Plaintiffs have filed suit against the Parish in state court, appealing the Parish's decision to allow Koch Methanol to expand. On June 18, 2024, the trial court ruled against Plaintiffs, who have appealed that ruling to the court of appeal.
The Center Constitutional Rights represents Inclusive Louisiana and Mount Triumph Baptist Church in their appeal of the local government's approval of a request by Koch Methanol to expand its operations in the predominately Black 5th District of St. James Parish. The district is located in the heart of what has come to be known as "Cancer Alley," an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans where hundreds of petrochemical facilities and other heavy industry are located. In the wake of their filing of the historic case seeking a moratorium on the siting and expansions of such facilities in their communities, St. James Parish approved yet another request by industry to expand. While still fighting for the moratorium they have long been demanding, they are challenging this expansion too, which would greatly increase the already-significant amounts of toxic emissions.
Plaintiffs appeal the lower court's ruling, arguing that Parish violated its own ordinance when it approved pipeline construction in wetlands without the required level of scrutiny.
Court rules against Plaintiffs, finding that Parish did not violate its own ordinance which requires stricter review of industrial projects in wetlands than Parish undertook.
Plaintiffs file their opening brief in state court arguing that the parish's approval of Koch Methanol's expansion request violated its own ordinance and was arbitrary and capricious.
