Commitment to Greenspace or Political Gift to Murphy Oil

In keeping with the mission of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, we look for the LRA's support of "community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana."

The Louisiana Recovery Authority should designate certain LRA properties in St Bernard Parish as permanent greenspace and not transfer ownership to the Murphy Oil Meraux Refinery. We have valid concerns that any transfers of these LRA properties to the refinery would not only constitute a gift to the refinery but would also compromise the integrity of our residential neighborhood, the intent of the Citizen's Recovery Committee - St Bernard Parish Planning Commission's proposed greenspace around the refinery, and the federal court ordered "intended" buffer zone (from the crude oil spill class action law suit).

Our neighborhood in St Bernard Parish like so many others in our great State of Louisiana has a unique character and personality of its own; one which could be entirely and drastically changed with redevelopment decisions. Nestled between East St Bernard Highway and East Judge Perez Drive, Jacob, Despaux, Ventura and Lena Drives in Chalmette, LA comprise the James Place, Despaux and Ventura, Flora Estates and Sandra Park subdivisions. Here, like elsewhere in St Bernard Parish, residents rebuilt their homes and revitalized their community despite the devastating losses of 2005 : Hurricane Katrina and the Murphy Crude Oil Spill. Other homeowners participated in the voluntary buyout portion of the crude oil spill's class action lawsuit and a few have already sold their homesites through the LRA Grant program. These are the properties which should be designated greenspace, if they are not offered to adjoining homeowners first or to other future residential uses.

In June of 2007, we became aware of the refinery's plans to use these four streets for expansion; starting in particular with a land swap / sale of our Jacob Drive Firestation (http://sbpg.net/councilagenda7-10-07.pdf item #26 SBPC Agenda). From what little we know of the Jacob Drive Firestation and Murphy Oil Refinery Expansion plans include moving facilities, such as a warehouse, maintenance building, laboratory and the like, into the subdivision to allow processing unit expansion on the refinery's current campus. Some of these facilities are currently out of compliance with the new OSHA explosion cone regulations. Some of the new processing expansions may include a coker unit.

"LRA properties" on these four streets, if not offered to adjoining residents first or to other future residential uses, should be permanently designated greenspace or conservation easements and not be gifted, transferred, sold nor made available in any manner to the refinery for expansion or for any other use. Effecting our community's resurgence and not thwarting our renaissance, the government should never push the homeowners towards the refinery expansion acquisitions and should instead preserve the integrity of the existing residential zoning. The government's active participation in the refinery's expansion acquisitions not only is unethical but would only permeate and pervade the decades long encroachment of this heavy industry into the neighborhood. That action would literally move the refinery fenceline west onto the next four streets of the subdivision leaving little or no greenspace protection.

We petition the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the St Bernard Parish Housing, Redevelopment and Quality of Life Commission to consider first offering the residential properties to adjoining residents or other perspective homeowners. If not, they should designate "LRA" properties in these four street areas as permanent greenspace and not to transfer ownership to the Murphy Refinery.