65517. Murphy/Valero Update from a resident CAP member 09/16/11 12:32 AM
Murphy scheduled to transfer on October 1 2011 to Valero Energy Corp.
The company owns 16 other refineries.
They invest in alternative energy such as ethanol and wind mills.
Regional V.P. refers to the area where Murphy bought residences as a "Green Belt" similar to buffer areas around existing Valero refineries near residential areas with no plans for use in any other way but as green belt..
All Murphy employees will be hired by Valero .
Valero hopes to continue and improve best safety practices as well as community relations.
The Citizens Advisory Comittee and current members will continue to meet monthly.
There is a potential for expansion within the plant as it exists.
(IMO) Not much will change.
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Note on greenbelt and transfer of LLT properties to refinery
HRQL Meeting 8-24-2011 around the six minute mark
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
sulfur dioxide @ chalmette
sulfur dioxide exceedances again @Ch_Vista monitor.
September 13, 2011 peak SO2 reading of 196 ppb. EPA health standard for SO2 is 75 ppb.
In June 2011, Louisiana DEQ recommended a nonattainment status for St. Bernard Parish for sulfur dioxide. By February 2012, EPA will confirm and or modify the State's recommendations. By February 2014, each State must submit a plan of action designed to reduce the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the community's air. For more information on the new sulfur dioxide health standards click here
The Ch_Vista monitor data is accessible at the LDEQ website , right hand column menu, ON AIR icon, select site data, select Ch_Vista
St. Bernard Parish has two other ambient air monitors. One at Joe Davis Elementary school, called the Meraux site, which is accessible at the LDEQ website, ON AIR menu, select site data, select Meraux.
The other ambient air monitor in St. Bernard Parish is located in the Murphy Oil area on Ventura Drive. The Ventura Drive air monitor data is accessible here: Murphy Oil Monitor
On September 13 2011, the Ventura monitor sulfur dioxide reading also peaked around the same time of day. The peak SO2 reading at the Ventura site was 54 ppb. These readings are averages. One would need access to the actual SO2 readings to determine peak sulfur dioxide short term exposure.
September 13, 2011 peak SO2 reading of 196 ppb. EPA health standard for SO2 is 75 ppb.
In June 2011, Louisiana DEQ recommended a nonattainment status for St. Bernard Parish for sulfur dioxide. By February 2012, EPA will confirm and or modify the State's recommendations. By February 2014, each State must submit a plan of action designed to reduce the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the community's air. For more information on the new sulfur dioxide health standards click here
St. Bernard Parish has two other ambient air monitors. One at Joe Davis Elementary school, called the Meraux site, which is accessible at the LDEQ website, ON AIR menu, select site data, select Meraux.
The other ambient air monitor in St. Bernard Parish is located in the Murphy Oil area on Ventura Drive. The Ventura Drive air monitor data is accessible here: Murphy Oil Monitor
On September 13 2011, the Ventura monitor sulfur dioxide reading also peaked around the same time of day. The peak SO2 reading at the Ventura site was 54 ppb. These readings are averages. One would need access to the actual SO2 readings to determine peak sulfur dioxide short term exposure.
Our air in St. Bernard Parish is so heavily concentrated with sulfur dioxide, that industries emissions in the aggregate are unhealthily for all community members, and even perhaps seemingly small increments of this chemical will cause adverse health effects in the community.
Monday, September 5, 2011
SO2 readings Chalmette Vista
Air quality readings in Chalmette spiked today at 296 ppb sulfur dioxide. The EPA has set a new sulfur dioxide health standard of 70 ppb.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
sulfur dioxide peaks
CH_Vista air monitor in Chalmette, LA peaked sulfur dioxide readings today at 223 ppb . The EPA set a new sulfur dioxide health one-hour standard at 70 ppb.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
through Eddie's lens
St. Bernard 's rebuilding and recovery through the lens of Eddie Evans
http://hippics.smugmug.com/
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http://hippics.smugmug.com/
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Friday, September 2, 2011
buffer zone update
UPDATE:
Seafood business expansion in buffer zone may be back on horizon.
Despite setbacks from the oil spill of the BP rig explosion, a St. Bernard Parish seafood restaurant seems set to benefit from another oil spill and it’s resulting court ordered buffer zone.
Last year, the business agreed to purchase three adjacent buffer zone lots for $10,000 each, but those sales agreements were let to expire. Those three properties were originally sold to Murphy Oil USA, Inc. pursuant the crude-oil-spill class action, Turner v Murphy Oil, for $44,000, $53,040, and $94,560, respectively. The court-ordered voluntary option for homeowners in a particular segment of the oil spill to sell to the oil company was intended "to create a buffer".
Today's prices for three adjacent buffer zone lots are as low as $4,000 per lot. It’s the catering part of the business which was said to expand last year, as this business caters to local industry turnarounds and other events, including the BP oil spill catering needs. While residents support local business, it should not be at the cost of their neighborhood or their home property values. At $4,000 per lot for commercial development instead of greenspace, that hardly helps property values or the parish tax base. When Planning Commissioners asked if this was the land Murphy Oil is supposed to present a plan for, the applicant stated he spoke with Murphy Oil just today and they came up with something but they are tweaking it, so he did not have the plan with him.
The neighborhood hopes the expected future zoning change application will include long awaited improvements for truck traffic , adequate unloading area, customer parking, drainage and ample safety margins for the three large propane tanks added since Hurricane Katrina.
The Murphy Oil crude-oil-spill case, Turner v Murphy, ordered the Meraux Refinery ‘s voluntary buyup program, which is intended “to create a buffer.” The agreement did not allow Murphy Oil to re-sell the buffer zone properties for commercial or industrial uses; residents were told by Murphy Oil, and relied on this information to base their decisions, that the land would be used for a green zone buffer.
Now, residents wonder what’s next on the menu. Murphy Oil has already purchased several Road Home or LLT Lots in the neighborhood despite a promise to residents from St. Bernard Parish Government that no LLT properties would be transferred to the Meaux refinery without a landuse plan. The Meraux Refinery is also using some of the homes purchased for the buffer as work bunk housing instead. Additionally, Murphy Oil officials have recently offered an explanation of their agreement with the local Court House, Clerk of Court not to release the buffer zone real estate transactions for publication, further keeping public information from residents. Neighbors think this is all too fishy.
The St. Bernard Parish Council previously agreed not to rezone anything in this neighborhood until Murphy Oil provided two things to the residents of St. Bernard: 1) its Master Plan for the current facility and 2) a written plan of their long-term intent for the former "buyout" area. Only than could residents fully participate in an informed discussion to consider changes around the existing greenspace or buffer. That is their right to full and equal access to information before the decisions are made; its part of their right to secure tenure.
In the Fall of 2005, these dedicated neighbors were some of the first residents to return after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and the Murphy Oil spill, even celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas 2005 in their restored homes. They have already presented their vision for the revitalized neighborhood’s future and they have an equal right to the long-term security of their community, as much as any other neighborhood in the Parish. Yet, they sadly suspect local government and the Meraux Refinery have other plans.
Seafood business expansion in buffer zone may be back on horizon.
Despite setbacks from the oil spill of the BP rig explosion, a St. Bernard Parish seafood restaurant seems set to benefit from another oil spill and it’s resulting court ordered buffer zone.
Last year, the business agreed to purchase three adjacent buffer zone lots for $10,000 each, but those sales agreements were let to expire. Those three properties were originally sold to Murphy Oil USA, Inc. pursuant the crude-oil-spill class action, Turner v Murphy Oil, for $44,000, $53,040, and $94,560, respectively. The court-ordered voluntary option for homeowners in a particular segment of the oil spill to sell to the oil company was intended "to create a buffer".
Today's prices for three adjacent buffer zone lots are as low as $4,000 per lot. It’s the catering part of the business which was said to expand last year, as this business caters to local industry turnarounds and other events, including the BP oil spill catering needs. While residents support local business, it should not be at the cost of their neighborhood or their home property values. At $4,000 per lot for commercial development instead of greenspace, that hardly helps property values or the parish tax base. When Planning Commissioners asked if this was the land Murphy Oil is supposed to present a plan for, the applicant stated he spoke with Murphy Oil just today and they came up with something but they are tweaking it, so he did not have the plan with him.
The neighborhood hopes the expected future zoning change application will include long awaited improvements for truck traffic , adequate unloading area, customer parking, drainage and ample safety margins for the three large propane tanks added since Hurricane Katrina.
The Murphy Oil crude-oil-spill case, Turner v Murphy, ordered the Meraux Refinery ‘s voluntary buyup program, which is intended “to create a buffer.” The agreement did not allow Murphy Oil to re-sell the buffer zone properties for commercial or industrial uses; residents were told by Murphy Oil, and relied on this information to base their decisions, that the land would be used for a green zone buffer.
Now, residents wonder what’s next on the menu. Murphy Oil has already purchased several Road Home or LLT Lots in the neighborhood despite a promise to residents from St. Bernard Parish Government that no LLT properties would be transferred to the Meaux refinery without a landuse plan. The Meraux Refinery is also using some of the homes purchased for the buffer as work bunk housing instead. Additionally, Murphy Oil officials have recently offered an explanation of their agreement with the local Court House, Clerk of Court not to release the buffer zone real estate transactions for publication, further keeping public information from residents. Neighbors think this is all too fishy.
The St. Bernard Parish Council previously agreed not to rezone anything in this neighborhood until Murphy Oil provided two things to the residents of St. Bernard: 1) its Master Plan for the current facility and 2) a written plan of their long-term intent for the former "buyout" area. Only than could residents fully participate in an informed discussion to consider changes around the existing greenspace or buffer. That is their right to full and equal access to information before the decisions are made; its part of their right to secure tenure.
In the Fall of 2005, these dedicated neighbors were some of the first residents to return after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and the Murphy Oil spill, even celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas 2005 in their restored homes. They have already presented their vision for the revitalized neighborhood’s future and they have an equal right to the long-term security of their community, as much as any other neighborhood in the Parish. Yet, they sadly suspect local government and the Meraux Refinery have other plans.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
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