Last January, the Louisiana department of environmental quality (LDEQ) approved permits for the Taiwanese plastics-giant Formosa to build 14 separate plastics plants in St James parish. In 2019, Rise St James found that Formosa’s chosen location sits on two former sugarcane plantations and the burial grounds of enslaved people. “This is the epitome of environmental racism,” said Varshini Prakash, the co-founder and executive director of Sunrise Movement. “If we had the money, we would purchase the land from Formosa,” Sharon Lavigne, the founder of Rise St James,said. “St James deserves to stop fighting plants and to start building what they really want in their community.”

Source: The Guardian May 17, 2021 19:07 UTC