The quiet Louisiana grandma who became an environmental warrior
69-year-old Sharon Lavigne went from never speaking out to leading a successful campaign to stop construction of a billion-dollar plastics manufacturing plant near her home.
69-year-old Sharon Lavigne has six children and 12 grandchildren and, by her own admission, has never been one for public speaking. She has lived in St James Parish in Louisiana her whole life. It's located along an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge with the undesirable nickname 'cancer alley'. Sharon says she has seen a lot of illness in her community. There are around 150 chemical plants located along this stretch of the Mississippi River and when a giant plastics manufacturing company wanted to construct a plant near Sharon's home, she successfully led the campaign to stop it from being built. Sharon has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Anu Anand
Producer: June Christie
Picture: Sharon Lavigne
Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize
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