A civil rights lawsuit alleging a south Louisiana parish engaged in racist land-use policies by placing polluting industries in majority-Black communities can move forward, a federal appellate court says.
On Thursday, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans determined that three religiously affiliated community organizations can move forward with their legal action claiming racial bias in the development of petrochemical facilities in St. James Parish, an area situated within Louisiana’s intensely industrialised Chemical Row. This zone is frequently identified by ecological advocates as "Cancer Alley" due to its significant pollutant levels.
The lawsuit calls for a moratorium on the construction and expansion of petrochemical plants in St. James Parish. When the lawsuit was filed in March 2023, 20 of the 24 industrial facilities were in two sections of the parish with majority-Black populations.
In a 2003 report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that St. James Parish had a higher rate of specific cancer fatalities compared to the nationwide average. The lawsuit points out that both predominantly Black areas within the parish were identified by an EPA assessment instrument – which utilizes emission data from neighboring sites – as facing substantial risks of developing cancer due to hazardous contaminants.
For far too long, we've been raising the warning flag about the necessity of an embargo to stop further growth of these harmful industrial facilities in our communities," stated Gail LeBoeuf, a lifetime resident of the parish and co-founder of Inclusive Louisiana. She is also one of the plaintiffs involved in this legal action.
The matter will now return to the U.S. District Court located in the Eastern District of Louisiana. This court had earlier determined that the litigation initiated by Inclusive Louisiana along with various community organizations was submitted beyond the allowed timeframe since the claims pertained to a 2014 parish zoning scheme.
However, the federal court stated that the complaint had been submitted within the designated timeframe and pointed out that the lawsuit contained "numerous claims of discriminatory zoning choices" in the parish, with the 2014 plan serving as merely one instance of this pattern.
The court acknowledged that these groups were entitled to take legal action against the parish for permitting industrial growth, which "defiles, devastates, and limits entry" to the graveyards where their enslaved forebears rest within the parish grounds. Numerous petrochemical plants across Louisiana stand upon what used to be plantations, with very few of the slave burial locations having been safeguarded over time.
I believe this truly validates their fight,” stated Pamela Spees, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents the claimants. “The case revolves around persistent and continuous discrimination, and now we have the opportunity to address these allegations based on their substantive merit.
The St. James Parish did not promptly reply to requests for comments.
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