Mile 232.0 - LBD - Exxon Mobile Buffer Zone

232 LBD - Exxon Mobile Buffer Zone

The Standard Oil Company built an oil refinery not far from downtown Baton Rouge in 1909. In the decades following the city grew up around the refinery and soon was surrounded by primarily white middle-class neighborhoods. The refinery boomed during WWII, literally fueling the US military, and solidified it’s position as one of the largest in the United States. The white residents moved away from the facility and African-American residents moved in. The refinery continued to expand and impacts to the surrounding community increased. After a number of catastrophic explosions and complaints from nearby residents the facility began an unprecedented buyout program which has resulted in a strip of now vacant land a number of city blocks deep around the facility. As of today, Exxon has cleared approximately 250 acres of open space along it's Eastern fence line, creating a "protective buffer.”