiana Energy Services: Uranium and Environmental Racism
Excerpts from the legal decision that stopped LES from building in Homer, that point to how the case is an instance of environmental racism.
Excerpt | Source
CANT battles Uranium Enrichment plant in Homer, LA
Short documentary on proposed uranium enrichment plant in Homer, LA and the communities resistance and organizing. Length, 4:45.
Source
Citizens Against Nuclear Trash Stop Uranium Enrichment Plant in Claiborne Parish
The environmental group Citizens Against Nuclear Trash Battled with DEQ to keep uranium enrichment plant out of Claiborne parish. The first circuit court of appeals ruled that DEQ did not do an adequate job and denied the permit. Length, 2:04.
Source
Extended Reading Activity
Read and analyze Uranium Plant Poses Test for Industry, Senator and Louisiana Energy Services: Uranium and Environmental Racism. Then discuss and answer the essential questions for this unit. Answers will vary to the questions, however students should be able to grasp the basic power dynamics of the situation.
Click here to access a worksheet of the essential questions.