Pamela Spees, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the continuing delays occur as pre-construction work and dirt moving have been under way since March in the Modeste area. Heavy trucks, cranes, piles, backhoes and periodic losses of power have occurred for the few hundred rural residents living in a historic Black community with its roots arising from antebellum slavery.

 

"People are being affected by this, their lives are being affected by this in very concrete, very real ways. They are dealing with this attempt to basically erase their communities and can't get a record from the parish, can't get a public record out of the parish for anything," Spees said after the hearing in Gonzales.

 

Read the full article on The Advocate's website.