Update: incursion in neighborhood

“Valero does plan to build a new Security Building,  Warehouse, Maintenance Bays, Maintenance Offices, Safety Offices, Nurses Station, and Fire Station within the existing footprint of the Refinery in the future, when funding is available”   Valero would spend over $20 million on these buildings

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0brISkNUPw2VXRUYTVCQnl4bUk/view?usp=sharing 

Update from (June 28th planning commission) public hearing:   Valero Energy did not make the expected presentation at yesterday's Planning Commission public hearing, although additional information was available in the docket folder pertaining to location of easements and working with the parish if access from the building into the neighborhood needs to be barricaded. 

If this building is being forced into a neighborhood, the least that could be done to protect residents is to prohibit, by barricade or removal of street, refinery traffic from entering a neighborhood.  At a time when environmental justice works to increase the space between incompatible uses, Valero Energy seeks commercial incursion via an administration building and large parking lots.

There is no traffic study at this time, although a traffic study likely should be conducted during the heavier school traffic time and not the slower summer months.

There was no information presented on the size of the building or if it will replace the 5 story building on East Judge Perez or if the current building will be donated to Parish Government, nor any of the promised information which was not included in last months public hearing to change the land use map.  One planning commissioner indicated he was just tired of this and just wanted to send this to the council.  The planning commission is also waiting on the Office of Community Development to verify the location of Road Home Lot Next Door purchases in the area.

 In response to comments about the effect of commercial encroachment on the character of the neighborhood and the declining property values from this zoning change, Valero commented they would purchase houses above market value. The refinery manager cursed the planning commission which is about par for how Valero treats residents of St Bernard Parish, and according to other Valero communities, about par for how Valero treats the human beings who reside on the other side of the fence.

The Council is expected to introduce the ordinance to change the zoning for Valero at its Tuesday July 5 2016 7pm meeting, and expected to conduct its public hearing on Tuesday July 19 2016 3pm meeting.  Since residents cannot take off of work, they are encouraged to contact the council.

There are at least three road home lot next door property(s) in the area of the proposed building site.  HUD and CBDG grants were used to purchase road home properties and three in this area were redistributed through the lot next door program.  The HUD approved program was NOT intended to give unfair business advantages to corporations to come into our community and take advantage of vulnerable people.  The HUD program was intended for people to revitalize their neighborhoods, and former Governor Blanco made clear that residents in the Murphy Oil spill area had the equal opportunity to participate.  The Road Home program was not intended to run people out of their homes.

Using lot next door program properties sets a bad precedent either for continued preferential treatment of large property owners or for other residents to construct on the lot next door property.  Maybe that’s the forward direction this Council wants . Maybe the Council should instead represent its constituents and support neighborhoods and not corporations.




 Local Housing Redevelopment Committee around the 6 minute mark:
http://sbpg.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=b7858681f49ebe4c286eaebe41418696

Transfer of HUD Road Home Properties through the Lot Next Door Program to Murphy Oil is not intended for commercial; it is for the green space.

“Keep in mind it is not a commercial interest because it’s zoned residential and the [adjacent] Murphy lot… is also residential. …… don’t think it’s the same situation [as a previous case] because the Church wanted to use it for commercial purposes, Murphy is just obtaining it as part of their green space.”

above copy of proposed new flood maps showing flooding issues at refinery. when the refinery overflows, its rain water tends to flow into the neighborhood canal, exasperating the municipal storm water system




“Valero does plan to build a new Security Building,  Warehouse, Maintenance Bays, Maintenance Offices, Safety Offices, Nurses Station, and Fire Station within the existing footprint of the Refinery in the future, when funding is available”   Valero would spend over $20 million on these buildings

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0brISkNUPw2VXRUYTVCQnl4bUk/view?usp=sharing 

Valero Energy Meraux plant expands into neighborhood

Valero Energy Meraux plans for an office building and large parking lots outside the existing processing plant, further incursion into an established neighborhood

Communities for a Better Environment

Last Friday [June 24 2016] afternoon there was a problem at the Valero refinery in Benicia, prompting the facility to send out flares for at least the next 63 hours.

The “unscheduled flaring” released more than 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide into the air, according to a report the company filed with the [California] Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

The company will not answer any questions about the incident.

That lack of information frustrates local activists who have called for tighter emissions regulations for the region’s refineries.  http://www.cbecal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cap-Refinery-Emissions-Now-BAAQMD-Press-Release-6.14.16.pdf

“What we don’t know is killing us,” said Andres Soto with Communities for a Better Environment. http://www.cbecal.org/  “It’s a deliberate policy strategy to keep the media and the public ignorant of what is going on with these dangerous chemical processes at the refinery.”  http://beniciaindependent.com/63-hours-of-unscheduled-flaring-at-valero-benicia-3-bay-area-refinery-flaring-problems-investigated/   

The Independent July 1, 2016  by Roger Straw

Here at the Valero refinery in Meraux, Louisiana are incidents in 2016.

LA DEQ EDMS documents select download document to view (LA DEQ EDMS document viewer dysfunctional)  AI #1238  http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/querydef.aspx

March 25, 2015, January 13, 2016, and January 27, 2016 incidents under investigation, due to potential impact to groundwater.  No indications it is associated with current or historic refining operations.  http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10088035&ob=yes&child=yes

Earlier observations were believed to be residual surface runoff from an October 2013 crude oil release.   It was only on January 27 2016 when seepage was described by AT&T personnel inside the box, that Valero determined that this may, instead, be the result of historic groundwater contamination.

 
Variance in January 2015 to operate the crude tower over head fin fan banks with a leak  document 9599408 and document 9595798 January 2015 

http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=9599408&ob=yes&child=yes

 

http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=9595798&ob=yes&child=yes

 

 

Leak in fin/fan cooler discovered and secured 2/24 Released 1422 # hydrogen, 1316# hydrocarbons, 71# hydrogen sulfide. The in-plant responders used fire water to knock out the fumes.  http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10241768&ob=yes&child=yes

 

2/26 flaring from middle distillate shutdown, FGRU bypass, treated fuel to flare header

http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10241770&ob=yes&child=yes

 

3/5 horrible odor

 http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10183837&ob=yes&child=yes

 

3/7 horrible odor    FGRU bypass for catalyst change our naphtha hydrotreater and benzene unit

http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10164331&ob=yes&child=yes

 

3/18  NHGT and benzene catalyst change out and FGRU bypass and amine in refinery sewerage system and amine in sour tank   http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10241792&ob=yes&child=yes

 

3/18 strong odors  process upset sent amine to refinery sewerage, waste water treatment and the sour tank needed to replenish its diesel fuel blanket

 

http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10235035&ob=yes&child=yes

 

4/10 resident reports being sick from sour burnt garbage odor.  attributed to from the waste water treatment plant  http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=10241800&ob=yes&child=yes

Villere Plantation ruins

UPDATE

The Villere Plantation's brick drainage pump ruins have been entrusted, through a conservation easement  to the St. Bernard Parish Historical Society.  Unfortunately, the agreement expires at the end of the terms of an EPA consent decree.  It would be a shame for our national historical treasure to be lost. Valero Energy has the opportunity to do the right thing and make edits to the consent decree which includes making the conservation easement permanent and merging the politically seated CAP meeting with the public meetings.


The wooded area of the former Villere Plantation would make a wonderful bird and wildlife sanctuary and is perfectly situated to add a wetlands observation walkway at the 40 arpent canal.

The Villere Plantation was listed as a War of 1812 Preservation Priority in the 2007 American Battlefield Protection Program Report to Congress. "The priorities indicate which sites, in the opinion of the National Park Service, merit immediate preservation action, which need ongoing preservation action, which require additional study, and which are best suited for commemoration rather than preservation."
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/Rev1812_Final_Report.pdf

This area of the old Villere Plantation land, in Meraux, Louisiana, is just west of the natural waterways that are part of the actual British invasion route of the Battle of New Orleans 1814-1815.  British Major-General Edward Pakenham's forces used the Panel Ditch and the linear (north - south) canal to the east of the Entergy utility pole easement to reach the Villere Plantation home, which was closer to the Mississippi River. Notes from Parish Historian



map of Villere, Lacoste, Chalmette, and Jumoville Plantations http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/orl_villere.html

The Villere archaeological brick ruins are located in the area just north of the Valero Energy crude oil tank farm {page 43 of  link } .  This area is home to nesting eagles and would be a really cool place not only for a walking history tour but also for a nature trail and bird sanctuary.

below photo of Villere drainage mechanism in the 1930's

below photo of same in the 1970's

below:  Photograph by John Messina for Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, compiled 1972 - 1977

In time for the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans it would be a nice gesture if Valero Energy could reinstall a historical sign on St Bernard Highway and continue in perpetuity the conservation easement for the archaeological ruins of the drainage machine.

This monument marker was once located at Murphy Oil refinery, now owned by Valero Energy, in an area of the old Villere land closer to the river.  This is where the December 23, 1814 scrimmage occurred, prior to the January 1815 Battle of New Orleans (approximately located at 2500 East St Bernard Highway in Eastern Chalmette).

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chalmette_Villere_Plantation_Monument_1972.jpg

map of area with brick ruins of drainage pump

Although not indicated on the above map, Floral Estates is an established residential neighborhood, revitalized since Fall 2005; it was the location of the first S.L.A.B. festival in 2007.  S.L.A.B. means support landscaping and beautification, which is a main focus of the Rediscover District C association.  The S.L.A.B. festival raised funds for beautification projects throughout the parish. It was held on two concrete slab remnants of houses voluntarily demolished after the Murphy Oil crude oil spill and the levee failures in Hurricane Katrina.  

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flood map proposal

updated FEMA flood map proposal


http://maps.riskmap6.com/LA/StBernard/

Public Hearing June 28 2016 4pm

Valero Energy Meraux refinery seeks to construct a new office building in the Ohio Street neighborhood, replacing the 5 story building on East Judge Perez Drive.


Public hearing Tuesday June 28 2016 at 4pm in council chambers.

the grass is always greener

"The green, green grass of our homes"

Showdown: St. Bernard Parish President - Oct. 29,2007Junior Rodriquez and Craig Taffaro

WDSU ? http://www.wdsu.com/video/144448474/index.html

"There seems to be a name game being played between St. Bernard government, Murphy Oil and residents adjacent to the refinery.At times the residential property bought by Murphy is referred to as "green space" and at other times it?s referred to as a "buffer Zone".Green space implies trees, shrubs and flowers while buffer zone implies a space to restrict something unwanted. Which is it that you will work toward."Mike

Jr. - Green space only. Council has the power and ability to pass an ordinance that that?s what it will be is green space. That?s what we need.CT ? Properties that are being bought out in the buyout zone are zoned R1 which means that there can be nothing but R1 development in that area. Murphy Oil has continued to tell us and the public they?re not getting into the housing market at all, so the idea of what that property can be used for is nothing more than what it is now and since it is not a 100% buyout at this point in time, there will be no other development there so it will be green space. Buffer zone means that that?s what that green space will be used for.```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````"I live on Lena Drive and would like to know about the 4 block area that Murphy Oil destroyed. What are you going to do about t he sidewalks that were pulled up and the streets that were destroyed. Don?t beat around the bush. Give us a straight answer."John

Jr. ? Should be repaired because Murphy Oil caused the problem and situation. Murphy Oil will repair sidewalks. That?s part of public demand.CT ? Where there are houses, there will be sidewalks. Where there are complete blocks that have been purchased and will be used as that green space in the buffer zone, those sidewalks needed to be removed for the maintenance of that property. But what we?re talking about is where there are residents still living between houses there will be sidewalks there. That?s not an issue. Murphy is giving us some resistance on that, but that?s exactly what we?re going to do. Where there are residents there will be sidewalks.

 

 Local Housing Redevelopment Committee around the 6 minute mark:
http://sbpg.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=b7858681f49ebe4c286eaebe41418696

Transfer of HUD Road Home Properties through the Lot Next Door Program to Murphy Oil is not intended for commercial; it is for the green space.

“Keep in mind it is not a commercial interest because it’s zoned residential and the [adjacent] Murphy lot… is also residential. …… don’t think it’s the same situation [as a previous case] because the Church wanted to use it for commercial purposes, Murphy is just obtaining it as part of their green space.”