Federal Court to Review Louisiana Environmental Racism Lawsuit

Many have said that chemical plants near residential communities adversely affects the health of those residents.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that a federal appeals court in New Orleans heard arguments on Oct. 7 in civil rights litigation against St. James Parish, La. for allegedly engaging in racist land-use policies.

The three organizations bringing the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals include Inclusive Louisiana, Rise St. James and Mount Triumph Baptist Church.

The groups claim that the parish in south Louisiana “intentionally discriminated against Black residents” for authorizing industrial companies to build facilities in areas with predominantly Black residents.

The lawsuit blames St. James Parish for “explicitly sparing White residents from the risk of environmental harm.”

Bilal G. Morris of BlackAmericaWeb reported, “When plaintiffs filed the complaint in March 2023, they argued that 20 of 24 industrial facilities were located in two parts of the parish that were majority Black. The parish is known by environmental groups as ‘Cancer Alley’ because it’s located near a heavily industrialized stretch of the Mississippi River, which has high levels of suspected cancer-causing pollution.”

U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier initially dismissed the case because the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit too late.

Lawyer Pamela Spees said, “What we tried to convey in there is the fact that this has been going on so long is a reason to fast track this case, not suggest that it was brought too late.”

Critics of the industrial plants getting approved in predominantly Black communities say they have more evidence to back up their claims of environmental racism.

Residents said that the parish paused development on a solar farm when White residents complained.

However, they did nothing when Black residents complained about the industrial plants going up in their neighborhoods.

The AP reported, “The lawsuit highlights the parish’s decision in August 2022 to impose a moratorium on large solar complexes after a proposed 3,900-acre (1,580-hectare) solar project upset the residents of the mostly White neighborhood of Vacherie, who expressed concerns about lowering property values and debris from storms. The parish did not take up a request for a moratorium on heavy industrial expansion raised by the plaintiffs, the lawsuit states.”

Morris added, “According to Pamela Spees, a lawyer for the Center of Constitutional Rights representing the plaintiffs, the team is also challenging Barbier’s ruling under the ‘continuing violations’ doctrine because discriminatory parish governance persists, allowing for industrial expansion in primarily Black areas, according to AP.”

Spees said that the community has “tried at every turn to simply have their humanity and dignity be seen and acknowledged. That’s just been completely disregarded by the local government and has been for generations.”

WNNO reported, “In the lawsuit, Rise St. James, Inclusive Louisiana and Mount Triumph Baptist Church members accuse the parish of a longstanding pattern of discrimination by encouraging the construction of chemical plants in their two majority-Black districts. The districts have five times as many plants as the parish’s four majority-White districts.

“Due to the area’s pollution, residents have suffered from health issues and property values have declined. Some of the plants have also destroyed unmarked burial sites and cemeteries, the suit claims. They argue the parish is at least partly responsible since it approved the construction of the facilities.”

Judge Catharina Hayes questioned the parish’s notion that the case was filed too late.

Hayes said, “It makes it sound like if you didn’t sue in a year, then you can be discriminated against.”

WNNO added, “The parish’s attorney argued that the St. James residents don’t have enough grounds to accuse the government of continuously violating their civil rights. The parish continued to argue the 2014 plant was the single, possible violation, and the consequences of that plan weren’t unlawful.”

Furthermore, parish attorneys asked the appellate judge to uphold the district court’s decision to throw out the group’s religious discrimination claims because the parish does not own the land itself.

But Spees and Jack Dean, a Tulane Environmental Law Clinic student-lawyer, claim that the parish is the primary regulator, determining how land in the parish is used.

Spees said, “What the case law says is that even though they may not be the last link in the chain that causes harm, if they are in that chain, then there’s some liability there.”

Inclusive Louisiana co-founder Gail LeBouef expressed optimism after attending the hearing on Oct. 7.

LeBouef wants a moratorium put in place that stops construction of new chemical plants and prevents expansion of existing chemical plants.

Over the next few months, the three-judge panel will decide whether to uphold the lower court’s ruling or send it back to the district court.

The AP reported, “The lawsuit comes as the federal government has taken steps during the Biden administration to address the legacy of environmental racism. Federal officials have written stricter environmental protections and committed tens of billions of dollars in funding.”

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