Court denied appeal by company that sought to build a massive  grain elevator that threatened health and heritage of historic Black community in Wallace, Louisiana 

April 2, 2025, New Orleans –  The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of The Descendants Project, an organization founded to advocate for descendants of people once enslaved in Louisiana’s river parishes. The court affirmed a 2023 lower court ruling that invalidated a 1990 zoning ordinance on grounds that it had been unlawfully passed. Greenfield Louisiana LLC sought to rely on the ordinance to build a massive grain terminal in Wallace, a historic Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley. 

Today’s ruling secures a significant victory by the citizens of Wallace, who have long fought to protect the health and heritage of their community, against environmental racism. Adjacent to two former plantations, the land in question likely contains the burial sites of enslaved people. The Descendants Project – founded by sisters Joy and Jo Banner, who are themselves descendants of enslaved people – filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the ordinance in 2021. 

The 1990 ordinance purported to rezone the land from residential to industrial for a controversial project pursued by Formosa Plastics, a Taiwan-based corporation. The attempted rezoning was plagued by corruption that led to the then-Parish President's conviction in federal court. Formosa dropped the project, and the land was used for agricultural purposes over the intervening thirty years until Greenfield sought to construct a facility on the site. 

“Today’s ruling is a significant step forward in providing the protection we need from self-interested, corrupt public leaders who would sacrifice our safety to line their own pockets,” said The Descendants Project’s Joy Banner. “We will continue our pursuit of desirable development goals that address community needs, like grocery stores, transportation, and fulfilling careers.”

Since the lower court's ruling invalidating the 1990 ordinance, the Parish has attempted to pass another ordinance to rezone the land back to industrial. The Descendants Project has challenged that decision as well, and the matter is pending in the district court.

“We are grateful that both of these courts recognized and affirmed the very basic principle that government must follow its own law,” said Pam Spees, a senior attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and counsel on the case.

For more information, see case page.