LOUISIANA ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK (“LEAN”)
CITIZENS FOR A STRONG NEW ORLEANS EAST (“CSNOE”)

 PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, August 15, 2006


FEDERAL COURT DENIES WASTE MANAGEMENT AN INJUNCTION TO REOPEN THE CHEF MENTEUR LANDFILL 

 A federal judge today denied Waste Management’s application for a temporary restraining order, filed to prevent the mayor from enforcing his “cease and desist” order issued against the landfill Monday.  The judge ruled that under the terms of the Mayor’s emergency authorization to use the dump and the contract between Waste Management and the City, Waste Management was responsible for its own injury by waiting six months, until yesterday, to file for a conditional use permit with the city, as it had promised.  With this ruling, the landfill, which shut down today, will likely remain closed indefinitely.


The emergency authorization, CRN 06-03, expressly provided for only a six month waiver of zoning requirements, which expired on August 14, 2006.  The land is zoned L1, or light industrial.  A landfill would require an exception to the L1 rules, known as a conditional use permit.  The city has twice before rejected conditional use permits for landfills on this portion of Chef Menteur Highway.  In addition, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to this landfill.


If LDEQ maintains its position that local support is a pre-requisite for its landfill emergency authorization, then it appears the landfill will be permanently closed.  Last month, LDEQ Assistant Secretary Chuck Brown wrote Mayor Nagin stating that he would revoke the LDEQ permit unless the mayor extended the emergency authorization or the City Council granted a conditional use permit.  Neither of those events happened. 


Last week, Waste Management sued LDEQ, stating LDEQ was unreasonable in requiring local permission as a condition of maintaining an LDEQ emergency authorization.  In briefs, LDEQ again reiterated the requirement for local assent.  At the hearing last Friday, LDEQ announced that it would not revoke Waste Management’s permit because a letter received from an assistant city attorney signaled the city’s “concurrence,” apparently a new form of local consent. 


Despite Waste Management’s dropping its demand for an injunction, Waste Management and LDEQ jointly submitted an Order to the Court, signed by the judge, to “maintain the status quo”, purportedly allowing the landfill to remain in operation.  This Order was issued without notice, evidence or even a hearing from the community groups who intervened, specifically, intervenors LEAN and CSNOE.


Over the weekend, the mayor clarified his position and publicly stated that Waste Management would have to get a conditional use permit and that he was going to issue a ”Cease and Desist Order”, setting up today’s hearing.


As for today’s victory, Father Vien of CSNOE states:  “Today, New Orleans took a giant leap forward in re-establishing local democracy.  We are so grateful to the mayor for standing behind us in opposition to this ill-advised landfill.  We look forward to a public discussion on the merits of the landfill in front of the City Council.”


Says, Marylee Orr, director of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network:  “We call on LDEQ to keep its promise and support the decision of local government, who are directly accountable to the folks who are trying to rebuild their communities.  We know there are better alternatives that respect these decisions.” 

 
Waste Management and LDEQ are the only proponents of the landfill.  They claim that the landfill is suitable and not using the landfill will add perhaps years to the clean up of New Orleans.


Joel Waltzer, who together with Natural Resources Defense Council (“NRDC”) represents LEAN and CSNOE, responds:  “LDEQ has a bad habit of telling half-truths.  LDEQ’s own justification document [for the landfill] states it will only take three months more if we close Chef and use both of the remaining landfills.  That assumes the hold up is the landfill and not the delay in folks getting their money to knock down their homes.  LDEQ refuses to even address night hauling or simply using bigger trucks, which would dramatically speed up the cleanup.  LDEQ acts like we can’t take care of our own problems.”

 
For more information, contact Joel Waltzer, 340-6300, Father Vien Nguyen, 254-5660 or Marylee Orr, (225) 205-1438.