On January 8, 2025, the School Board unanimously (10-0) passed a Resolution to oppose the permit application filed by the Port of New Orleans. The resolution was passed in anticipation of the January 14, 2025 deadline for filing comments in opposition to the Port’s permit application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Unlike the Council, the School Board has been quiet, dignified, firm, and unified in its opposition to the LIT facility.
The resolution was based in part upon a previously unreleased report issued by Vickerman & Associates. This report was attached and made part of the resolution and made public at the conclusion of the board meeting.
All of the visuals provided by the Port of New Orleans have done a good job at obscuring the fact that the W. Smith Junior Elementary School is situated in the middle of the proposed footprint of this facility. The Vickerman report provided visuals that make this fact impossible ignore.
These depictions are compelling proof of why the Port of New Orleans will have such an uphill battle in obtaining a permit to build around the school. The mitigation requirements to build this close to a school are simply not practicable or feasible.
The entirety of the report is contained below.
The report details all of the technical challenges that the Port would face building in the vicinity of this school. In short, all of this is how an engineer says you can’t build the container terminal near this school.