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Louisiana’s Office of Multi-modal Commerce says billions of dollars in port projects are stuck in line for funding, with requests piling up as far back as 2019.
Julia Fisher-Cormier, the office’s director, said the program’s design allowed applications to build up without caps on approvals, even when annual funding was a fraction of the demand.
“It started out with very little funding, but the rules stayed the same,” Fisher-Cormier told The Center Square. “When the rules were promulgated there wasn’t a rule to stop acceptance of applications annually. So, in 1989 they may have funded the program at $2 million, but awarded applications for approval up to $20 million.”
The Port Priority Fund, which covers part of the cost of infrastructure projects at Louisiana’s public ports, was boosted three years ago from about $30 million annually to $40 million. Still, Fisher-Cormier said the funding level remains far below the need.
In one local example, the state approved the Port of Morgan City’s application for $15 million in Port Priority funding for its west dock expansion three years ago, port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said Wednesday. The rest of the money for the $27 million project was to come from the federal Maritime Administration ($10 million) and from the Legislature’s capital outlay budget ($2 million).
But the Port Priority approval didn’t result in a quick check. Because the program approves more funding than is available each year, recipients have to wait until their project moves up the priority list.
After three years, the Port of Morgan City received authorization for reimbursement of $5 million in project costs. Wade expects to receive $5 million in additional authorization in each of the next two years.
“It’s great to get it, but you don’t get the money for three years,” Wade said.
He’s hoping to seek bids on the project soon and to see construction begin early next year.
On Tuesday, the Joint Transportation Committee approved one more project for the queue – dock improvements and expansions at the Cameron Parish Port. The $11 million project requires $9 million in taxpayer funding and is expected to create 15 jobs at an average salary of $55,000. But given the backlog, the project may not see state dollars for years.
Twenty-eight projects costing more than $600 million in total remain only partially funded and cannot move forward until full financing is secured. The state’s share accounts for roughly $210 million. Funding is awarded based on application date, meaning older projects take precedence. The longest-waiting project is at the St. Bernard Port Harbor and Terminal District, which has only been half-funded so far.
So far in 2025, three new applications worth $21 million have been submitted, adding to the already lengthy list.
Lawmakers expressed concern Tuesday about how Louisiana’s port program compares to those in other states.
“These all are very good projects, the state receives a good return on our investment,” said Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans. “They create jobs. Forty million just doesn’t seem to be enough. Our competing states are pouring money into their ports. And I want us to increase the amount that we’re doing. All of our ports require attention.”
Fisher-Cormier pointed to Texas as an example, noting its port program is funded at up to $250 million a year.
The Review’s Bill Decker contributed to the reporting for this story.

Louisiana is fast becoming a hub for processing critical minerals, rare earths and electrolyte salts used to produce lithium-ion batteries, with one plant operating successfully and seven more now under construction around the state.
The Trump administration and U.S. producers are racing to wean the country from dependence on imports from China.
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump on March 20 signed an executive order titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” which is aimed at boosting domestic production of critical minerals and reducing reliance on foreign supplies. China has dominated the often dirty, capital-intensive business of processing critical minerals and rare earths for three decades.
Since 2022, companies planning and building plants in Louisiana that will process rare earths, critical minerals, and components of lithium-ion batteries have received more than $1 billion in grants, loans and tax credits from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense and the state of Louisiana.
The Trump administration last week proposed $1 billion of additional funding for the Department of Energy aimed at sponsoring partnerships to develop and scale up mining and processing technologies in the critical minerals and materials supply chains. The funding proposal includes up to $500 million for the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which is to be used to boost U.S. processing of critical minerals and battery manufacturing.
At England Airpark in Alexandria, Ucore North America Rare Metals Inc. began construction in May on a plant that will separate rare earth metals from oxides shipped to the facility through the Port of New Orleans. Ucore received Department of Defense grants totaling $22.4 million to design and build the plant and was chosen for $15 million in tax exemptions by Louisiana Gov. Jon Bel Edwards in 2023. England Airpark, a repurposed Air Force base, is a duty-free zone.
Ucore’s Alexandria plant will process rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium to purities of 99.9% for use in the production of permanent magnets, which are crucial in manufacturing a variety of high-tech applications including electric vehicles, wind turbines, cellphones, computer hard drives, robotics and military.
Ucore expects to begin processing at the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex in June 2026 with initial production targeted at 3,000 tons of rare earths per year and output in 2027 projected to reach 12,000 tons per year. Ucore will use a solvent extraction process to separate the metals.
Louisiana Economic Development estimates Ucore’s rare earths processing plant will bring 100 direct jobs and 298 indirect jobs to the Alexandria area. Ucore has received grants and tax credits totaling about $267 million from the Departments of Energy and Defense to support project planning and construction.
In Vidalia, about 70 miles east of Alexandria, Syrah Technologies began production in 2024 at its graphite processing plant near the Mississippi River and the company is now scaling up outputs. Syrah is the only U.S.-based supplier to refine graphite to the 99.5% purity level required by industrial and military users. China is the world’s largest graphite supplier, accounting for 78% of global production in 2024, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Syrah, the U.S. subsidiary of an Australian mining company, is ramping up production at the Vidalia plant as the Trump administration considers imposing Section 232 tariffs of 93.5% on anode graphite imported from China. In July, the Commerce Department found that anode graphite imported from China is being sold in the United States at less than fair market value. In October, the Trump administration will release a Section 232 report on U.S. imports of anode graphite from China which will establish a tariff rate that will go into effect in December.
Syrah’s Vidalia plant processes “flake” or “natural” graphite mined in countries that are part of the U.S. battery supply chain. In 2024, there was no flake graphite mined in the United States, although synthetic graphite was produced. Manufactured synthetic graphite has a carbon footprint five times that of mined and processed flake graphite, and it is also far more costly to produce.
The typical electric vehicle battery contains more than 200 pounds of anode graphite, which has thermal and electrical properties that also make is essential in the production of F-35 fighter jets, the barrels of heavy artillery guns, the cones forming the tips of missiles, and satellites. Syrah signed a deal with Tesla calling for the company in January 2025 to begin supplying spheroid graphite processed for use in EV batteries.
Syrah’s Vidalia processing plant employs 88 people, with a planned expansion expected to result in an additional 88 jobs. In 2022, the Department of Energy awarded Syrah a $220 million grant and loaned the company $102.1 million.
In south Louisiana, construction work has begun on three plants that will produce electrolyte salts critical in battery production. One of the electrolyte production plants is in Jefferson Parish and the other two are in St. Gabriel and Geismar.
In Jefferson Parish, Japanese chemical company UBE Corp. in February began construction on a $491 million facility at Cornerstone Energy Park configured to produce dimethyl carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate, essential components in lithium-ion batteries. Jefferson Parish provided $80 million in tax breaks over the course of 10 years through the Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
In nearby Iberville Parish, United Kingdom-based Koura Global is reportedly retrofitting its existing plant in St. Gabriel to manufacture lithium hexafluorophosphate, known also as LiPF6, a component that allows for the efficient flow of electricity through lithium-ion batteries. Koura has previously estimated the facility would produce 10,000 metric tons of LiPF6 per year.
Koura has said it expects to spend more than $400 million on the project. In 2022, under the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Koura with a $100 million grant to develop LiPF6 production. It is expected that the plant will become operational in 2026. The plant would be the first of its kind in the United States.
In Ascension Parish, the Energy Department in September 2024 awarded Battery Materials Processing Grants to Element 25 (Louisiana) LLC and Honeywell International Inc. to support production of battery components.
The Energy Department awarded $126.4 million to Honeywell to boost supply of Lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide, also called LiFSI, which is a critical component in lithium-ion batteries and batteries designed for large-scale energy storage systems. Honeywell’s production facility in Geismar will be the first of its kind in the United States, according to Department of Energy.
The Energy Department’s 2024 grant to Element25 for $166.1 million supports construction of the company’s refining facility in Burnside, which will produce high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate, or HPMSM, a component in lithium-ion batteries. The plant will be the first of its kind in the nation, federal officials say. Element25 plans to import manganese concentrate from the company’s Butcherbird mine in Australia.
In Louisiana’s northeast, Exxon and other companies are searching for underground brine high in lithium content. Underground brines are high-salinity waters associated with salt deposits deep underground that often contain oil and lithium. Successful extraction of lithium from brines found underground across the state line in northeast Texas and south-central Arkansas indicate the mineral is present in large quantities in Louisiana, too.
In May, Louisiana State University Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering Associate Professor Ipsita Gupta received a $261,000 research grant funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office to study minerals extracted from brines in the state’s oil fields.

(Editor’s note: The charges listed here and the narratives that go with them are provided by the police agencies that made the arrests. Guilt or innocence has not been determined in court.)

St. Mary law enforcement agencies reported eight arrests Tuesday and early Wednesday, including charges of stolen firearms, theft and drug possession.

St. Mary

Sheriff Gary Driskell reported that over the last 24-hour reporting period, the Sheriff's Office responded to 59 complaints and made these arrests:

--Ryan Kemp, 41, Morgan City, was arrested by the Narcotics Section at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, general speed law, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, driving on right side of road and illegal possession of stolen firearms.

Bail has not been set at this time.

--Danayre Elizabeth Smith, 30, Morgan City, was arrested at 7:21 p.m. Tuesday on three warrants alleging failure to appear on charges of criminal trespassing, resisting an officer and simple battery. Bail has not been set at this time.

--Devin Michael Leblanc, 24, Berwick, was arrested at 1:37 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant alleging neglect of family. Bail has not been set at this time.

--Cory James Leblanc, 44, Bayou Vista, was arrested at 10:03 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of f violation of protective orders. Bail has not been set at this time.

Morgan City

Chief Chad M. Adams reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 45 calls for service over the last 24-hour reporting period and made these arrests:

--Melvin Sylvester, 46, Short Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 10:01 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of theft (less than $1,000).

--Frank Johnson, 59, Maine Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 12:09 p.m. Tuesday on charges of remaining where forbidden and resisting an officer.

--Jason Alfred, 48, First Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 8:34 p.m. Tuesday on charges of criminal damage to property and criminal trespass.

Franklin

Chief Cedric Handy reported that the Franklin Police Department responded to eight calls for service over the past 24-hour reporting period and made this arrest:

--Djuanielle Diggs, 39, Magnolia Street, Franklin, was arrested at 11:37 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant for 3rd Ward City Court alleging failure to appear on the charge of disturbing the peace. Diggs was additionally arrested on a warrant for 16th Judicial District Court alleging failure to appear on the charges of disturbing the peace (appearing in an intoxicated condition) and resisting an officer. Diggs was booked, processed, and held with no bond set at time of press release.

The Nicholls State University football team's 2025 season opener against UIW will be nationally televised on ESPN2. The matchup is slated for noon Saturday at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.

The contest marks the first college football game played on American soil in the 2025 season, following the Kansas State vs. Iowa State game earlier that day in Dublin. It will also serve as the first FCS game of the year.

"This is a monumental moment for the Southland Conference and a powerful testament to the rise and national impact of our football programs," said Southland Commissioner Chris Grant. "To open the season on ESPN2 with two championship-caliber teams is more than just a game — it's a showcase of what makes Southland football special: gritty, passionate, and unapologetically Southern. The culture, pride, and pageantry of our league will be on full display for a national audience, and we couldn't be more fired up."

This highly anticipated match-up features the league's two most recent champions. Nicholls claimed the Southland title with an unbeaten record in 2023, while UIW went undefeated in conference play last season to capture the 2024 crown.

The game will be the first as head coach for long-time defensive coordinator Tommy Rybacki.

"We're incredibly excited to open the college football season at home on ESPN2," said Coach Rybacki. "This is a tremendous opportunity for Nicholls State University and our team to showcase what makes this place so special on a national stage. Our players have been working incredibly hard since January to prepare for this moment. The Southland Conference plays an exciting brand of football, and we can't wait for the country to see it on August 23. Geaux Colonels!"

The broadcast will also be a historic one, marking the first in-conference Southland game and first home Nicholls contest ever aired on a national linear television network.

"This is a milestone moment and we are beyond excited — the first time Nicholls is airing on ESPN2 — and the entire Bayou Region is rallying behind the Colonels," said Jonathan Terrell, Nicholls Vice President of Collegiate Athletics & Athletic Director. "From packed tailgates to a sea‑of‑red in the stands, this broadcast isn't just about football; it's our hometown pride on full display. No one else will be playing in Louisiana but the Colonels!!!!!"