Say NO
to Industry in the Heart
of Our Community
The safety, health, and prosperity of our Lower 9th Ward community are under attack.
Foreign conglomerate Sunrise Foods International is attempting to repurpose and expand Alabo Street Wharf for use as a grain terminal. This plan would bring heavy industrial activity into our neighborhood, and would involve reactivating nearly two miles of long-unused freight rail lines running along the St. Claude neutral ground in Arabi and down the middle of Alabo Street through the heart of Holy Cross.
What would this mean for people who live here? This project would:
- Introduce damaging grain dust to the neighborhood, which is known to cause chronic respiratory disease
- Activate 24 separate rail crossings along St. Claude and Alabo Street, with daily freight trains running through the neighborhood
- Decrease residential property values by up to $15 million
- Eliminate a half-mile of levee access, and cut off pedestrian access between Arabi and Holy Cross
- Involve extensive construction and the addition of nine new freight rail lines on top of our levee system from Delery St to Andry St
- Lead to population loss and deplete the local economy while offering no benefit to the neighborhood
The grain terminal’s sponsors have gone to great lengths to conceal it from the public and continue to take steps to advance the project, despite clear messages from our community and from city officials that it is inappropriate for and unwelcome in this neighborhood.
As of mid-2025, Norfolk Southern has completed work to rehabilitate the tracks along Alabo Street, though the connection with the St. Claude rail line is not finished. At the same time, Sunrise Foods has begun indoor renovations to the wharf, though this work is undertaken at the company’s own risk since it has not yet received all the permits it needs for the project.
These developments do not mean that the project is a done deal. Indeed, amid community opposition, the company has already missed its original target of opening the grain terminal in June 2025; as of August 2025, the company has claimed the wharf will open at some point in the fall (without giving a specific date).
Our efforts to get informed, organize raise awareness, and fight back against this invasion of our community are working. But there’s still more work to be done – and we need your help. Please explore this website to learn more about Sunrise’s plans for our neighborhood and consider whether there’s a way you could contribute to the effort to stop them with a financial donation, by volunteering some of your time, and/or signing our petition.
This industrial development brings no benefit to our community, and, if successful, would harm residents for years. NOW is the time for us to come together and stop Sunrise Foods International and Port NOLA’s plan for the grain terminal before it starts!
In the News
Council’s opposition to Holy Cross grain facility draws praise from residents, criticism from Port – Times-Picayune, 9/17/25
Residents of New Orleans comeback district fear port development could kill the renaissance – The Guardian, 4/26/25
Blowing the Whistle on the Grain Train – ANTIGRAVITY, 2/7/25
Port NOLA confirms two new phases to Lower 9th Ward terminal project – WVUE, 12/20/24