Why do residents of a contaminated area actively organize to formalize their land tenure and continually invest scarce resources in the fortification of their homes, despite their high-risk locations? Existing research documents the collective struggles of residents of contaminated communities to leave toxic areas or to confront polluting industries. Drawing from long-term ethnographic fieldwork in an informal settlement located next to a highly polluting petrochemical complex in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, this article presents the case of a marginalized community that is not only well-aware of its toxic exposure but also actively organizing and investing time and resources to ensure its permanence in the area. This article shows that the strenuous circumstances under which families moved into the neighborhood after multiple displacements, their continued struggle to remain there along with their longing for housing stability have contributed to their extended exposure to the poisonous toxic externalities of the neighboring petrochemical industry.
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