SHELL GAMESDivide and Conquer the Diamond Community

Diamond is a neighborhood of four streets in the town of Norco, Louisiana, 40miles up the Mississippi River fromNew Orleans. Diamond is in theheart of the region’s infamous“Cancer Alley.” Many of the peoplein Diamond have lived on or nearthis land all their lives, and thoughthe neighborhood is called NewDiamond Subdivision, it is, in fact, aneighborhood with a long and richhistory. The land on which it nowsits was once Trepagnier Plantation,then Diamond Plantation. Many ofthe people who live there today aredescendants of the slaves, share-croppers, and farmers who onceworked the land. The people ofDiamond can tell you where theywere born, where their parents wereborn, and where their grandparentsused to live in days gone by.Belltown, the Big Store, the BigYard—these are the cherishednames of places that are now occupied by the Shell Chemical facility. Sadly, since Shell entered thecommunity in the 1950’s, many ofthe places rich in the history of thisAfrican American community havebeen bought by the corporation forits expanding industrial needs.

Outside of the Shell fenceline, members of theDiamond community believe that Shell has creat-ed an unofficial buffer zone that has turned manyhomes and memories into vacant lots, giving theneighborhood the appearance of a ghost town inthe making. Members of the community believethat the Shell Chemical plant and the oil refinery,with their large volumes of toxic pollution, fires,explosions, flaring and chemical spills, have dra-matically reduced their property values. Shell’spurchase program is “volun-tary,” but does a person liv-ing next to a chemical com-pany have a choice?

The purpose of this report isto expose Shell’s unfairproperty purchase tactics inDiamond. This report alsoserves to honor the historyof Diamond. The communityis more than just property tobe seen through the view of dollar signs. It is rich,historical land and a sacred home to a community.Shell’s property purchase tactics seem to indicatea respect for profit instead of for the neighborsand their community.

Over the last 25 years, Shell has been buying prop-erty in the neighborhood. Today, the companyowns 18% of the lots that comprise the fourstreets of Diamond. Neighbors will tell you thatsome people have fled the neighborhood withoutselling because they could no longer stand thepollution. When the abandoned homes and vacantlots are factored in, the percentage of affectedproperty jumps to 30% of the lots. Over one quar-ter of the neighborhood is like a Toxic Ghost Town.

When asked about relocation, the company man-agers will smile and say they are happy to buy outanyone at fair market value. How much is fair mar-

ket value with a chemical company next door?Many residents believe that Shell has refused tobuy property at a price that will allow people toresettle elsewhere without going into debt. Raceand class are issues in this struggle. Diamond is anAfrican American neighborhood. Some of the resi-dents are middle class; still others are senior citi-zens struggling to survive on social security. Howwould Shell conduct negotiations with rich andpowerful white neighbors?

Members of the Diamondcommunity believe that thespate of health problems iscaused by the chemicals fromthe plant.They know that thegenerations that lived on theland before the plant did notexperience the health prob-lems of today. Samples takenby the community’s BucketBrigade – the air sampling tool

– have proven that hazardous chemicals are almostconstantly in the air. A criminal investigation by theEPA and a damning account of the company’s envi-ronmental practices by a whistleblower confirm thecommunity’s fears (Times Picayune, June 3, 6, 10,2000; August 13, 2000).

Imagine how bad the problems must be if the resi-dents of Diamond Plantation are willing to sell atlow prices and leave the land of their history.

The Shell Corporation has a “rich” history, too. Inthe second quarter of 2000 the corporation setrecords for profitability – over three billion dollars.(Shell PR, March 8, 2000, Royal Dutch/Shell Turns inRecord Results, www.shell.com/library/news). Howmuch would it really cost this huge corporation tolisten to the people of Diamond, to buy four smallstreets of homes at a fair price so they could relo-cate to a cleaner environment?

The residents of Diamond have good reason to beskeptical about this “new” offer. The corporation’sdescription of the “new” program notes that it is“an enhancement of the property purchase pro-gram that has been in place for thirty years.” If the“new” program does not enable people to buy acomparable home elsewhere and compensatethem for the reduced market value of their homes,then the “new” program will only be a continua-tion of Shell’s old purchasing tactics.

The map on the next two pages is a map of thefour streets that make up the Diamond neighbor-hood. Those streets are Washington, Cathy,Diamond, and East.

The Shell Corporation has recently put forth a “new” purchase offer to the community. This pro-gram, called the “Norco Voluntary Fenceline Property Purchase Program,” continues to excludehalf of the community - Diamond and East Streets. Shell’s proposal appears to show how littlethe corporation understands its neighbors. Many families have close relatives that live on all fourstreets. The Hollins family is a good example. Mary Hollins lives on Cathy Street. Her elderlyMother lives on Diamond. Mrs. Hollins is the principle caretaker for her Mother. If Mrs. Hollinswere to follow Shell’s plan, she would leave the neighborhood and abandon her Mother. DoesShell really expect that Mrs. Hollins and others in similar situations will sell out their families?

The “new” program was described in a letter sentto only half of the community members inDiamond. The offer continues to base the price onmarket value in Diamond. The corporation doessay, however, that a premium will also be paid. Thispremium must be enough to enable Diamond res-idents to relocate without incurring debt.

Shell’s “new” program has come about after relent-less agitation by the residents of Diamond.However, the timing appears suspicious to mem-bers of the community since it was announcedjust after the beginning of an EPA criminal investi-gation and a whistleblower’s tell all story. Is Shellusing Diamond in a public relations ploy or tomake peace with federal regulators?

Shell’s “New” Offer: The Effect on the Families of Diamond

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Empty Lot

SHELL CHEMICAL

Shell’s “new”program appears to continue its old pro-gram of buying property at the “market value”of theDiamond neighborhood.The corporation alreadyowns over a third of the property on the two streetstargeted by the program—Washington and CathyStreets. Shell owns 33% of the residential lots on Cathyand 33% of the residential lots on Washington. Fifteenadditional lots on the two streets are vacant. Shell hascreated a program to continue buying on the twostreets where the corporation already owns many lots.Emphasizing this point is the fact that Shell is not

including Diamond and East Streets in this “new”offer.To date, the company owns only one lot on those twostreets. The “new”program therefore seems to com-plement the corporation’s past purchases.

All of the information in this report is available in thepublic record at the St. Charles Parish courthouseand Tax Assessor’s Office. Property records forDiamond indicate which properties Shell owns andhow much the corporation paid for each property.Shell owns 48 residential lots in Diamond. Records

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ivision Norco, Louisiana

To pour over a map of thecommunity is a logistical mat-ter of deducing what propertyis vacant and how much itsold for. But coming upon theplace on the map designatedas Lot 22, Square 14 is anothermatter altogether. Lot 22,Square 14 was the home ofHelen Washington. On a daylike any other in 1973, gasshot from the Shell facility andinto her home. Mrs.Washington was killed instant-ly. Leroy Jones was cutting thegrass in her front yard. Hisbody was set ablaze. He wastaken to the hospital and dieddays later. Lot 22, square 14 isa today a sacred place, a sadplace, and a testament to theurgency of the Diamond com-munity’s demands.(September 3, 2000 conversa-tions with community mem-bers, September 6, 2000 con-versation with Leroy Jones’Mother)

On February 3 1977, Shellbought Lot 22, Square 13. Mrs.Washington’s sister sold theempty lot to the company. Theprice was $3,000.

Railr

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Washington Street—Lot 22, Square 14

of sale are available for all but three of those lots. Thecalculations regarding average prices therefore donot include those three lots.

The lots in Diamond are all roughly the same size, 50’x 193’. The information about what was formerly onthe lots was gathered by talking with communitymembers.

Records about the area on the map noted as square15 and labeled as “St. Charles Parish School Board”

are not available. According to some members ofthe Diamond community, Shell owns this property,too, and leases it to the school board for one dollar ayear. However, no records are available to confirmthis arrangement. The calculations in this report donot include this property, an entire block of razedhomes and vacant lots turned into a playground byShell. The playground is across the street from ShellChemical plant, approximately 25 feet from thefenceline.

harles Parish School Boardmunity members believe that Shell owns this area schoolboard rents it. No available records confirmrrangement)

A closer look at the property records

Shell’s property purchases since 1977 have resultedin the purchase of 48 of 269 residential lots – 18% ofthe neighborhood.The records show that the totalpaid for 45 of those lots between 1977 and today is$1,120,079.The average price paid per lot was$24,350. Fourteen of those lots were a housing pro-ject, and those lots make up $478,000 of that total.Take out the 14 lots, and the remaining 32 were soldfor $642,079.The average price of the remaining 31then decreases to $22,141 per lot.There are otherways to break down the information:

The problem with a purchase average of $26, 933for a lot with a home on it is that a homeowner inDiamond would have to go into debt to move andfind a comparable home almost anywhere. Shellmanagement will claim that the price is fair mar-ket value. What they do not say is that it is largelythe Shell Chemical facility’s presence that hasreduced the fair market value.

Real estate prices in other parts of Norco, outside ofthe Diamond community, seem to indicate thatproperty not adjacent to Shell generally has a highervalue. A three-bedroom home on St. Charles Avenue-–ten long blocks away from Shell Chemical – is cur-rently on the market for $99,300.This puts Shell’spurchase average in Diamond at over $70,000below value of a home on St. Charles Avenue. Shellwill argue that property in Diamond is worth lessthan in other areas. Once again, members of thecommunity contend that it is the very presence ofShell that has forced property values down.

Purchase patterns over time indicate that Shell hasincreased its buying habits. The numbers of salesthroughout the last three decades are as follows:1970’s: 1, 1980’s: 15, 1990’s: 16.

The steady rate of purchase in the 80’s and 90’sseems to indicate Shell is interested in land in theDiamond community. Shell demonstrates as muchin its most recent purchase offer. Why then don’tthey approach the entire tightly knit communityand make a reasonable and fair offer that includesall four streets? Diamond residents are left to spec-

ulate that Shell is playing a wait-ing game, counting on buyingproperty as people die or areforced to move away because ofthe various risks posed by Shell.

For the most part, Shell has paidmore for brick homes than it hasfor wooden homes, and more forwooden homes than it has forempty lots. One discrepancy in

prices paid for wood homes highlights a problemwith the way in which Shell negotiates with com-munity members. In examining the record of awood home that was sold for a greater price thanthe other wood homes, Percy Hollins of CathyStreet laughed as he remembered the toughnessof the former owner. Mr. Hollins said that theowner who sold out to Shell was the type of per-son who would get a good deal because he “was agood talker.” Unfortunately, not everyone is a talk-er talented enough to negotiate with a corpora-tion. Shell’s insistence on dealing with people oneon one instead of negotiating a group buy outseems an attempt to isolate people and takeadvantage of those who are not “good talkers.”

Property description Total paid Average price paid

8 empty lots $76, 479 $9,559

13 wood homes $246,800 $20, 908

7 brick homes $283,700 $40, 529

1 mobile home $246,800 $20, 908

21 total lots with homes $565,600 $26,933

Mrs. Richard explains,“I’m a life long resident ofNorco... I grew up in a section of Norco nicknamedBelltown. We had plum trees, a lot of peach trees.And every family in Belltown was closely knit.

I remember when I was in about fifth grade myMom and Dad sitting us down and telling us wehad to move. We weren’t going to go very far [but]there were some people buying all of the land. Ididn’t question it but later on my Dad was sayingthat the people who owned [the land] - the planta-tion owners - they were selling the land to thecompany. To Shell. In the early fifties or late for-ties…we built over here [in Diamond] cause peo-ple had lots here. That’s when my Dad who wasone of the community leaders fought for a school.

The high school [was built] right down the streeton Washington … I remember they named theschool Mary McLeod Bethune and Ms. Bethuneherself came for the dedication of the school. I waseleven years old. I heard her speech first hand. Weshook her hand. I asked to see her walking cane.She had a little accent. She said,‘Black boys andblack girls don’t go to anybody’s back door. Blackgirls and boys like you hold your head high andnever never fail to fulfill your dreams.’

Part of her lives in me now. When I taught childrenI told them [the same thing]. Even now when I goback as a retired [teacher] I tell them ‘Don’t let any-body stop you from fulfilling your dreams. Becomeeducated.’ America is a good country. A lot ofthings need to be done but don’t ever feel thatyou’re nothing. People are so amazing.

The Nat Turner rebellion was recorded in the histo-ry books, but the largest slave revolt that tookplace was [right here]. It’s in the book On the Way

to New Orleans. Well the soldiers … what theywould do when they captured the leaders theywould behead them and put their head on a stickin front of the plantation. The hoped that this fearwould stop them but it didn’t. If anything thegroup [of slaves] grew stronger and they hid rightdown Washington Street. They hid where we calledthe farmland that my parents had. They wereknown as maroons. The largest slave revolt wasalong this riverfront. It was over 600 strong, stand-ing up for freedom. One of my ancestors on mychildren’s side, their father’s side - Hannibal Waters.He was marching for freedom. On my Dad’s sidesome of our relatives were there with the group.”

Margie Eugene Richard of Washington Street is a retired schoolteacher and President of Concerned Citizens of

Norco, the group fighting for relocation. She knows about Diamond’s historic value,

including the history of the slave revolt and the day that Mary Mcleod Bethune (1875 –

1955), the celebrated African American activist, dedicated the school in Diamond. Shell

Chemical now sits on the land once known as Belltown where Mrs. Richard grew up.

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George Eugene, Cathy Street, born on February 24, 1923

Mr. Eugene tells about growing up in Diamond. “I’m seventy-seven. I’ve been here [in

Diamond] all that time. I went to New York and stayed two weeks. I went to California

and stayed there a week. I been a lot of places but I’m right here. Right here.

The younger generation of today—it would never appeal to them to go running around in the swamp[like we did]. The children used to go in the river to swim. A lot of time we used to go hunting pecansand persimmons, blackberries, mulberries. We used to take cans and make balls and a broomstick andmake a bat. And we used to have fun. These children think they have fun now but we used to have fun.

I lived in the Big Store. I went to live with my Aunt . . . That is who I wanted to stay with. The children usedto play up in there. We would run and jump off the porch. Sometimes on Friday or Saturday eveningssomebody would need some money to pay their rent and they would have a fish fry and sell the fish orkill a chicken and sell fried chicken to catch up with their bills or buy food or whatever. People didn’t stayup too late cause they had to get up at four o’clock to go cut sugar cane and stuff. All the way fromBaton Rouge [people were] cutting sugar cane. Shipping it to New Orleans on the riverfront.

On Saturdays they would have a house supper and make big pots of jambalaya and gumbo and sitaround laughing and talking and that’s how they used to get along. One would help another. You needgarlic or tomatoes? Whatever you need all you have to do is holler out and somebody [would] give it toyou. They kill hogs and eat it like a feast. They cook and they kill and they clean and they cook. Theymake homemade blackberry wine and they cook and eat like a party. People used to have a lot of fun.

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Shell began to buy, and nobody knows how Shellwas going about buying, but Shell was buying upeverything they could get. When they got to thisarea here all this was farming ground and overthere where Shell is [now] sitting, at that time [itwas] where the people was staying at. We knew[Shell was] going to build but we didn’t knowwhat, or that it was going to be that large.Everybody was living over there, working on theland with sugar cane or tobacco. Then it got sold.[Before I had the house I am in,] I had a housefrom over on the plantation. It was carried overhere. Over one hundred years old.

We used to go out on the [railroad] track andtake sugarcane off the cars and put it on theground and move it. Business wise there wasn’ttoo much business in this area. Shell, when theystarted expanding, they took over this place overhere but they didn’t hire no colored people. Saidthey didn’t know how to do the work, but theyhad never tried.

I had a beautiful little restaurant called theChicken Coop. Never wanted to handle liquor[at the restaurant] cause it caused too muchconfusion. They talk about something that hap-pened ninety years ago and then they end upfighting today.

My aunt used to come and help me out. Whenthey would have [high school football] games,after the games all the children would stop in tothe Chicken Coop. When holidays come or a carni-val, whoever had the prettiest costume on [would]get a free hamburger. Children would dance andhave some fun . . . [I was] excited over that littlerestaurant. Business was coming in so fast. I wasabout 25 or 26.

Job I retired at was handling corn in Destrahan.Feed for animals. Pay about six dollars an hour—good money during that time. Retired makingabout ten dollars an hour. I just thank God. TheLord has been good to me. I made it.”

Mr. Eugene knows that leaving his communitywould be difficult. But despite the hardship, hewants to move away from Shell.

“Moving is not as easy as some may think it is. It’scomplicated to start a new life over again. In otherwords what I’m saying is to meet new friends, tojoin another church, to get in whatever activitiesare going on in another town. That’s going to becomplicated.

People don’t realize they been living in this area alltheir lives. They think it’s going to be like thiswherever they go. No. It’s not like that.”

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Washington Street—directly across from the tanksof Shell Chemical

Mr. Jackson tells of his life in Diamond. “I am 68years old. We used to play out in the yard, used towalk to school. We’d walk there and walk fromschool. [That was] in Belltown.

Sometimes we’d play marbles all day. Maybe burntires at night and sit out and tell jokes. The smoke[from the tires] would keep the mosquitoes away.That’s pollution now, you can’t do that.

Well at that time, my Mom and Daddy had boughtover here [in Diamond] . . . I wasn’t here during thattime . . . In ’51 I went in the service . . . In ’55 [I cameback] . . . Shell was building up, taking over thatplace over there. I guess it bothered the peoplewho were living over there. They started sellinglots over here, and everybody was in the process ofbuying land back here.This was all fields and stuff . . .

It was pretty nice to live. Had clean air, no morefumes or nothing like that. It’s a whole lot differ-ent now. You can’t even sit out in your yard, youcan’t even leave your windows open or nothinglike that because of all the fumes and stuff.

I’ve been living here just about all my life and Iwouldn’t want to leave, but the plant has got somessed up over here it look like you have to leave,you know? But it looks like they could pay morefor this property. All the health hazards peoplewent through living here all them years. Fumesthey’re inhaling, breathing. It’s a hazard to yourhealth. We’ve been knowing that for years, eversince we’ve been here. But there’s no where else togo. It takes money. People . . . don’t want to be get-ting in debt going anywhere else and buying. Can’tdo that. They’ve made it so you can’t even sit outin your yard like you used to . . . on account of theplant—fumes, chemicals, and different stuff.”

Peter Jackson,D

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• Divide and conquer. During meetings with the community, Shell managers oftentimes communicateinformation to a few individuals in offhand conversations, instead of to the group in the official meetingformat. Tensions rise in the community when one neighbor believes that others are privy to private infor-mation from management. Despite the confusion that management has caused, the residents ofDiamond have consistently overcome what appears to be attempts at confusing the community. The res-idents of Diamond remain united.

• Exclusive meetings. The company repeatedly refuses to have open meetings with the community. In Julyof 2000, Shell held a meeting that was “invitation only.” Shell excluded Rosemary Brown, the vice presi-dent of Concerned Citizens of Norco. The majority of Diamond residents were also excluded. The compa-ny even turned community members away at the company gates, saying there weren’t sufficient “provi-sions” for people to attend the meeting.

• Intimidation. Shell security officials can be seen driving through the Diamond neighborhood. On August22, 2000, news cameras were in Diamond filming a story at Margie Richard’s home on Washington Street.A number of cars were parked outside of her home. A police car drove by the house at least three timesthat morning. Unusual police activity in the neighborhood on this and other days leads residents tobelieve that Shell can summon the police at will into Diamond to look into legal and Constitutionallyprotected activities that take place in the neighborhood.

• Stalling, ignoring deadlines. Shell managers do not adhere to deadlines. Diamond residents are often leftwaiting for promised phone calls that do not come. Shell officials told the community in the spring thatthey would propose relocation prices in 30 to 60 days. The 60-day deadline came and went on July 1st.When residents called about the deadline, Shell managers said that the deadline just meant “about thattime.” Is this the way Shell deals with all of its business partners?

• Disputing the right of association. Some Shell managers attempt to interfere in the business ofConcerned Citizens of Norco by trying to dissuade the community from inviting community advisors—technical experts, lawyers, organizers – to attend community meetings with the corporation. On oneoccasion, Shell management disputed the credibility of a fax on the basis that it was sent to the compa-ny from a city outside Norco. The community maintains the right to counsel from any and all sources.

These are just a few examples of tactics that the community routinely faces. Shell is a wealthy corporation.Wouldn’t it be easier to be straightforward with the community and give them the fair relocation theydeserve?

Unfair Negotiating Practices

Members of the

community

believe Shell

management has

used the following

questionable

tactics in negotiat-

ing relocation with

the community.

The people of Diamond stand insolidarity with people all over the world that areforced to live as Shell’s neighbors. The people ofThe Niger Delta are particularly recognized. OnJuly 23rd, 2000, Nigerian activist Von Kemedi visit-ed Norco on behalf of two groups from the NigerDelta region of Nigeria: the Ijaw Youth Council andOur Niger Delta. These two organizations andmany more are committed to combating Shell’sdestruction of the land on which the people ofNigeria rely for life.

During the gathering in Norco, Von told of whatShell does in his homeland.“Shell and other com-panies have burned so many flares in my home for40 years – day and night without stopping.”Vonlistened to the story about the fight for relocationwith an understanding of the tactics and tricksthat Shell has used.“What they do in the [Niger]delta is not much different from what I have seenhere in Louisiana. They have very little regard forthe people, they pollute the environment, andthey do all this in the name of producing oil.”

Resistance to Shell’s way of doing business is aunited resistance. Victory for Diamond will be lessmeaningful if the people of the Niger Delta con-tinue to suffer. Shell’s practices are not acceptablein Norco, in Nigeria or anywhere in the world. Thepeople of Diamond recognize the global assaultwaged by Shell and pledge to assist in the fight forhuman and environmental rights everywhere.

The Diamond community also recognizes that theproblems and unjust actions by Shell are a prod-uct of the corporation’s management, not theworkers. The community supports the workers andhopes that the struggle for a fair relocation willmake Shell management more just and account-able in all phases of its business, including itstreatment of its employees.

This report is a collaboration between The Concerned Citizens of Norcoand Communities for a Better Environment.

Written and researched by Anne Rolfes.Photo credits: Katherine Wilson, Larry Daresburg, and Anne Rolfes.Printing and design by Inkworks Press. Thanks also to ProjectUnderground. If you would like to make a donation to the relocationeffort, please contact Concerned Citizens of Norco at (504) 764-8135.

If you would like to make a donation to the relocation effort, please con-tact Concerned Citizens of Norco at (504) 764 – 8135 or 26 Washington St.,Norco, La. 70079.

For more information on how you can assist the relocation effort, pleasecall (504) 914 – 3164 or e-mail labucketbrigade@yahoo.comFor more information about Norco: www.igc.org/cbesf or http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/webcam/

Unlike the people of Diamond, the manager of the Shellrefinery lives in a neighborhood free of large industry andpollution. He lives roughly 25 miles away from the Diamondneighborhood and the Shell facilities.