Cancer rates in parts of rural Louisiana, particularly in the state’s heavily-polluted industrialized areas, are much higher than the state average, according to a new study from Tulane University that appears to back up claims residents have been making for years.

The peer-reviewed study out of Tulane’s Environmental Law Clinic compared incidences of cancer from the Louisiana Tumor Registry at the Census tract level with pollution-related cancer risk estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Assessments.