The residents of Gordon Plaza are fighting for a fully-funded relocation from the toxic land that their community was built on by the City of New Orleans. The subdivision was built on top of what was once the Agricultural Street Landfill – an area designated by the EPA as a hazardous waste site in 1994. Since 1993, residents have been fighting for financial compensation for emotional distress and property damage. They’ve also pushed for a fully-funded relocation, which after decades, may now be in sight.

On June 23, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to approve a $35 million plan to ​​relocate the residents of Gordon Plaza. The $35 million dollar figure is an estimated cost of relocation for the owners of all 67 households including home replacement costs and moving expense. The estimate came from a study authored by two professors at Tulane University and a New Orleans real estate broker and expert on home evaluations in December.

Along with relocating the residents, the City plans to convert part of the land into a solar energy farm. In the 2022 budget passed in December, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell allocated $2 million in bond funding to survey the site for redevelopment.

Residents of Gordon Plaza are optimistic but are still keeping things in perspective. Gordon Plaza residents have won several judgments in class-action lawsuits against the City of New Orleans, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and the Orleans Parish School Board, for lost property value and emotional distress. But, many of the residents have still not received compensation from those judgments, and probably never will. According to a 2021 investigation by the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, the City has more than 560 outstanding judgments and settlements, with a backlog of about $40 million. Some date back 25 years.

The difference this time is that the money has been allocated: The City Council is diverting funding from municipal bonds in this year’s capital budget from stalled projects the city hasn’t yet initiated.

The city has scheduled meetings with residents and is working with a law firm to work out distributing the funds. But Jesse Perkins, other residents of Gordon Plaza, and advocates are hoping to get this money as soon as possible – and potentially even find new homes by the new year. A city spokesperson told The Takeaway that "the city has hired a firm to assist with the property acquisition, the firm is planning to identify the escrow and title companies by the end of July. And then will be providing the city with timelines on the process."

We spoke with Jesse Perkins, a resident of Gordon Plaza about these updates, and how he and the other 54 families still living there, feel after decades of fighting to get city officials’ attention. 

Check out our previous coverage: Gordon Plaza Residents Fight for Relocation from Toxic Land.