June 18, 2026, St. James Parish, LA – Residents today asked a federal district court to block the enforcement of an ordinance passed by the St. James Parish Council at its meeting on June 17, 2026, which redesignates historic sites in a majority-Black community for industrial use and allows industry to fully encircle this neighborhood. Despite the strong showing by the public and compelling testimony from constituents, the Parish Council passed the ordinance. In a motion for a temporary restraining order, attorneys for Inclusive Louisiana, Mt. Triumph Baptist Church, and RISE St. James say the ordinance is a continuation of the discriminatory land use system that, in the words of a federal judge, “quite literally originated in slavery” and inspired their landmark lawsuit against the Parish. Greenlighted by a federal court earlier this year, the suit seeks a moratorium on industrial plants in majority-Black districts in St. James Parish. 

The ordinance threatens Romeville, a town with a large majority of Black residents already sandwiched between hazardous industrial plants. The land includes the estate of Harriet Jones, an enslaved woman who, after her liberation more than 150 years ago, bought property that has remained in the family for generations. That property is now co-administered by one of the co-founders of Inclusive Louisiana, her great-great-great granddaughter. This ordinance would redesignate the estate as industrial land. Also threatened with redesignation are Pleasant Hill Cemetery, where generations of Romeville residents and ancestors are buried, and potentially the Parish-owned Colomb Plantation Cemetery, which likely contains the graves of formerly-enslaved people whose descendants remain connected to the community today.

“Constituents went to the council and said what was on their hearts: people want to be treated like human beings, not just things to be put on the auction block for the next big industry that wants to come to St. James Parish,” said Gail LeBoeuf, co-president and co-founder of Inclusive Louisiana. “Industry is not going to other parts of St. James Parish. It’s not going over there to Vacherie. It's not going to Gramercy or Lutcher or Paulina. It's always coming to Convent or St. James.”

“An evil plot has been perpetrated upon us,” added Barbara Washington, co-founder and co-president of Inclusive Louisiana. “The council has the power to protect its constituents and instead voted to sell away our future. Every day, somebody comes to me who's been diagnosed with cancer after living for years next to heavy industry. Yet never have I heard anyone from industry ask how many people living near our sites have been diagnosed with cancer. I've never heard anybody ask. I've never heard anybody say that they will do a study on what's happened to our people here in Romeville, Louisiana. They just keep adding more plants. We are supposed to be our sisters and our brothers' keepers. Councilmembers, let your conscience be your guide. Tonight is a crucial night for you all to do the right thing, and let us live in peace.”

Should the ordinance not be blocked, in addition to redesignating Pleasant Hill Cemetery, the estate of Harriet Jones, and potentially the Colomb Plantation Cemetery, industrial plants would also encircle Inclusive Louisiana’s Community Hub, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, and Romeville Park, all located in historic, residential Romeville. It appears to be part of an effort to eradicate the historic community and displace its residents; indeed at recent meetings, the Parish officials stated that all of Romeville should be opened up to industrial development.   

The proposed redesignation arises amid a federal lawsuit challenging just such actions. The court allowed the case to proceed, including on the claims that the Parish’s land use practices violate the Thirteenth Amendment as a vestige of slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Since construction of the first plant in the Parish in the 1950s, at least 28 out of 32 plants have been placed in the majority-Black 4th and 5th Districts. 

“This ordinance announces the erasure of historic Romeville, including a community formed by freedpeople after Emancipation,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “As we warned the Parish, we are seeking immediate relief in federal court to stop this brazenly unlawful act that would cause immediate and lasting constitutional and dignitary harms to our clients.”

“The Parish Council is not listening to the people,” said Pastor Joseph of Mount Triumph Baptist Church. “The people are saying no, and the Council is still voting against what the people are saying. I say it is time to start listening to what the people want. Enough is enough. It is time for change.”

Community groups sent a letter asking the Parish Council to remove the ordinance from its agenda, but the Council sent a response that said it would not shelve the ordinance, claiming it is not unlawful. Despite a follow-up letter to the Parish making clear that passage of the ordinance would require Plaintiffs to initiate this action in order to preserve their rights, the Council passed the ordinance anyway.

"Last night, we begged St. James Parish to invest in its people over industry. But yet again, the Parish ignored our pleas,” said Sharon Lavigne, founder of RISE St. James. “The Council claimed it was making a decision about economic development and the future of the Parish, but the Parish has given away $113 million in tax breaks to industry between 2016 and 2024. If our communities are going to survive, and if St. James Parish is going to have a future, it must urgently stop investing in the industrial polluters that are erasing and killing our communities." 

The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane Law School. For more information, please see the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page. 

See more about Inclusive Louisiana, RISE St. James, and the Center for Constitutional Rights on the groups’ websites. Mount Triumph Baptist Church is also a plaintiff in the case.