About RiverPlex MegaPark
The proposed 17,000 acre RiverPlex MegaPark would transform the beautiful west bank of Ascension Parish into an industrial wasteland. The Industrial Site would be 10% of all land in Ascension Parish.
With 40 industrial facilities and pipelines, Ascension Parish is already in the top 10 most polluted counties (or parishes) in the country.
Secrecy and Non-Disclosure Agreements
The Landry Administration has required officials to sign NDA’s about this project, meaning our government officials can’t talk to us about this plan to radically industrialize still more of Louisiana.
In May, a state court judge ruled that Ascension Parish improperly withheld public records about this project.
Misuse of Public Money
This industrial destruction is only possible through the Landry administration's for massive financial support for Hyundai.
This foreign corporation is set to receive over a billion dollars in tax exemptions, billions in bonds (loans) direct cash payments from the state, over $400 million in roads, rail, and infrastructure, and a $300 million electric bill discount from Entergy Louisiana.
We are plaintiffs on two lawsuits challenging these financial giveaways.
Hyundai Steel
Last year Donald Trump and Jeff Landry stood with Hyundai officials in DC to announce the 1,700-acre steel mill proposed for Ascension Parish.
The Hyundai Steel project has been shrouded in controversary and is subject to multiple lawsuits from use of NDA’s and skirting public records laws and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers being derelict in duty to protect the burial sites of enslaved people
Hyundai’s labor practices in the United States have come under fire and there is a lawsuit in California due to the use of child labor. Hyundai has also reportedly used prison labor in Alabama.
CF Industries
Ascension Parish is already home to the world’s largest ammonia production facility, CF Industries Donaldsonville Nitrogen Complex.
CF Industries is named #1 Most Toxic Air Polluter in the United States.
The proposed RiverPlex MegaPark includes a second ammonia facility from CF and a CO₂ pipeline for carbon capture.
Carbon Capture has been rejected by communities across the political spectrum due to safety concerns and the massive amounts of taxpayer money supporting the scheme.
This is larger than one project, the state and parish want to radically transform what is now a conservation and residential area. That would mean Donaldsonville and Ascension Parish would be subject to extreme pollution from all sides.
Displacement of Historic Black Community
The RiverPlex MegaPark would displace hundreds of people, including the historic community of Modeste. Some families are descendants of those who fought for and won Emancipation.
Modeste is a tight-knit community. Families have lived in their homes for generations and have deep roots and connections to the land and its history, as well as a vision for the future.
Destroying Burial Sites and Cultural Landmarks
The land for the RiverPlex MegaPark includes former plantations where enslaved people lived, suffered, and died.
The land includes burial sites of enslaved people. By building industrial facilities on this land, burial sites may be destroyed, and ancestors disrespected and built on top of.
Historic cabins were already destroyed to clear land for construction.
History and the burial sites deserve to be protected, honored, and remembered rather than destroyed for more industry.