In Louisiana, we’re no strangers to hurricanes. The experiences of Hurricanes Rita, Ida, Delta, and of course, Katrina, are etched in all our minds. That’s why the construction of Venture Global’s new LNG export terminal in Plaquemines Parish is so disturbing to me. 

Nineteen years ago, on  August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina – one of the most destructive hurricanes in history –  first made landfall here on our boot-shaped peninsula, near the town of Buras. Catastrophic winds and storm surges left the area so severely damaged that for more than a year afterward, we saw almost no evidence of recovery.

Today, with the construction of the massive Plaquemines LNG plant in the middle of our narrow, rural parish, the few available evacuation routes are clogged. For the people who make their homes on this spit of coastal land, getting to higher ground in an emergency is becoming impossible.

Situated at the very end of the Mississippi River Delta, Plaquemines Parish is a particularly fragile area. Much of it isn’t solid land. For the more than 20,000 people who make our home here, there are only one or two routes in and out. 

Historically, the lack of egress didn’t pose a challenge to parish residents. This has always been a rural community that hasn’t had demand for larger highways or other transportation infrastructure. Sitting as it does on a narrow outcropping in the Gulf of Mexico, the parish couldn’t support many additional roads.

Like in so many other parts of our state, however, the LNG export industry is having a devastating impact. With each one of these facilities consuming a site bigger than a football stadium, coastal wetlands critical to absorbing storm surges have been replaced with concrete. Of course, the facilities also add traffic to narrow rural roads.

Venture Global’s newest construction has shown me and my congregation that LNG plant congestion doesn’t start when operations begin. We’re living it every day now.

Already, our area receives about 8,000 workers every day, and the shuttles and vans used to transport these workers clog our streets. Then there’s dump trucks and 18-wheelers straining our limited infrastructure. In an evacuation, these bottlenecks will worsen, creating potentially life-threatening delays.

At Oakville Missionary Baptist, my church in Belle Chasse, traffic has ground to a halt. I can’t hold funeral services on weekdays anymore because of the traffic. Earlier this month, I officiated a funeral for a local teacher. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects, and yet we had to rush unceremoniously through her service so mourners could make it out before Venture Global’s daily afternoon traffic jam. The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office still needed to deploy deputies to deal with the congestion. It was gridlock.

A hurricane’s path can’t be predicted with 100% accuracy. Before Katrina, we barely had a full three days’ warning. And there’s no way to evacuate over 20,000 permanent residents and countless temporary workers along narrow local roads on short notice – not when construction vehicles are littering the way.  

It’s time for our local, state, and federal leaders to stop permitting LNG export terminals, especially in hurricane zones. The costs for our communities are astronomical. 

Venture Global’s traffic threatens public safety. The mere existence of the facility makes us more vulnerable. The construction destroys coastal wetlands that absorb storm surges from incoming hurricanes. Venture Global will belch greenhouse gasses, smoke, and chemicals into the air. 

It’s bad enough to be trapped by traffic. With Venture Global in town, we will be trapped and we will be sick. 

It’s not too late to correct course. The federal government is well within its rights to revoke permits for plants currently under construction – and to force plants currently operating to protect public health and safety by limiting dangerous emissions and creating actionable evacuation plans.

The people of Plaquemines Parish matter. We don’t deserve to shoulder the burden of dirty, extractive LNG plants.  And we deserve a thoughtful and workable evacuation plan that gives us – not Venture Global – the right of way.

Bishop Wilfret Johnson is lead pastor at Oakville Missionary Baptist Church in Belle Chasse and is a longtime resident of Plaquemines Parish.