Judge delays ruling on Entergy lawsuit

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

Opponents of a proposed $210-million power plant in New Orleans will have to wait a little longer to find out if their legal efforts to block the controversial gas facility will get to continue.

Last week, New Orleans Civil District Court Judge Piper Griffin decided to delay her ruling on a lawsuit filed by a coalition of community groups and activist organizations alleging that the New Orleans City Council violated open meetings laws when the council held public hearings on Entergy’s plans for the massive power plant.

Both the City Council Utilities Committee and then the full council subsequently approved the power plant plans. But the lawsuit requests that the council’s approval of the gas plant be voided because of alleged open meetings violations.

On July 24, Griffin told the onlookers in her court that she will put off her final decision pending further investigation into Entergy’s use of paid actors to voice support for the plant proposal. The controversy surrounding the activities and bias of such paid supporters has, at least publicly, been at the heart of the legal quandary involving the gas facility.

But last week, even though she wants more information to come out on the paying of actors, Griffin added that, more and more, that facet of the case is looking less and less crucial. More important, it appears, are allegations that legitimate citizens were turned away at the door to the Utility Committee’s Feb. 21 public hearing on the proposed project.

The hearing attracted a massive overflow crowd of citizens and Entergy representatives to the room the council committee had rented at the Pan American Life Conference Center. Reportedly, concerned citizens were told at the hearing that they couldn’t enter the hearing to give their opinions on the controversial power facility because of fire codes.

After last week’s court session, attorney Monique Harden of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, one of the agencies taking the lead for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the plaintiffs are staying focused despite the further court delays. She said the plaintiffs continue to reject the city’s arguments in the case.

“We want to protect the right of people to participate in City Council meetings,” she told The Louisiana Weekly. “In the interest of justice, the court has granted time to wait for the results of the investigation on Entergy’s use of paid actors. The actors were paid to take up seats and show sham support for the proposed Entergy gas plant.

“We are concerned that the City Council did not act on complaints and information about the paid actors before voting to approve the gas plant. In court, the City Council argues that the paid actors issue is ‘irrelevant.’ It also asserts that the Council should not be required to fully comply with the Louisiana Constitution and the Open Meetings Law. Our goal is to hold the City Council accountable to this important democratic process.”

Spokespeople for both New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and for City Council President Jason Williams declined to comment on the case at this time.

Representatives for Entergy did not respond to multiple overtures for comments.

Griffin set Aug. 24 for an update meeting regarding the investigation but did not give a timeline for her final decision.

This article originally published in the July 30, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.