ST. JAMES — Koch Methanol St. James LLC is moving forward with is expansion project after winning an extensive legal battle.

Inclusive Louisiana, along with Rise St. James and the Mount Triumph Baptist Church, lost the suit after filing against the plant's project.

"We are pleased with the district court's ruling, which validates the thorough work our team did to meet all federal, state, and local requirements on this project. As our optimization project moves forward, Koch Methanol St. James will continue our track record of operating responsibly and transparently, keeping community and environmental stewardship at the center of all we do as a company," Koch Methanol's spokesperson Greg Clement-Lemon said in a statement.

Lemon states the expansion will bring in revenue of four million dollars to the parish over the next decade. 

Shamyra Lavigne-Davey with Rise St. James said she was not surprised by the judge's ruling.

"We went from plantations to chemical plants and we are still being used for the rich to get richer."

Lemon said the expansion will create a slight increase in emissions, but won't exceed legal limits. The company is installing fence line monitors that will monitor methanol, one of the pollutants that comes from the plant.

Lemon said Koch Industries will share the results of the monitoring data with its community advisory board.