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A people in the civil rights claiming that a parogy in South Louisiana is engaged in racist land use policies by placing pollutant industries in majority-black communities can move forward, says a federal appeal court.
The 5th US Court of Appeal in New Orleans on Thursday ruled that a trio of faith -based community groups could continue with a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination in the petrochemical development in St. James Parish, a region in the heart of Louisiana’s strongly industrialized chemical gait. Environmental groups are often referred to as ‘cancer track’ for its high pollution 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 divisions of the congregation with majority-black population groups.
The US Environmental Protection Agency found in a 2003 report that St. James Parish was higher than the national average for certain cancer deaths. Both majority-black portions of parogy are considered to be a major risk of cancer of toxic pollutants according to an EPA screening tool based on nearby emissions reported, the lawsuit states.
“We have been sounding the alarm for too long that a moratorium is needed to stop the expansion of more pollutant industries in our neighborhoods, and too many lives have been lost to cancer,” said Gail Lobeuf, a lifelong parogy and co-founder of inclusive Louisiana. She is a plaintiff in the case.
The case will now go back to the US District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, which previously ruled that the lawsuit was late by inclusive Louisiana and other community groups had been filed because the allegations were centered on a 2014 land use plan.
But the Federal Court said the complaint was filed in time and noted that the lawsuit “is abundant with the allegations of discriminatory land use decisions” in the congregation, of which the 2014 plan was only one example.
The court also acknowledged that the groups had the right to sue the congregation for the authorization of industrial development that desecrated, destroyed and restricted access to the cemeteries of their addicted ancestors in the congregation. Many of the petrochemical facilities in Louisiana were built on former plantations, and few of the cemetery of the addict have been preserved.
“I think this is a real confirmation of their struggle,” said Pamela Spertes, a lawyer for the center of constitutional rights representing the plaintiffs. “It’s a case over prolonged continued discrimination and now we can handle the claims on their merits.”
St. James Parish did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Brook is a Corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non -profit national service program that places journalists in local news rooms to report on national issues.
Follow Brook on the social platform x: @jack_brook96.
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