The company behind a $9.4 billion plastics complex planned for St. James Parish entered into a temporary truce with opposition groups last month as opponents dropped their demand for a preliminary injunction.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Louisiana Bucket Brigade and other groups had filed a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia to block construction of the Formosa Plastics project. The petrochemical complex, which would eventually produce products such as plastic bottles, grocery bags, polyester clothing and playground equipment, would create air pollution, accelerate climate change and cause health problems among local residents, the complaint states.
Among other concerns was the discovery of a burial site containing the graves of enslaved people who lived when the land was used for a plantation, according to the plaintiffs who are suing FG LA LLC, a member of the Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group.
“FG has always taken great care to protect the only remains found on its property at the Buena Vista site, located on the border of FG’s property,” Janile Parks, FG’s director of community and government relations, told the Louisiana Record in an email.
FG’s own archaeological investigation uncovered two potential burial sites on the property, with four sets of human remains found at the Buena Vista site and none found at a second site, Parks said.
The company says the legal agreement won’t impede the overall preparations for the project, which FG projects will generate 1,200 direct jobs with an average yearly pay of $84,500 plus benefits.
“The preliminary injunction filed in late July by groups opposing FG’s project was flawed and subsequently dismissed after an agreement was reached in federal court allowing planned activities under way at the site to move forward,” Parks said. “These activities include the widening of Highway 3127, utilities relocations, soil testing, placement of test piles and pipeline removal.”
Before the plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction, FG had decided to postpone construction of its contractor dock until February 2021 at the earliest, she said.
The company maintains that the environmental review of the project and the permitting process are in compliance with federal law. But opponents disagree.
“Now that Formosa Plastics has agreed not to disturb graves and wetlands on the site through February 2021, we can focus on this project’s deeply flawed approval process,” Julie Teel Simmonds, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a prepared statement. “This plant would sicken local residents, degrade wetlands, fuel climate change and send plastic pollution into our rivers and oceans. It violates federal law and should never have been approved.”
Among the supporters of the project is Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has said he expects the company to prevail in the current litigation.