The complaint is the latest move by the Biden administration over pollution in an 85-mile stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, formally known as the Mississippi chemical Corridor but more commonly known as Cancer Alley. There are several hot spots in the region where the cancer risk is far higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency considers acceptable. The White House has made environmental enforcement a priority in communities that are chronically overburdened with pollution.

Reagan visited the parish during a five-day trip from Mississippi to Texas in 2021, focusing on low-income, mostly minority communities adversely affected by industrial pollution. A poison release inventory compiled by the EPA shows that minority groups make up 56 percent of people living near toxic sites such as oil refineries, landfills, and chemical plants. Negative effects include chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Last year, the EPA said there was evidence that black residents faced increased cancer risks from chemical plants and that state officials had allowed pollution to remain too high. The agency's letter was part of an investigation under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that anyone receiving federal money cannot discriminate based on race or national origin.

Local activists have long targeted the plant, arguing that nearby air monitoring showed it posed a threat to St. John the Baptist parishioners.

The Justice Department agreed in its complaint, saying the plant exposed thousands of people to a lifetime cancer risk "several times higher than what is generally considered acceptable."

Mary Hampton, president of the Concerned Citizens Association of St. John the Baptist Parish, said emissions from plants need to come down quickly.

"This is a positive step in the right direction," she said of the federal lawsuit. "It's been a long time."

Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, said the Justice Department lawsuit helps ensure that black communities in Louisiana do not have to suffer deadly pollution.

"For decades, black families have been human experiments in Louisiana's petrochemical industry," she said.

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