Thursday, September 29, 2016

neighborhood surveillance





"In the refinery towns where I’ve worked for 17 years, the police and private security have consistently harassed me and those I work with. When we stop near a refinery and take a picture of a burning flame or black cloud of pollution, we know to snap fast. A police officer or oil industry security guard will pull up and tell us what we’re doing is illegal, even though it’s not. The law may be on our side, but these security forces are not. It’s often not worth risking a dangerous encounter in a small southern town to stop and record pollution. What we’re recording is another form of violence – this kind the long, steady attack of carcinogens and neurotoxins that ruin the health and the lives of those in Louisiana, usually African Americans, who are unfortunate enough to live cheek to cheek with Big Oil’s refineries."   -   Anne Rolfes, Founding Director Louisiana Bucket Brigade


http://www.labucketbrigade.org/blog/i-expect-more-violence-oil-industry





Tuesday, September 27, 2016

crude by rail news



Interesting developments in Benicia, California, where a small city's local council struggled to uphold its right to decide land use and protect its residents' health and safety.  The local council denied "a land use permit to bring in volatile Bakken and Tar Sands crude oil from North Dakota and Canada by train".   


Hopefully this company doesn't  attempt the same crude by rail project in Chalmette.  Although Chalmette has similar tax base dependencies, we struggle to find apparent prosperity, while  the poverty rate, especially for children, continues.




http://beniciaindependent.com/grant-cooke-cbr-permit-denied-and-new-green-inudstrial-revolution-developments-impact-benicia/


excerpts from The Benicia Independent article by Grant Cooke




Which is why Valero pushed so hard to transport volatile Bakken crude by rail cars through the densely populated Sacramento corridor and cram the trains into Benicia and a refinery that is not designed or equipped to deal with them. The industries, the refineries and all connected to the fossil fuel era, know that the incredibly lucrative period when oil was king and black gold flowed from the sand is coming to an end.


Bringing this back to Benicia, we see a city that is dependent on Valero for tax revenue and its governing process glimpsing a new reality. Small cities like Benicia that have been so dependent on the fossil fuel industries for so much and for so long, struggle to change. Other cities like those in the deindustrialized Midwest that have suffered sudden collapses of their major companies and tax bases have had to reinvent their economic drivers or just blow away. But it’s hard for a city like Benicia with its apparent prosperity and ease of living to understand that its fossil fuel base is in decline and that the future is elsewhere.


Grant Cooke is a longtime Benicia resident and CEO of Sustainable Energy Associates. He is also an author and has written several books on the Green Industrial Revolution. His newest is “Smart Green Cities” by Routledge.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

night time flaring





mid September night time flaring (Sept 18, 2016)











Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Public Meeting Florida Corridor

PUBLIC MEETING Thursday September 8 2016 4pm-7pm
Public Comments due September 28 2016


UPDATED  9/13/2016:    Presentation at Public Meeting   http://wwwapps.dotd.la.gov/administration/public_info/projects/docs_test/97/documents/Florida_Ave_PublicMeeting1_Sept8_2016_Presentation.pdf


Other Documents and Maps from DOTD at bottom of link
http://wwwapps.dotd.la.gov/administration/public_info/projects/home.aspx?key=97




Florida Avenue Project (H.005720)

Florida Avenue Project Environmental Assessment (EA)
St. Bernard and Orleans Parishes
State Project No. H.005720
Federal Aid Project No. H005720

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) will be conducting a public meeting in open house format for the above project. LADOTD is proposing to construct a new roadway bridge adjacent to the existing Florida Avenue Bridge over the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (IHNC) in Orleans Parish. In addition to a new bridge, the improvements include: upgrade and extension of the existing Florida Avenue corridor from Elysian Fields Avenue (LA 3021) to Paris Road (LA 47) into St. Bernard Parish; operational improvements along existing Tupelo Street; and several North-South alignment options are being considered for a connector between Florida Avenue and St. Claude Avenue. The purpose of the meeting is to present the proposed project to the public and to solicit comments about the project from the public. The meeting will include a looping presentation that describes the project as well as stations where attendees can speak informally with representatives from LADOTD and the project team. Comments and suggestions will be invited from all interested parties to help insure that the project team addresses the full range of environmental issues during the EA study process.

The meeting is scheduled:

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
St. David Catholic School Gymnasium
1230 Lamanche Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
(Enter on Caffin Avenue)


All interested citizens are invited and encouraged to attend. Should anyone require special assistance due to a disability to participate at the public meeting, please send a request at least five working days prior to the public meeting by mail, email, or telephone. Written and verbal comments will be received at the meeting. Additional written comments emailed or mailed to the address shown, if postmarked by Monday, September 28, 2016, will become part of the record of this public meeting. Comments must include name and address of person making comment. Please see the contact information listed below:

Mail:
Florida Avenue Project
HP.O. Box 56845
New Orleans, LA 70156

Phone:
504-648-3619

Email:
FloridaAvenueEA@gmail.com

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