St. John Parish grain terminal project cancelled
19th August 2024 · 0 Comments
By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer
On August 6, during an Army Corps of Engineers public meeting in Wallace, Louisiana, representatives of Greenfield Louisiana LLC announced the cancellation of plans to construct a grain terminal in the small unincorporated community on the west bank of the Mississippi river.
While advocates who have been fighting the project since its announcement in 2021 praised the decision, the company criticized the Corps’ permitting process and inability to move the project forward.
“We did everything in our power to keep this project on track. The Army Corp of Engineers has chosen to repeatedly delay this project by catering to special interests,” Greenfield said in a statement. “Today, sadly, we are no closer to a resolution than we were when we began this process.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, who worked with opponents of the project, called the Corps’ review process “careful and objective” in a statement released after the announced cancellation. “Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the Army Corps conducted a meaningful consultation process with a wide variety of stakeholders, to “take into account” the adverse effects of the proposed project on a broad array of historic resources.”
The proposed Greenfield terminal project included 56 grain elevators and a conveyor to move grain from the 1,300-acre site to ships in the river for overseas export. Standing at around 300 feet high, grain dust at the site would enter the surrounding air as particulate matter and fine particulate matter. The company says the dust would be minimized by “dust collection devices” and enclosed conveyor systems, with initial estimates in their air quality permit application of 81 tons of inhalable particulate matter measuring as large as 10 micrometers per year and 37 tons of fine particulate matter measuring as large as 2.5 micrometers per year.
Particulate matter can cause respiratory and heart issues, as well as exacerbate the impact of other air pollution, something of particular concern in St. John Parish, an area with several historic African-American communities already bearing a disproportionate burden of pollution.
“We already are inundated with chemicals, with smells, particulate matter from the other plants that rest across the river from us,” said Joy Banner, a community activist and founder of the Descendents Project. “We have dust in our cars. We have dust in our houses. We have dust in our shoes. They may be calling it minor, but, I’m sorry, minor according to who? They’re not living in the midst of it.”
In October 2023, the Corps released an environmental review of the Greenfield project, finding that Whitney Plantation, Evergreen Plantation, Willow Grove Cemetery and the wider Whitney Plantation Historic District in St. John Parish, as well as Oak Alley Plantation in St. James Parish, would all be adversely impacted. Willow Grove cemetery contains the remains of enslaved African Americans, as well as their descendants, and is some 300 feet from the proposed site.
“The visual and vibratory impacts will alter the cemetery’s integrity of setting, materials and feeling, all important characteristics of the Willow Grove Cemetery,” the Corps stated in its review, also noting that the projected revenue at some of these historic sites would decrease.
After the release of the environmental review, Greenfield representatives continued working with the Corps and parish officials to move the project forward, receiving an approval for a zoning change at the site from residential to heavy industrial use in March 2024.
Last week’s announcement that the company would be abandoning the site came as a surprise to many who were present at the meeting.
Army Corps representative Brad LaBorde said that Greenfield representatives did not contact them before the announcement. “We don’t know exactly what that means,” LaBorde said. “We still have an active permit application so, if it is Greenfield’s intention to no longer pursue the project, then we would ask [that] they formally submit a withdrawal to us so that we can conclude the review.”
In the wake of the announcement, community members like Banner hope to spur the local economy through development of the historic sites in the region that memorialize the history of slavery and the Black struggle.
“Our vision is that we get to sit together and envision our future, to determine what we want to do in our community, instead of having to settle for people telling us what we need,” Banner said. “It is an unbelievable victory, and it shows what happens when communities fight.”
This article originally published in the August 19, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
