Posted on August 9, 2023
The St. Bernard Parish District Attorney’s Office is suing the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) to block the construction of a proposed $1.8bn container terminal.
The lawsuit was filed in the 34th Judicial District Court and claims that building the giant container terminal would disrupt life at Violet and cause environmental damage.
According to the documents made available by St. Bernard Parish District Attorney Perry Nicosia, the lawsuit claims that under Louisiana law Port NOLA does not have legal jurisdiction to operate a shipping facility within the borders of St. Bernard Parish.
Nicosia also stated in the lawsuit that the Cooperative Endeavor Agreements executed by the ports attempting to grant Port NOLA authority to operate in St. Bernard Parish is a null and void contract under the law.
The documents further said that Port NOLA was stripped of all its jurisdiction in St. Bernard Parish by legislation passed in 1992 by then-Senator Sammy Nunez, then-Representative Thomas Warner, and then-Representative Ken Odinet, all of St. Bernard Parish. According to Nicosia, the 1992 legislation made it clear that no other port has jurisdiction in St. Bernard Parish.
The lawsuit reminds that Louisiana law does not allow a political subdivision, such as The St. Bernard Port Authority, to contractually divest itself of jurisdiction.
In that regard, the lawsuit questions the circumstances surrounding the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) executed in December of 2022 where the St. Bernard Port Commissioners agreed to allow Port NOLA to exclusively operate a port facility in St. Bernard Parish.
The DA requests that the CEA be declared null and void under Louisiana law as a political subdivision like St. Bernard Port cannot by law contractually divest itself of jurisdiction.
The container terminal project has been a stumbling block ever since Port NOLA bought the land at Violet for construction back in 2020.
Port NOLA claims that the container facility “is long overdue to allow it to compete with other Gulf South ports for big ship business.” It also has the support of the current Governor John Bel Edwards and certain development agencies.
