Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Overview

Plaquemines Parish is a largely rural and coastal region along the Lower Mississippi River outside New Orleans. There has been an ongoing fight in Plaquemines Parish against coal export infrastructure and pollution. Known for its rich wetlands, fishing and seafood industries, and historic Black communities such as Ironton and Wood Park, Plaquemines Parish has multiple coal export terminals that residents and environmental groups have linked to coal dust pollution in the water, harm to residents' respiratory health, and threatened coastal restoration efforts.

Coal has been exported along the Mississippi River from terminals in Plaquemines Parish for decades. The facilities stage coal in uncovered piles that are weathered by the wind and rain, producing visible plumes of coal dust that blow into nearby neighborhoods and natural habitats. Residents and advocates have reported that coal dust contributes to respiratory problems, for example, asthma and bronchitis, and degrades the air and water quality.

Public Citizen, a national consumer and environmental advocacy organization, documented community opposition to coal export and its impacts dating back to public hearings in 2015, where more than 150 residents and advocates urged Louisiana state regulators to reject a coastal-use permit for a proposed new coal export terminal. Speakers highlighted concerns the facility would worsen air and water pollution, threaten coastal wetlands restoration projects like the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, and increase coal train traffic through residential areas.

The RAM Terminal Proposal

In the early 2010s, Armstrong Energy's RAM Terminal proposed a new coal terminal near Myrtle Grove and Ironton, adjacent to sensitive coastal restoration areas and existing industrial infrastructure. The facility planned to receive coal transported by river barge and train, which would then be loaded on to ships for export. Therefore, the terminal required long, uncovered coal trains to serve it, carrying coal through populated areas and emitting coal dust along the way.

Residents, local leaders, and environmental groups joined together against the RAM Terminal. The Clean Gulf Commerce Coalition, including the Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), Sierra Club, and other partners, filed lawsuits to challenge the coastal-use permit granted by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), arguing the permit was issued unlawfully and posed unacceptable risks to air quality, coastal restoration, wetlands, and community health. Nearby communities also pushed back against related federal permitting decisions, with a coalition of groups writing to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging public hearings. The groups argued the Corps issued a permit for the RAM Terminal without meaningful community engagement and consultation to make clear the potential impacts of coal dust, other industrial pollutants, and risks to coastal restoration.

Community Organizing

Resistance to the RAM Terminal was sustained and multi-pronged. Residents, activists, and advocacy organizations worked together for years to build public awareness, mobilize local opposition, and challenge permits through the courts. In a significant legal victory, the 25^th Judicial District Court of Louisiana overturned an earlier coastal-use permit for the RAM Terminal, finding that the DNR failed to consider alternative sites, therefore violating the state constitution of Louisiana. The decision vacated the permit and forced the company to reapply with more thorough analysis.

Plaquemines Parish Council and neighboring municipal governments in Gretna and Westwego also passed resolutions opposing the RAM Terminal and its associated rail traffic. Residents emphasized the facility would worsen existing pollution burdens and threaten emergency response times due to long coal trains blocking access. In addition to litigation over the RAM Terminal, environmental groups won a separate settlement with United Bulk Coal Export Terminal, an existing facility in Plaquemines Parish, through a citizen suit alleging coal and petroleum coke were regularly spilled into the Mississippi River in violation of the Clean Water Act. The settlement required United Bulk to implement updated pollution controls and monitoring aimed at reducing spills and airborne dust and to fund local coastal restoration projects.

Organizing around coal dust in Plaquemines Parish included attempts to document airborne particulate levels and connect them to health outcomes. Local advocates conducted community science efforts to test hypotheses about how and when dust was generated. Although not always publishable in an academic science journal, these efforts played a critical role in compelling DNR and industry representatives to acknowledge residents' lived experiences, especially when air monitoring with tools like PurpleAir sensors and microscopy on dust samples also suggested elevated levels of particulate matter near coal terminals. Additionally residents described chronic asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions they believed were linked to coal dust. These grassroots data collection efforts elevated coal dust from anecdote to a documented concern in public discussions with DNR and the newsmedia.

Relevance and Conversation with the Repair Lab

The fight in Plaquemines Parish spanned years and demonstrated tactics and challenges with wider relevance for environmental justice movements involving industrial pollution and coal dust. Organizers found that legal actions such as citizen suits under the Clean Water Act provided valuable leverage, particularly when they could document ongoing operational issues like coal dust plumes and spills. Community air monitoring, visual documentation, and media outreach helped shift narratives and validate residents' concerns in regulatory and public arenas.

Organizers faced internal and external tensions, including racial, class, political, and media attention dynamics. Strategic alliances between groups representing a range of interests helped broaden the campaign's reach. However, some participants noted that the media and decision-makers sometimes paid greater attention when impacts were highlighted in ways perceived as affecting white audiences broadly, demonstrating how narrative and framing played a role in public visibility and opinion.

Policymaking environments in Louisiana and Virginia differ substantially. Activists in Plaquemines Parrish fought state permitting decisions under Louisiana's coastal-use regulatory system and federal environmental laws like the Clean Water Act, and their success in court illustrates the power of legal strategies where statutory protections exist and are enforceable. In Virginia, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has required extensive evidence before acting, with community narratives frequently preceding regulatory attention, leading activists to emphasize community science, storytelling, and coalition building as tools for change.

Documents

Meeting between Scott and Jasmine of Healthy Gulf and Repair Lab Team Members, June 16, 2023