Holy Cross neighbors make voices heard at Alabo Street Terminal project open house

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Holy Cross neighbors are demanding answers as to why they have been left in the dark about a lease approval, given by The Port of New Orleans back in June to build a grain elevator and terminal at the Alabo Street Wharf.

Many residents say they were not made aware of the project until some time in September.

“This thing is already way off the ground. It’s been off the ground. We have files, we see that this has been in the works for years.”

“No one has reached out to the community until it was a done deal.”

The project will have a 10-car train carrying grain in and out of the terminal, but Sunrise Foods International says there’s no completed plan yet to mitigate the grain dust which residents say can cause respiratory problems. The train is supposed to start running early next year.

“This particulate can travel up to a mile, so this is not just going to hit the people who are by Alabo Wharf, which I’m only two blocks away.”

“Having thousands and thousands of pounds of grain dumped into warehouses in the Lower 9th Ward, into our communities, what will that do to our health?”

While neighbors say they were unaware of this until tonight, state representative Candace Newell says she’s been left out of the loop, too.

“They don’t have the final design for this building to ensure dust mitigation will stay in place. It is especially alarming because we have been asking this question for months now,” Newell said.

Many residents say the only positive outcome for them is for the project to move.

“There’s over 30 miles of riverfront that the port owns, and I can’t believe that there isn’t another location that won’t serve them as well.”

“We have environmental issues, health issues, noise issues, so we want this to stop.”

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