St. John the Baptist Parish

Three weeks after a state judge struck down a controversial zoning law, St. John the Baptist Parish Council is considering reinstating the same law to allow the construction of a $479 million grain elevator.

Unlike the rest of the state’s chemical corridor, no plants have been built on St. John the Baptist Parish's west bank. But some residents fear that could change as industrial developers eye farmland near the predominantly Black community of Wallace. As part of an effort to slow industrial encroachment and preserve the community’s history, federal officials are now contemplating whether St. John’s west bank could earn one of the country’s most prestigious historic designations: a National Historic Landmark.

An employee for Denka Performance Elastomer died Thursday after they were found unresponsive at the company’s neoprene plant in St. John the Baptist Parish, according to a company spokesman.

Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” has no shortage of Black communities overburdened by pollution. But years of protest have begun to bear fruit. We travel the Mississippi River to learn what has allowed industry to flourish on its banks, see how the tide might turn in one neighborhood’s fight for clean air, and ask what’s next for a growing environmental justice movement.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed tighter restrictions on air pollution from chemical plants on Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s pledge to fix long-standing environmental inequities in Louisiana, and across the country.

The Department of Justice asked a federal judge for an injunction that would require a St. John the Baptist Parish industrial plant to cut emissions of a chemical that likely causes cancer.

Two federal agencies sued the country’s sole neoprene plant in St. John the Baptist Parish over violations of the Clean Air Act on Tuesday in hopes of forcing the company to cut emissions of a chemical that likely causes cancer.

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.

The Port of South Louisiana has come under fire over new allegations of violating Louisiana’s open meetings law in a lawsuit filed last week.

One local nonprofit has raised questions over the legitimacy – and legality – of a tax break between the Port of South Louisiana and a planned grain terminal in St. John Parish.