St. James Parish

A federal appellate court says 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.

The case stems from a 2018 law that made it illegal to be on or near a pipeline without permission and an arrest of environmental activists that followed days after the law went into effect.

Reconnecting the dying swamp to fresh river water is vital for the health of the swamp’s cypress-tupelo forest, which minimizes storm surge damage for communities in St. John the Baptist, St. James, Ascension and Livingston Parishes.

Federal appeals court considers lawsuit aimed at pausing new chemical plants in St. James Parish.

When a judge in Louisiana struck down the air permits that Formosa Plastics needed for its new project in St. James Parish in 2022, it seemed like the long battle to block construction of the largest plastics manufacturing complex in the country was finally over.

Residents in one of Louisiana’s most heavily-industrialized parishes sued their local government in federal court on Tuesday, accusing officials of cramming petrochemical plants into Black communities.

New trees are few and far between, and the ones there are struggling to stay alive. If the trend continues, Louisiana could lose one of its largest freshwater swamps and a major buffer between Baton Rouge and hurricanes.

Louisiana will receive about $2.4 million to monitor air pollution from the Environmental Protection Agency. On Thursday, the agency announced that it will funnel more than $50 million into expanding air monitoring within communities dealing with pollution nationally.

President Biden signed an executive order in January 2021 representing the biggest federal commitment to environmental justice in the nation’s history. It’s intended to help communities like Lavigne’s achieve their clean energy goals and more, all while keeping the most vulnerable communities in mind.

An international body of human rights experts on Friday asked the federal government to provide more details on how it plans to address concerns over environmental pollution from the petrochemical buildout along the Mississippi River in Louisiana.