Plans pulled for massive St. John grain terminal

By Greg LaRose
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — What would have been one of the world’s largest grain terminals will not materialize in St. John the Baptist Parish, where opponents said it would ruin the quality of life for residents in the predominantly Black community and disturb their historical burial sites.

Greenfield Louisiana LLC said Tuesday it was “halting” its $800 million Wallace Grain Export Facility, which it started in 2021. The company cited continued delays in permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must sign off on any proposal that involves construction near the Mississippi River levee.

In a statement posted on X, Greenfield claimed permits for similar projects are usually approved within six months.

“…But today, sadly, we are no closer to a resolution than we were when we began this process,” the statement reads. “The Army Corps of Engineers has chosen to repeatedly delay this project by catering to special interests – many of which are out-of-state groups – when it should have been listening to local voices here on the West Bank. We can no longer wait for an outcome that may never come.”

As planned, the Greenfield project would have included 56 grain silos that would have moved grain to and from vessels on the river. Dust from the handling of grain was among the concerns of opponents.

The Army Corps of Engineers identified 20 historic properties within the project’s proposed footprint area of potential effects and found the project would adversely impact five of them: Whitney Plantation, Evergreen Plantation, Willow Grove Cemetery, Oak Alley Plantation and the wider Whitney Plantation Historic District. Most of the properties are either National Historic Landmarks or listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Willow Grove Cemetery, which contains the burial sites of slaves and their descendants, was just 300 feet from the proposed construction site.

Some of the most prominent voices against the Greenfield project were the Banner sisters, Jo and Joy, who lead the Descendants Project. Their nonprofit aims to preserve communities whose ancestors were slaves at plantations in the River Parishes from expanding industry.

Wallace, with some 500 residents, was originally set aside upriver from Evergreen Plantation as a community for the formerly enslaved. Similar Black communities are located near plantations along the river.

“We’ve fought for three long years to save the community, way of life, and heritage we love. Now the real work begins,” the Banner sisters said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the community to heal, preserve, and build a healthy, bright future together.”

A spokeswoman for Greenfield provided reaction Wednesday morning from Gov. Jeff Landry:

“This grain facility would have been environmentally sound and brought hundreds of high paying jobs to St. John Parish,” Landry said in the statement. “After years of delay – it’s despicable that the Corps of Engineers had additional delays with this project – choosing to adhere to special interest groups and wealthy plantation owners instead of hardworking Louisianans. Louisiana is ready to move past our days of listening to plantation owners, but it seems our federal government is not.”

This article originally published in the August 12, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.