SOS Applauds DA Lawsuit Against Port NOLA
The Committee to Stop the Destruction of St. Bernard released the following statement today applauding the lawsuit filed by the St. Bernard District Attorney to prevent Port NOLA from operating in the parish.
“We commend District Attorney Perry Nicosia for filing the lawsuit on behalf of St. Bernard Parish Government. We have been fighting this battle for several years on behalf of thousands of residents of our parish. We are doing everything possible to prevent the destruction and devastation that will come to pass if the Port of New Orleans is not stopped. As chief law enforcement official in in the Parish , the District Attorney recognizes the urgency of enforcing the law and preventing the Port’s illegal actions from destroying our parish. We have long alleged the illegality of the Port of New Orleans’ actions in St. Bernard Parrish and support the District Attorney’ s lawsuit which will bolster our legal action.”
Today, the District Attorney released the following:
District Attorney, Perry M. Nicosia, filed suit on behalf of St. Bernard Parish Government against Port Nola to stop them from operating a port facility in St. Bernard Parish which is outside of their jurisdiction. The lawsuit sets forth that under Louisiana law Port NOLA does not have legal jurisdiction to operate a shipping facility within the borders of St. Bernard Parish. Furthermore, the Cooperative Endeavor Agreements executed by the ports attempting to grant Port NOLA authority to operate in St. Bernard Parish is a null and void contract under the law.
The lawsuit filed lays out the entire legislative process by which the St. Bernard Port Authority was created. The suit further proves that the Port NOLA was stripped of all its jurisdiction in St. Bernard Parish by legislation passed in 1992 by then Senator Sammy Nunez, then Representative Thomas Warner, and then Representative Ken Odinet, all of St. Bernard Parish. The legislation passed by these great legislators in 1992, made it unmistakably clear that the St. Bernard Port, which is a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana, has complete and exclusive jurisdiction to operate an international port within the borders of Parish of St. Bernard. The legislation in 1992 made it clear that no other port has jurisdiction in St. Bernard Parish.
Additionally, the lawsuit sets forth that Louisiana law does not allow a political subdivision, such as The St. Bernard Port Authority, to contractually divest itself of jurisdiction. The lawsuit sets forth concerns and the questionable circumstances surrounding the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CA) executed in December of 2022 where the St. Bernard Port Commissioners agreed to allow Port NOLA to exclusively operate a port facility here in St. Bernard Parish. The lawsuit requests that the CEA be declared null and void under Louisiana law as a political subdivision such as the St. Bernard Port cannot contractually divest itself of jurisdiction.