Louisiana Political News Service

By MIKE DUNNE
Advocate staff writer

The Federal Emergency Management Agency faces a “high risk of future environmental liability” if it continues to use the controversial Old Gentilly Landfill in New Orleans, a new report says.

The report, commissioned by FEMA from a private company, questions the safety and stability of the landfill that is receiving the biggest share of the debris left by Hurricane Katrina.

A new construction-and-demolition landfill is being built atop a now-closed municipal waste landfill next to the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet waterway in eastern New Orleans. Both the old and new landfills are owned by the city of New Orleans.

The report calls into question the viability of the 18-to-24-inch clay cap of the old landfill, which is designed to be the liner for the new landfill.The 130-foot pile of debris that can be disposed on the site could settle 25 feet over time, the report says. That would probably squeeze a lot of liquids, called leachate, from both landfills, contaminating underground water and the environment, the report says.

Another concern is the buildup of methane gas from the old and new landfills. An earlier analysis conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that vapors moving through the soil of the old landfill could be explosive. Plans to burn debris on the site were scrapped.

The study was done for FEMA by NISTAC, a joint venture involving Dewberry & Davis and URS Group, Inc.

Last fall, FEMA officials began to express concern that either the old or new landfill could eventually qualify as a Superfund hazardous waste site. Officials wondered if FEMA might some day be liable for a cleanup.

Debris removal is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at FEMA’s direction.

After Hurricane Betsy flooded parts of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes in 1965, debris was disposed of atop the old Agriculture Street Landfill, which was later named a Superfund site.

The Louisiana Environmental Action Network has sued DEQ over the permit that allows the Old Gentilly site to be used for Katrina storm debris. The agency is jeopardizing the environment, LEAN claims.

LEAN is concerned the new debris will squeeze contaminated liquids out of the site and damage the environment. The group also questions the wisdom of piling 130 feet of debris atop an old garbage landfill operating before most modern environmental laws were in place.

LPNS COMMENTARY: FINALLY PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS POTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL NIGHTMARE WE WARNED ABOUT SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.