The St. Bernard Parish district attorney is suing the Port of New Orleans in state court, alleging that the port`s planned $1.8 billion international container facility should be blocked on jurisdictional grounds.
District Attorney Perry Nicosia filed the legal challenge Aug. 4 in the 34th Judicial District Court on behalf of the parish government, arguing that Port NOLA lacks jurisdictional authority to develop a container and logistics center in the Violet area.
The lawsuit alleges that state legislation passed in 1992 blocked Port NOLA’s legal authority to operate in St. Bernard Parish and seeks a permanent injunction to block the development of the 1,200-acre container project.
“The legislation … made it unmistakably clear that the St. Bernard Port, which is a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, has complete and exclusive jurisdiction to operate an international port within the borders of (the) Parish of St. Bernard,” a statement released by Nicosia’s office says.
The legal complaint also seeks to have the court declare null and void agreements, permits and contracts between Port NOLA and the St. Bernard Port commissioners. These contracts deal with payments and exchanges of property that underlie the container project, the lawsuit says.
“We’re aware of the filing and will respond within the appropriate delays,” Kimberly Curth, Port NOLA’s press secretary, told the Louisiana Record in an email. “”Beyond that, we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The district attorney said no further comments beyond his Aug. 4 statement would be released. “The suit is a jurisdiction challenge only,” Nicosia said in an email. “... No additional comments will be made as the matter is in litigation.”
The port project will substantially boost the state’s import and export capacity and help to produce more than 17,000 jobs by mid-century, according to a statement released last year by the Governor’s Office. Some parish residents have criticized the project on environmental grounds.