ccsj-march-for-justice
ccsj-march-for-justice

Reserve, Louisiana

Concerned Citizens for St. John

“In Cancer Alley, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we have 60 miles of chemical plants dumping poisonous chemicals of all sorts into the Mississippi River, into our aquifers, and into the air. By the time the river gets to St. John’s Parish it is something that you should be afraid to even put your hand in. But that is where we get our drinking water.” Robert Taylor, founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John

The Concerned Citizens of St. John (CCSJ) is a non-profit founded in 2017 in St. John the Baptist Parish, LA to advocate for the health and safety of all citizens by holding government and industry officials accountable for air, water, and soil quality. The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed in 2016 what residents had suspected for over 50 years – their predominantly African American community was plagued with the highest risk of cancer in the U. S. One culprit, according to the EPA, was a nearby manufacturing facility owned by DuPont until 2015, now by Denka, that regularly emitted chloroprene, a likely carcinogen, at more than 50 times the level deemed safe. CCSJ is determined to change that. Lobbying lawmakers, rallying public support, organizing town hall meetings, filing petitions, and even suing to halt Denka from continuing its operations without proper safety protocols or environmental protections in place, CCSJ never loses sight of its vision: a safe, healthy, thriving community.

On his Journey to Justice Tour, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, at left, met with CCSJ members and Deep South Center for Environmental Justice founder Dr. Beverly Wright at Fifth Ward Elementary School in Reserve, LA. The school sits 500 feet from a chemical plant that emits chloroprene, classified by the EPA a likely human carcinogen. Reagan made a commitment to take the perspective of the suffering overburdened and underserved residents back to DC to drive policymaking. (photo courtesy of Tish Taylor, Concerned Citizens for St. John)

Founded by Robert Taylor, whose family has faced generations of medical issues due to chemical exposure, CCSJ is a small, Black-led grassroots group driving significant changes in St. John Parish. In 2022, CCSJ and the Sierra Club partnered with Earthjustice and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to sue the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Department of Health for Civil Rights Act violations and failing to control hazardous air pollution. In 2023, the Department of Justice took legal action against Denka, validating CCSJ’s advocacy. Their current focus is relocating Fifth Ward Elementary School which sits 500 feet from the Denka facility. In 2024, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund urged a federal judge to mandate relocating students; despite a 1992 desegregation order and pollution concerns, the school district has been slow to act. For Taylor and CCSJ, “this is a moment of reckoning.” They won’t back down.

Contact
Robert Taylor, Founder and Executive Director
Climate impacts
Flooding, Heat, Hurricanes/Tropical Storms
Strategies
legal/permit challenges, renewable energy, community organizing and education, public hearings, political activism including protests/petitions/ and lobbying
Environmental Justice Concerns
Hazardous/toxic sites, oil and gas development, air pollution
501c3 Tax Deductible
Yes
Accepting Donation
Yes