Eastern N.O. rips landfill proposal

More than 100 residents of eastern New Orleans, most from the Village de l'Est neighborhood, turned up at a meeting Monday morning to oppose a proposed construction debris landfill near their homes.

Advertisement

City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, who represents the area, said she plans to sponsor a council resolution asking Mayor Ray Nagin to retract an executive order he issued using his enhanced emergency post-Katrina powers that would allow the site to be used as a temporary landfill, though the land is not properly zoned.

Sanitation Director Veronica White represented Nagin at the meeting, which was held at Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church. She and other officials from the Nagin administration did not respond to questions posed after the meeting Monday about whether the mayor will consider changing his mind about the site.

The landfill would be operated by Waste Management, which has pledged to give the city 22 percent of all revenue derived from the site.

The Rev. Vien Nguyen, pastor of the church, called the meeting a success, saying "it was very clear how the people felt." Nguyen said members of the community plan to show up en masse at the City Council's meeting Thursday, where Willard-Lewis will offer the resolution.

Nguyen said the community has two major concerns: One is that a landfill could cause environmental problems in the area, which abuts the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge as well as Village de l'Est.

While construction debris is considered relatively benign compared to other types of waste, the state Department of Environmental Quality, DEQ, has relaxed its definition of construction debris post-Katrina. The proposed landfill is located next to the Maxent Canal, which snakes through part of the community, Nguyen said.

The pastor said residents' second concern is that a landfill in the area could derail the community's plans to refashion itself as the country's first "Viet Town."

The proposed landfill's application is pending before the state DEQ. The agency has not indicated whether it will issue a permit, but Assistant Secretary Chuck Carr Brown has consistently said there is a need for more landfill space.

Brown attended the meeting Monday. He told residents that their input would be considered as regulators attempt to determine whether to issue a permit.

Willard-Lewis said Monday that she will fight the landfill tooth and nail.

"The people were very united and vocal in their opposition," she said. "This executive order process denied people the opportunity to have their voices heard, and the council to have the opportunity to vote."

About six weeks ago, when the proposed landfill first became public, Willard-Lewis seemed to endorse it in a press release issued by her office.

"We have to clean up the neighborhoods and streets if we want people to return," the release said in part. "If you are going to pick up the debris, you have to have a place to put it. . . . I am hopeful that this landfill project will help speed up the process."

On Monday, Willard-Lewis said she never supported the proposed landfill. The mayor had already acted, she said, and she was trying to make the best of a bad situation.

"I have always had a problem with any discussion of landfills for New Orleans East period, as a state representative and the whole time I've been a councilperson," she said.