Inclusive Louisiana

With the mission to spread enlightenment and hope to create a fairer and more inclusive society, Inclusive Louisiana was formed in 2020 as a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the residents of St. James Parish and neighboring parishes from environmental harm caused by industrial pollution. The grassroots community organization operates with a deep belief in Christian faith paired with passionate activism to halt the injustices being inflicted on the community’s environment and health. St. James Parish lies in an area that has been dubbed “Cancer Alley” due to the more than 200 petrochemical plants belching carcinogenic pollutants along an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River. Shortly after forming, the group joined several others to file a lawsuit calling for a state ban on new petrochemical plants in an attempt to halt a trend of setting up such toxic facilities in communities of color.

Gail LeBoeuf and Barbara Washington are co-founders and co-executive directors of Inclusive Louisiana, Washington, a lifelong resident of St. James Parish, lives on the east bank of the Mississippi River. LaBoeuf also lives in the shadows of the petrochemical industry. In 2019 when Wanhua Chemicals proposed building a $1.25 petrochemical plant near their homes, Washington and LeBoeuf joined the fight for environmental justice. Inclusive Louisiana joined other groups to successfully block the Wanhua plant and put a temporary halt on a $9.4 billion Formosa plastics complex. In 2023, the group joined another environmental justice group, Rise St. James, and Mt. Triumph Baptist Church of Chatham Town to file a lawsuit calling for the state’s first ban on new petrochemical plants to halt the practice of concentrating petrochemical plants in areas with large minority populations. The lawsuit was thrown out on procedural grounds. The group vows to fight on.

For more information:

DEQ remains in denial over ‘Cancer Alley’ industry correlations  – Louisiana Illuminator, February 2024

Black Residents of Louisiana File Landmark Lawsuit – Human Rights Watch, March 2023

Federal judge tosses lawsuit alleging environmental racism in St. James Parish – Associated Press, December 2023