Ways sought to stem plant's smell

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - Monday, May 15, 1995 Author: ADRIAN ANGELETTE Residents of Avenue M in Scotlandville say the smell from the North Wastewater Treatment Plant gets so strong it makes some people sick. They don't make outdoor plans during the early evening hours because the smell will chase them back inside. "It's unbearable," said Martha Spears, a resident of Avenue M for 24 years who says she won't be living there much longer. "I don't want to leave the people that my kids grew up with, but I can't invite friends over. It's totally embarrassing," Spears said. Spears' son, Marcus, is about to enter his second year as an offensive lineman with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. Marcus Spears is moving his mother away from the plant. "That's my only way out. I thank God," she said. "Human beings have no business living like this." The treatment plant at the end of Woodpecker Street has grown tremendously in the past decade. The capacity of the plant was enlarged to handle waste water that previously was handled by dozens of oxidation ponds or small package plants. There were 145 such sewage treatment facilities in East Baton Rouge Parish until it was found the small plants could not adequately treat materials brought to them. Gregory Mitchell, Spears' neighbor on Avenue M, is the leader of a neighborhood group formed to meet with government officials to help find a solution. "(The plant) smells all the time. Some people have some health problems like nausea and vomiting," Mitchell said. Mitchell said the neighborhood is bordered on all sides by either chemical or petroleum plants, the treatment plant and a landfill. "We hope to be able to work together with Sen. (John) Guidry and Councilman (Thomas) Woods to get our problems solved," he said. Meetings have been held to voice those concerns, Mitchell said. The reaction from government so far has been good, he said. "We're trying to gather information to see what chemical or equipment we can put upstream or at the plant to reduce the odors coming from the plants," said Fred Raiford, city-parish public works director. "We're not going to be able to get rid of all the odors," Raiford said. "I don't blame people for being frustrated, but this is not a unique situation." Camp, Dresser and McKee officials will meet with Raiford and others to find the best approach to reducing the bad smells coming from the parish's three major treatment plants. Camp, Dresser and McKee designed the treatment plants in East Baton Rouge Parish. Guidry, D-Baton Rouge, last week said people from his district have expressed concern about the plants'

smells and chemicals used in the process. "There's been some activity to have an odor control program put in place for several years," said Gasper Chifici, an associate with Camp, Dresser and McKee. Chifici said other problems with the system have been a higher priority and that's why nothing has been done to eliminate some of the odor problems. High on the priority list is completion of a $288 million project to shut down 145 oxidation ponds and package plants, and connect the area serviced by the ponds or plants with a major treatment plant. Chifici said that project is about a year from completion. To eliminate some of the odors coming from the plants, chemicals can be used or mechanical devices can be put in place, Chifici said. It's often not very complicated. Caption: PHOTO Martha Spears (by John H. Williams) Edition: The Advocate Section: CITY DESK Page: 1-B;S Index Terms: ENVIRONMENT ; PUBLIC WORKS Record Number: 1742 Copyright 1995 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Council approves "landbanking" study for Metro airport

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - Thursday, February 13, 1992 Author: FRANK MAIN The Metro Council voted Wednesday to launch an environmental study of the airport's proposed $219 million expansion despite heated opposition from some north Baton Rouge neighborhood groups. The council voted 7-5 to seek a consultant to study "landbanking," the airport's proposed program to buy adjacent property including the Sharon Hills subdivision. Councilman Todd Moore supported the federally funded study, saying the information could help the council decide whether to approve landbanking and the construction of another runway. "Right now, there aren't enough votes for a new terminal or a new runway," he said. "This is for a study only, not for actual project start-up." But Councilman Mike Babin strongly opposed the measure. Babin argued the study is the next step in the airport's plans to build another runway. "If you feel like you can support an airport expansion, you should vote for this," Babin said. "I'm voting "no.' " The council also voted to hire a consultant to study the proposed building of a midfield terminal and allowed the airport to apply for $40 million in grants to help nearby residents insulate their homes against jet noise or sell their homes. But the vote on the landbanking study drew the most controversy. Residents who live near the airport packed the council chambers to voice their opinions on the study. Sharon Hills residents supported the study because they want the airport to buy their homes in the landbanking program. They say they can't sell their homes because the proposed runway would run through their subdivision southeast of the airport.

"Landbank, so we can all move," said Karen Desselle, a Sharon Hills spokeswoman who gave the council a petition of hundreds of residents who support the study. Richard Schneider of the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce said his organization supports the study. The airport's steps to build another runway could lead to economic development, he said. Others were equally opposed to the study. Clarence Buggs, a former local television sportscaster who lives in the Pryce Place subdivision, said North Baton Rouge residents already suffer because of their proximity to the Parish Prison, the North Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Devil's Swamp landfill and the airport. Buggs said the airport should take care of the needs of people suffering from jet noise before taking another step toward expansion. Former Airport Commissioner Jim Benham urged the council to vote against the landbanking study. Benham said the study is a step toward landbanking and could lead to the construction of another runway, which he opposes. Benham said the additional noise from the proposed runway would cause severe problems for animals in the nearby zoo. The expansion would also increase the cost of operations for airlines, Benham said. The airport's cost to airlines already is higher than other airports such as Austin's, making Baton Rouge's airport less competitive, he said. Benham also said passenger boardings were down 1 percent in 1991 and far below the airport master plan's projections for another runway. "The airlines are telling us that the master plan forecast of passenger growth is far too optimistic," he said. Benham said Gov. Edwin Edwards' proposed regional airport near Sorrento would reduce air traffic here, although the governor denies his proposed airport would affect Baton Rouge. Taxpayers could get saddled with a lot of debt for an unnecessary runway in Baton Rouge if a regional airport in Sorrento is built, Benham said, urging the council to vote against the environmental studies of the proposed terminal and runway. Council members Darrell Glasper, Tommy Linton, Johnnie Matthews and Thomas Woods voted against hiring a consultant to study the proposed terminal building. They and Babin voted against the landbanking study. The council voted unanimously to allow the airport to apply for $40 million in noise-abatement grants. The meeting became rancorous when Woods accused Airport Director Iray Ledoux of lying to North Baton Rouge residents about details of the noise-abatement program. "I have not lied to Councilman Woods or anyone else," Ledoux said. Ledoux reminded the council members they approved the Airport Master Plan that calls for expanding the airport. Ledoux said construction of another runway isn't certain even if the airport starts the landbanking program. If the Federal Aviation Administration reviews the study and prohibits airport expansion, another runway won't get built, he said. Roger Myers, an FAA spokesman in Fort Worth, Texas, said the environmental study of the landbanking program will explore a variety of subjects including noise, air quality, water quality and light emissions. The study also will look at the impact of the proposed expansion on nearby communities, parks and zoos, historic architecture, archaeology and cultural resources, native plants and animals, endangered and

threatened species, wetlands, flood plains, coastal barriers, wild and scenic rivers, prime and unique farmland, natural resources and the energy supply and hazardous waste, among others. Airport officials say it could take up to two years for the consultant to complete the study and for the FAA to produce an environmental impact statement on the proposed expansion. The Airport Master Plan calls for building another runway by 2004. Edition: Morning Advocate Section: NEWS Page: 1-A;S Index Terms: EDWIN EDWARDS; ENVIRONMENT ; LAND ; RECORD ; AVIATION ; FINANCE Record Number: 12168 Copyright 1992 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

North plant backed

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - Wednesday, June 18, 1986 Author: JIM MCDONNELL The city-parish will advertise for bids on the north wastewater treatment plant according to plans and specifications that already exist if the Metro Council takes the advice of its Sewerage Control Commission. At a special meeting Tuesday, the commission voted 6-4 in favor of a motion by Commissioner Jimmy Jenkins to recommend to the council that the city-parish proceed with improvements to the existing north plant rather than entering into a lease-purchase arrangement with Parish Wastewater Service Co. for use of a plant owned by Louisiana Chemical Polymers Inc. as recommended by Randy Cox, the council's consulting engineer. The council will take up the recommendation when it holds a special meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Voting with Jenkins were Ed Buggs, Vernon Wiggins, Rick Speciale, Don Powers and Dennis Bickham. Opposing were Charles Williams, Val Lowery, Carlton Green and Ed Landry. The initial motion by Green to go with Parish Wastewater's lease-purchase had failed 4-6, with Green, Buggs, Lowery and Williams supporting it and Jenkins, Speciale, Powers, Bickham, Wiggins and Landry voting against it. Public Works Director Bill Howe presented an administration recommendation for a dual track approach -- bidding for the existing north plant and for a plant of similar quality at an alternate site. Howe said both sets of bid documents could be fully prepared and ready for advertisement by the second week in July. Howe said the administration had decided the public bid route would be best for the sake of public perception and avoiding possible legal entanglements that could crop up through a negotiated deal with Parish Wastewater or anyone else. Doing what the administration recommended would have left the door open to Parish Wastewater, owned by LCPI investors Pete Clements and William McFerrin, to bid on their alternate site. But it would have shut out Santa Fe Braun's attempt to renovate the existing north plant in accordance with its deep shaft treatment process -- a process Santa Fe officials insist could knock $33 million off an upcoming revenue bond issue and possibly eliminate the need for a sewer user fee increase. Howe said the Parish Wastewater option could knock $25 million off the issue and drastically reduce the need for a revenue increase. Howe said that to allow one type of alternate technology to bid on the north plant would provide Santa Fe with an unfair advantage over competitors.

Bickham, commission chairman, noted that there was no way for city-parish officials to get out of the cityparish's current sewerage predicament without doing something for which they could be criticized. Scotlandville residents want the north plant out of their neighborhood, and the way to pacify them is to go with the LCPI plant, Bickham said. But that would only intensify the problem with public perception, he said, referring to reports that local investors in LCPI include political supporters of Mayor Pat Screen's. Proceeding with bids on the existing north plant according to existing plans and specifications would solve that problem, but would exclude the Santa Fe option which appeared to offer the cheapest solution. Yet to allow for all kinds of alternative bidding could result in confusing comparisons. Edition: THE BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE Section: NEWS Page: 1-B Index Terms: ROLL CALL VOTE; PUBLIC WORKS ; RECORD Record Number: 245549 Copyright 1986 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

McHugh says C-P in corner on plant

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - Thursday, April 3, 1986 Author: JIM MCDONNELL The Metro Council appears to have been backed into a corner in efforts to acquire an alternative to the North Wastewater Treatment Plant, Councilman Tom Ed McHugh said Wednesday. "I'm afraid what's going to happen is we're going to find ourselves in a situation where we've got to do something and there's only one thing we can do," McHugh said after a long discussion of the issue at Wednesday's Finance and Executive Committee meeting. The dilemma involves the quality of life of the people who live around the north plant. Acquisition of a wastewater treatment plant owned by Louisiana Chemical Polymers Inc. would enable the city-parish to move treatment operations about a mile from the nearest home. The only financially feasible way to relocate the operation appears to be to purchase the LCPI plant for $6 million, a figure many believe to be inflated. Council members are divided on the issue. McHugh and Gary Bergeron said they will do everything in their power to see that the city-parish does not pay an inflated price. They also said they resent finding themselves in such a situation. But they said they favor moving the operation out of the residential neighborhood in which it is located and acknowledged that buying the plant for $6 million could be the only way to do that. Councilwoman Lynda Imes said she had no idea how she would vote. She said she shared all of the concerns expressed by McHugh and Bergeron but had not yet decided whether there were enough mitigating circumstances to justify voting for the deal. "Where else are you going to get a whole sewage plant for $6 million?" Corsentino asked. Even at the $6 million price, the city-parish apparently stands to save a great deal in the long run, he said, adding that he cannot blame the owners for wanting to make a profit. Officials estimate that the city-parish would save $10.6 million in the long run by using the LCPI plant. Public Works Director Bill Howe said those figures would have to be verified through an engineering study done for the city-parish before any sale could be transacted. Howe said it would not make sense to do the study without a sale agreement, however, because the study could cost $1.5 million.

Councilman Kip Holden, who represents the area in question, said the overriding issue as far as he is concerned is the quality of life in the neighborhood and that he will do whatever it takes to get sewage treatment out of there. Councilwoman Pearl George echoed Holden's sentiments. So did State Reps. Joe Delpit and Jewel Newman and Chancellor Wesley McClure of Southern University, all of whom came in on Holden's side of the argument at Wednesday's committee meeting. Holden blasted the news media for focusing on what he considered to be irrelevant issues such as the financial involvement in LCPI of friends of Mayor Pat Screen and relatives of Chief Administrative Officer Walter Monsour. Holden praised the owners of LCPI for making an investment in the local economy and said that anyone trying to point the finger of guilt should point it at him since the plant takeover was his idea. Official estimates indicate that upgrading the existing north plant would cost $18 million, with another $12 million needed later to expand capacity. The LCPI plant already has twice the capacity of the north plant and would cost $13.4 million to upgrade. Combined with a $6 million sale price, that would yield the city-parish a saving of $10.6 million over continued use of the north plant. Edition: THE BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE Section: NEWS Page: 4-C Index Terms: WILLIAM (BILL) HOWE; PUBLIC WORKS ; HAZARDOUS MATERIAL Record Number: 229725 Copyright 1986 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Council to buy houses near treatment plant

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - Thursday, May 15, 1997 Author: DEANN SMITH The Metro Council voted Wednesday to buy some houses near the North Wastewater Treatment Plant, but some residents are upset because they would not be bought out. The city-parish is doubling the plant's treatment capacity to comply with a federal mandate, putting some Avenue L and Avenue M residents that much closer to the plant's odors, Mayor Tom Ed McHugh said. "It is intolerable to leave it like it is," he said. "I would move as fast as we could on this. I would leave no stone unturned to get it done." Also Wednesday, the council voted 11-1 to accept a low bid of $11.06 million from Boh Brothers to expand the plant's daily capacity from 65 million gallons to 130 million gallons. Councilwoman Roxson Welch voted against it, saying sewers, not the plant, should be upgraded instead. Councilwoman Lorri Burgess cast the only vote against authorizing the mayor to seek federal funds to buy out up to 22 homes and a church and use city-parish funds if necessary. The homes are expected to cost about $3 million. Because of wetlands, the Avenue M sewer plant cannot be expanded to the west or east. The new section will be built to the north of the plant on the site of a park. The property that McHugh would buy is in a two-block area bounded by Woodcock Street on the north, Mills Avenue on the south, Avenue L on the east and Avenue M on the west. But some residents who live east of Avenue L want their property bought also. Avenue L and Avenue M residents support the buyout program, but don't think it goes far enough, said Irma Miller, who addressed the council on behalf of about 25 residents.

"Who is going to want to stay in front of a treatment plant that close?" she said. McHugh said pine trees and other landscaping would be put where the homes are now to serve as a buffer. Before the council vote, residents sparred with McHugh for almost 30 minutes outside the council chambers. They said they should have learned the program's details from McHugh rather than reading about them in The Advocate on Tuesday, and some were upset that McHugh said they might not be allowed to address the council on Wednesday about the matter. But residents whose homes McHugh would not buy particularly grilled him. "What about the east side," one woman exclaimed. "Wherever you draw the line, some people won't be satisfied," McHugh told the group. "I am going to try and do what is right and fair." The program will be on a voluntary basis, with no homes expropriated, he said. Once the funds are in place, McHugh said he would return to the council with specific details for a public hearing and the council's approval. He said the city-parish may receive enough money to buy more homes later. Also on Wednesday, Public Works Director Fred Raiford told the council he and Boh Brothers are confident the treatment plant expansion can be done at the bid price even though the city-parish had budgeted $16 million for the project. The expansion is the final project the city-parish must undertake to meet the terms of a 1988 court agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The expansion project was to have been finished by Dec. 31, but the city-parish unsuccessfully sought to do other work instead. The city-parish faces a fine of up to $107,750 as of Tuesday for not meeting that deadline. Caption: PHOTO; GRAPHIC Marnie Mitchell and several other residents talk to Tom Ed McHugh as Greg Mitchell and Martha Spears listen (By Mark Saltz); Color locator map for the North Treatment Plant Expansiona nd existing plant (By Malanda Saxton) Edition: The Advocate Section: city des Page: 1-B;2-b Index Terms: HOUSING ; FINANCE ; RECORD ; PUBLIC WORKS ; BUSINESS Record Number: 1985 Copyright 1997 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.