ASCENSION PARISH - The Port of South Louisiana is a defendant in a lawsuit challenging funding for a proposed project to support the construction of the Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Plant near Modeste in Ascension Parish.

The lawsuit alleges that the port violated the Louisiana Constitution in its attempt to fund the construction of a new marine terminal near the site.

The lawsuit was filed in the 40th JDC by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Rural Roots Louisiana and Louisiana Bucket Brigade. The two groups have been vocal in their opposition to how the Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Plant came to be.

According to the lawsuit filed on Friday, the Port of South Louisiana proposed issuing $400 million in bonds to fund the construction of a marine terminal near the construction site of the Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel Plant.

"It'll have jetty facilities, heavy haul infrastructure and a conveyor system that will really transform, of course, that area of the levee as well as that west bank portion of Ascension Parish," The Louisiana Bucket Brigade's Anne Rolfes said.

According to the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the lawsuit raises two alleged flaws in the process to approve the facility.

The Brigade claims the port failed to provide public notice to Ascension Parish residents about the proposal, as legally required. The State Bond Commission approved the port's application for the bond in September.

"According to the Constitution of Louisiana, if you want to do something like build a massive industrial dock, you've got to tell people in the location that it's going to be built. Our lawsuit argues the Port of South Louisiana absolutely failed to do that," Rolfes said.

The second allegation is that the port made a mistake during the bonding process.

"The port also violated the Louisiana Constitution when it asked for retroactive approval of a loan for the state. The port got a $15 million loan from Louisiana Economic Development. By law, they are supposed to get approval in advance for a loan. They asked after the fact for approval of that loan," Rolfes said.

The brigade says this is just one more in a series of secretive endeavors surrounding not just the Hyundai-POSCO plant, but industrial projects in Louisiana.

"There are so many problems with the Hyundai project and this Dock that the state of Louisiana wants to build for an out-of-state corporation is just one of many problems," Rolfes said.

WBRZ reached out to the Port, Hyundai-POSCO, Louisiana Economic Development, and the Ascension Parish Government. None have responded regarding this lawsuit.