Residents of a historic Black community in Louisiana who’ve spent years fighting against a massive grain export facility set to be built on the grounds where their enslaved ancestors once lived appear to have finally halted the project.
A representative for Greenfield Louisiana LLC announced during a public hearing on Tuesday evening that the company is “ceasing all plans” to construct a grain export facility in the middle of the town of Wallace in St. John the Baptist Parish.
After a moment, opponents of the project broke out in cheers and began clapping and hugging one another.
“I’m still obviously in disbelief—I can’t believe this is happening, but I’m ecstatic and all praise to the ancestors,” said Joy Banner, a Wallace resident and one of the most vocal opponents of the project.
The company’s announcement signaled a rare win for a community in a heavily industrialized stretch of the Mississippi River known as “Cancer Alley” for its high levels of pollution. Wallace is about 50 miles west of New Orleans.
The Army Corps of Engineers had already determined that the proposed 222-acre facility could adversely impact cultural heritage sites in Wallace, and was tasked with reviewing Greenfield’s application.
Corps representative Brad LaBorde said his agency had not been informed in advance of the company’s unexpected decision to cancel plans for the facility.
“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 they formally submit a withdrawal to us so that we can conclude the review.”
Lynda Van Davis, Greenfield’s counsel and head of external affairs, says the long delay in government approval for the project has been “an expensive ordeal,” adding that she does not have an answer for when the company would submit a formal withdrawal to the Corps.
“This has been a difficult ride the whole time, we didn’t wake up yesterday and say we’re done,” Van Davis says. “We said we’ll stay in the fight a little bit longer, because we’ve become friends with this community. Unfortunately, how long are we supposed to stay in this fight?”
