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Three Vermilion Parish residents and a nonprofit have sued local officials, alleging they concealed decisions that enabled a project involving 125,000 acres of marshland formerly owned by ExxonMobil. The plaintiffs are challenging how officials approved a settlement, revived an industrial development board, and authorised a tax agreement. According to an AP report, the deal exempts Starbase Louisiana from local property taxes in exchange for $25 million in annual payments to local taxing authorities. Their lawsuit alleges five violations by the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, the parish’s governing body, and three by its Industrial Development Board. The first disputed decision concerns a July 15 settlement with ExxonMobil in litigation over coastal damage from oil and gas activities. Responding to an October 16 records request from The Current, the parish’s attorney said it had no digital copies and that the governor’s office held the originals for processing. After approving the settlement, the police jury appointed seven members to an industrial development board that had been inactive since 1997. It also challenges the absence of livestreams for two police jury meetings. The industrial board met on July 23 and approved the tax agreement on August 25.
The settlement was neither listed on the meeting agenda nor formally added during proceedings. “No item on the agenda gave any indication that the VPPJ would be considering a settlement with the ExxonMobil company,” the suit alleges. The settlement’s terms have not been disclosed, according to the lawsuit. SpaceX ’s Louisiana deal faces a lawsuit over alleged secrecy. The report notes that the lawsuit alleges eight open-meetings violations across four meetings in July and August. The plaintiffs say they seek government transparency rather than an end to the SpaceX project, although the relief requested could invalidate its tax incentive agreement. The plaintiffs are Pecan Island resident Cheryl Choate, Abbeville residents Robert Young and Rebecca Young, and the Vermilion Citizens Coalition. New Orleans attorney William Most represents them. The settlement helped unlock land for the SpaceX project. The plaintiffs also allege that a governor’s office staff member removed every copy from parish custody. The lawsuit alleges that officials improperly amended the agenda to make those appointments and later replaced one member without listing or adding that decision. The plaintiffs allege neither meeting was properly advertised, with posted notices identifying the project only by its state code name, Project Osprey. The publicly disclosed agreement is a PILOT, meaning payment in lieu of taxes. It includes a lease-back arrangement under which the board owns the project land while SpaceX retains a right to recover it. Governor Jeff Landry has defended confidentiality in economic development negotiations, arguing that disclosure could allow competing states to intervene. Residents have raised concerns about their opportunity to influence the project. At a September meeting, SpaceX officials could not rule out launches that would block access to homes and hunting camps. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
It also sets employment benchmarks. Parish President Chad Vallo referred questions to the police jury’s attorney, who did not respond before the report was published.