A FEDERAL US court heard arguments today, alleging a south Louisiana parish engaged in racist land-use policies to place polluting industrial facilities in majority-black communities.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, New Orleans, is reviewing a case filed by groups claiming St James Parish “intentionally discriminated against black residents” by encouraging development in areas with predominantly black populations, “while explicitly sparing white residents from the risk of environmental harm.”

The groups Inclusive Louisiana, Rise St James and Mt Triumph Baptist Church, are seeking to halt future industrial development in the parish.

The complainants argue that 20 of the 24 industrial facilities were in two sections of the parish with majority-black populations when they filed the complaint in March 2023.

The parish is located along a heavily industrialised stretch of the Mississippi River, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, often referred to by environmental groups as “Cancer Alley” due to the high levels of suspected cancer-causing pollution emitted.

US District Judge Carl Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed the lawsuit in November 2023, largely on procedural grounds, ruling the complainants had filed their case too late. 

But he added: “This court cannot say that their claims lack a basis in fact or rely on a meritless legal theory.”

The complaint alleges civil rights violations under the 13th and 14th amendments which, respectively, abolished slavery in the US and ensured the Bill of Rights applied to all US citizens. 

Lifelong St James Parish resident Gail LeBoeuf said: “They’re trying to destroy the black people in this country in any way they can.”