Louisiana Superfund Site: Agriculture Street Landfill
Fight Air Pollution & Water Pollution With an Environmental Toxic Tort Lawsuit
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Are you in need of a Toxic Tort Lawyer in The Bayou State? The E.P.A. has designated Agriculture Street Landfill in Louisiana as a Superfund site because of its amounts of toxic pollution and threat to the natural world. You can read the report for the site below.
Some Superfund sites are on the National Priority Site Lists. The National Priorities List ("NPL") is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protection Agency regulations outline a formal process for assessing hazardous waste sites and placing them on the NPL. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation.
Sites are listed on the NPL upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening, public solicitation of comments about the proposed site, and after all comments have been addressed. EPA may delete a final NPL site if it determines that no further response is required to protect human health or the environment. Sites where a remediation was completed through the Superfund program are typically deleted from the NPL.
Living near Superfund Sites in Louisiana may place you and your loved ones more vulnerable to getting sick from proximity to the site and experiencing a loss of value for your property, but you can do something to to fight back: The EPA says,
[We have] set up a "Post Construction Completion" (or PCC) strategy to ensure that Superfund response actions provide for the long-term protection of human health and the environment. EPA's Post Construction Completion activities also involve optimizing remedies to increase effectiveness and/or reduce cost without sacrificing long-term protection of human health and the environment.Regardless, most of the Superfund sites continue to pose a threat the health of those who live close to a Superfund site.
The lawyers of Weitz & Luxenberg, you will get the legal ability of skilled Toxic Tort lawyers who will help fight back against polluters and get you and your community the financial compensation and remediation to which you are entitled.
Below you can read the EPA report for the Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund site. If you, a loved one, or someone in your community has gotten sick due to exposure to a Superfund site Agriculture Street Landfill, or if your property has lost value because of contamination, you will need a toxic tort lawyer who knows the people of the State of Louisiana . Get started by filling out this simple form. There is no obligation, and your case will be evaluated within one business day. To refer a friend, neighbor, or loved one, click here to let them know about the environmental toxic tort lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg.
Agriculture Street Landfill
This site is not a Federal Facility.
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Agriculture Street Landfill 1 EPA Publication Date: October 11, 2005
Agriculture Street Landfill Epa Region 6
Orleans Parish CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 02
Louisiana
Epa Id# Lad981056997
Contact: Ursula Lennox
Site ID: 0600646 214-665-67743
Updated: October 2005
Current Status
EPA’s Emergency Response Team is continuing to assist the city in its efforts in sampling the water.
Data results can be access through EPA Region 6’s web page: www.epa.gov/region6/katrina
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality performs bi-annual inspections of the site to
ensure the integrity of the permeable cap is maintained and is intact. The last inspection was
performed February 2005.
The comment period for the Notice of Intent to Delete the site from the National Priorities List
concluded on October 25, 2004. The EPA is negotiating with the City of New Orleans to implement
institutional controls. Once that is completed, the deletion will continue.
The Moton Elementary School - Operable Unit 4 and Groundwater - Operable Unit 5 were deleted from
the Site NPL listing June 15, 2000.
Benefits
The excavation and replacement of contaminated soils and the capping of the undeveloped area
eliminated human exposures and protects the health of over 1000 people living on the site. The
cleanup addressed 179 Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) town homes, 128 Gordon
Plaza apartments, 7 retail businesses, and 58 out of 67 single-family homes located in the Gordon
Plaza subdivision. The entire undeveloped property was cleared grubbed, graded, lined, and
covered with 1 foot of fill. A total of 69,031 tons of soil and debris was excavated and collected at
the site and a total of 195,945 cubic yards of backfill was utilized on site. Nine private
homeowners in the Gordon Plaza subdivision elected not to participate in the cleanup of their
properties.
National Priorities Listing (NPL) History
Site Hazard Ranking System Score: 50.00
Proposed Date: 8/23/94
Final Date: 12/16/94
Site Description
Location: The site is located in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. It is approximately three
miles south of Lake Ponchartrain and 2.5 to 3.0 miles north-northeast of the Vieux Carre
and the Central Business District. The approximate geographic coordinates for the center
of the site are 2959'20" north latitude and 9002'31" west longitude. The site is bounded
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on the north by Higgins Road and on the east from Clouet Street (to the south) to
Montegut Street (to the north). On the south and west, the site runs along the Southern
Railroad right-of-way. The Peoples Avenue and Florida Avenue canals are located west
and south of the site, respectively.
Population: 390 residential units housing about 1,000 people.
EPA Publication Date: October 11, 2005 2 Agriculture Street Landfill
Setting: A 95 acre former City disposal area that has been partially redeveloped. 47 acres of the
site have private and public housing; the Press Park Community Center; a recreation
center; retail businesses, and the Moton Elementary School. The community is
predominately African-American, with middle- to-low income levels. The remainder of the
site is undeveloped and covered by dense vegetation
Hydrology: The Peoples Avenue canal is to the west and the Florida Avenue canal is to the south.
Both receive storm water run-off from the site. Canal water is pumped into Industrial
Canal which discharges into Lake Ponchartrain. A shallow aquifer (that is not a drinking
water source) that underlies the site is encountered between 2 and 9 feet below land
surface.
Wastes and Volumes
The disposal area accepted municipal garbage, construction debris, incinerator and open burning
ash. This type of material ranges in depth from 2 to more than 32.5 feet beneath the 95-acre site.
The primary contaminants of concern were lead, arsenic, and carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons (cPAHs).
Health Considerations:
MOTON SCHOOL: No health or environmental problems detected; the school was built on top of 3 to
5 feet of clean fill.
SHALLOW GROUND WATER: contaminated with elevated levels of metals. However, this aquifer is
not used by humans and does not impact surface water.
Residential Areas - Soils:
*Surface Contamination (prior to the implementation of the 1997 Action Memorandum)
- Marginal human health risk:
- 1.3 X 10 lifetime cancer risk (all contaminants of concern);
-4
- 6.1% children with projected risk (Lead (Pb) concentrations 500 to 1,000 parts per
million (pm).
* Future Surface Contamination - If landfill materials below the top foot of soils were exposed
due to human activity, health risks would increase to:
- 5.0 X 10 lifetime cancer risk (all contaminants of concern);
-4
- 63.8% children with projected risk (Pb concentrations 1,000 to 4,000 ppm).
Undeveloped Property Soils:
* Surface Contamination - Prior to the cleanup, contamination levels on the undeveloped
property (OU1) ranged from 37.2 to 28,300 ppm lead. The site was covered with dense
vegetation and surrounded with an 8-foot fence.
* Future Surface Contamination - City zoned tracts "commercial."
Record of Decision
Operable Units 4 & 5: ROD signed 9/2/97
Operable Units 1-3: Action Memorandum signed 9/2/97
Operable Units 1-3: ROD signed 4/4/02
Agriculture Street Landfill 3 EPA Publication Date: October 11, 2005
The 1997 Record of Decision for Moton Elementary School (OU4) and Groundwater (OU5) required no
further action because there was no risk to human health. The school was built on a three-foot layer of
cleanup fill, which addressed all risks posed by this portion of the site. The groundwater was not used for any
beneficial purpose and was not a source of drinking water.
The1997 Action Memorandum describes response actions for the undeveloped property (OU1),
residential properties (OU2), and the Shirley Jefferson Community Center (OU3) eliminated human risk
with capping and soil excavation and replacement in public areas. The 48-acre undeveloped property, was
cleared of vegetation, capped with 12 inches of soil, graded, and compacted. A layer of geotextile filter fabric
was placed on the subgrade to create a physical barrier between clean cover soils and contaminated subsoil.
The top 24 inches of existing soil/waste material on the residential properties and community center, were
excavated and transported off-site for disposal. Permeable geotextile filter fabric was placed on the subgrade
and covered with clean fill.
The 2002 Record of Decision for on OU1-3 required no further action as the cleanup under the 1997 Action
Memo addressed all contamination.
The site will be inspected at least once every five years.
Site
EPA Remedial Project Managers: Ursula Lennox 214-665-6743
John Meyer 214-665-6742
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator: Janetta Coats 214-665-7308
EPA Attorneys: Pamela Travis 214-665-8056
Joseph Compton, III 214-665-8506
EPA Regional Public Liaison Arnold Ondarza 1-800-533-3508
EPA Toll-Free Telephone Number: 1-800-533-3508.
LDEQ State Contact: William Perry 225-765-0461
source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Act Now! It is essential that you inquire about your pollutant lawsuit as soon as possible. Louisiana law may limit your time to bring a legal claim to protect your rights. Your legal review is free and there is no commitment. You case will be evaluated immediately, so get started on your claim today!
see also:
Central Wood Preserving Co.
Environmental Pollution in Louisiana- Site: Central Wood Preserving Co.Central Wood Preserving Co. Superfund Site Info - Fight Air Pollution, Water Pollution
Agriculture Street Landfill
Environmental Pollution in Louisiana- Site: Agriculture Street LandfillAgriculture Street Landfill Superfund Site Info - Fight Air Pollution, Water Pollution
LA
Environmental Pollution Lawsuit: Louisiana Superfund SitesLouisiana Superfund Site - Fight Environmental Pollution Legally.
