Chinese chemical company pulls permit to build in St. James Parish

By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer

Earlier this month, Chinese-owned Wanhua Chemical announced they no longer planned to build a $1.2 billion dollar plastics facility in St. James Parish. Citing rising construction costs, company officials withdrew a land use permit application that parish officials were already reviewing, following an appeal from local residents and advocates.

“We are fired up. This victory shows our movement’s power,” said Anne Rolfes with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “We plan to keep working to make sure no new plants locate in this area.”

In an email to the parish, Wanhua told officials the scope of the project has changed, but the possibility of locating in St. James remains, though they now plan to construct a smaller facility. The company did not disclose how or why construction costs associated with the project increased, or if recently imposed tariffs on metal and steel impacted their decision to withdraw the permit application.

“We know in the past they’ve said the tariffs will impact whether or not they come here, but they also say they still plan to come to St. James or somewhere in Louisiana, so that can’t be the only reason they withdrew the permit,” Rolfes said. “Vehement local opposition definitely played a role in the decision. Our appeal gave the parish time to scrutinize the project and assess the economic realities.”

St. James’ planning commission initially approved the project earlier this year in a 5-3 vote. Local residents, represented by the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, filed an appeal in May to reverse the decision and stop the plant’s construction, arguing, among other things, that people living less than a mile away could be exposed to harmful phosgene emissions.

Residents have also expressed concern about the cumulative impact of another plant in the area, with Mosaic, Occidental Chemical and Raven Energy all nearby. “We don’t want anymore chemical plants in this area,” said District Four resident Myrtle Felton. “The chemicals are already making people sick, and they want to keep building more plants. When I heard Wanhua decided not to come here, I was excited.”

In July, the St. James Parish council voted unanimously to return the previously approved land use permit, following notice from the Port of South Louisiana that Wanhua had applied to seek exemptions from federal trade tariffs through the use of a foreign trade zone designation, which could have also meant the complex would be exempt from local inventory and sales taxes. Before the planning commission could announce another decision on the permit application, the company withdrew it.

Residents in St. James 4th and 5th Districts plan to continue their fight against additional industry in the area. “We can see that we are having an impact,” Felton said. “If we hadn’t tried to stop this, they would’ve already broken ground on Wanhua. They picked this area because it’s a low-income, Black neighborhood, and the parish officials let them do it, for money. They don’t try to put these things near nice subdivisions where white people live.”

There are several other plants planned in both districts, with the largest being Formosa. The 14-plant complex is proposed less than a mile from an elementary school in the 5th District. Environmental groups and residents are focusing their efforts on raising awareness of the environmental risks associated with the plant, while the state evaluates its air permit application.

“Now, we are turning our attention to Formosa,” Rolfes said. “It’s such a bad idea to build a giant complex like this in a coastal zone. In an era of climate change and increasing hurricanes, we are hoping the state will exercise some common sense and deny that permit.”

This article originally published in the September 23, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.