"A Tale of Two Leaks: Fixed in California, Ignored in Alabama"

"Eight years after a mercaptan spill in Eight Mile, its mostly black and working class residents still suffer from respiratory issues, rashes and headaches."

"EIGHT MILE, Ala.—Willa Vassar brought a small purple box into her living room and emptied it onto her coffee table. She set out a series of ointments, a white tube of Soolantra, one of Tazorac, a tube of Elidel, and an assortment of pills, all to treat an angry rash that has spread across her face. Lithe and dressed in a black warmup suit, the retiree said she never had rashes before moving to the High Point apartments.

Vassar is convinced her skin is reacting to air pollution from a chemical spill about a half-mile from her home, in a small community outside Mobile. "I've been to three doctors. They're treating me for acne, eczema, but they really don't know," Vassar said one recent morning. "I take two, four, six tablets a day of Benadryl. My skin scales up so bad. I dig and itch. It has kept me from going to church. It’s embarrassing."

The chemical in the spill is tert-butyl mercaptan, an odorant mixed with natural gas to help in the detection of leaks. A class of chemicals, mercaptans made national news after a natural gas storage well in Los Angeles started leaking last October, prompting the evacuation of nearly 6,000 households after people complained of the odor and health issues."

Neela Banerjee reports for InsideClimate News March 17, 2016.