The small US town of Norco is an unlikely place to lead a revolt. Residents still greet each other in the street and champion all American values and community spirit. However, one problem is threatening to undermine the local camaraderie which the residents are so proud of: the Shell Oil Refinery.

Margie Richard's house is just 22 feet away from the factory. Many of her local friends are now dead - killed by cancer or other painful illnesses. Over 35% of the children in the neighbourhood have asthma. Chemist Wilma Subra believes pollution released by Shell is responsible for these illnesses. "The residents of Norco are exposed to a thousand times higher concentration of chemicals than people in rural areas. These chemicals cause respiratory difficulties, asthma, cancer, birth defects and a whole host of other diseases."

Norco's white community is made of Shell workers who settled in the area to be close to their place of work. They are proud of the refinery: the town's welcome sign features a factory belching out smoke nestling beside a row of houses and Norco is an acronym of North Atlantic Oil Refinery Company. One resident, Vickie Reneau, says she is reassured by the huge plumes of flames which billow from the factory's chimney: "It brightens everything ... preventing a mishap that could happen."

The factory's white workers reap all the economic benefits of working for Shell. However, between their expensive houses and the factory lies the Diamond Community, housing the African American neighbourhood. When Shell opened the refinery, they promised all residents high paying jobs and generous benefits. These incentives never materialised. The Community is one of the poorest regions of the state and residents, fearful for their health and tired of breathing in foul smelling air, are desperate to be relocated.

After years of having their concerns ignored, this marginalised community begins to fight back. They enlist the help of environmentalists to collect air samples and prove that the pollution is making them ill. The results are horrific. Over twenty different chemicals are present in the air, with levels of carcinogens, like benzine, well above national guidelines. Armed with this new evidence Margie flies off to Shell's headquarters in Holland to confront company officials face to face with a bag of polluted Norco air. The media coverage and bad publicity eventually forces Shell to back down and promise to relocate the entire district.

In this moving documentary we gain intimate access to the families in this small town, following the struggle from both sides. This story is ultimately empowering, seeing as we do the little man fight back and emerge victorious in a struggle against a huge multi-national super-polluting oil corporation.

Director: Slawomir Grunberg

Produced by Log TV