Judge OK’s Baton Rouge buyout of homes near wastewater plant

A federal judge has signed off on plans for Baton Rouge to buy out homes around the North Baton Rouge Wastewater Treatment Plant in Scotlandville. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson this week made the consent decree official, calling it “a fair and reasonable settlement in this matter.” The agreement—signed off on by the U.S. Department of Justice—brings to an end the Louisiana Environmental Action Network’s intervention into a long-standing litigation between the U.S. government and Baton Rouge over violations of the Clean Water Act via wastewater discharges. According to the agreement, once a judge signs off on separate revised agreement between the U.S. government and the city-parish in the Clean Water Act case, the city is to begin acquiring the property needed to create a buffer zone around the treatment plant within 60 days and is expected to complete it in 18 months. Some 47 homes are included in the proposed buyout plan, and city officials have estimated the total purchase price at $6 million. The wastewater treatment plan began operating in 1960 and has undergone several expansions, the most recent one completed in 1998. —Penny Font