As two members of the Metro Council pressed forward today with a measure to change the zoning on the site of a proposed barge cleaning facility on the Mississippi River, the director of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge—which owns the property—defended the controversial plans for the site.
“This is just absolutely blowing this thing entirely out of proportion,” says Port Director Jay Hardman. “I’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve always been very sensitive to nearby residents (when considering potential lease offers on this property) and we’ve said no before to potential tenants. But I would have never thought this operation, with the modern technology they use, would cause this much controversy. I’m just taken aback by it.”
Port Arthur, Texas-based Tubal-Cain Marine Services has proposed developing a barge-cleaning facility on the river near BREC’s Farr Park Equestrian Center, LSU’s intramural fields and the Riverbend subdivision. The facility, which would empty and clean barges then remove any residual chemicals by flare, has ignited controversy in the neighborhood and is being actively opposed by Mayor Kip Holden and LSU President F. King Alexander. Last week, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality agreed to postpone a public hearing on the matter, originally scheduled for Tuesday, until Aug. 18.
Hardman says he believes the concern over the proposed facility is overblown and that Tubal-Cain would not be doing anything on the river to potentially harm people in the area. He says the company has done everything correctly since it began dealing with the port in October 2013. That’s when it first expressed an interest in leasing the 2,700 linear feet of batture property.
The property is zoned M2, or heavy industrial, and has been owned by the port for decades. According to the Planning Commission, the site has been zoned M2 since at least the 1950s. Hardman says the deal with Tubal-Cain was attractive to the port for a couple of reasons. First, the site has been difficult to lease over the years because it’s several miles down river from the hub of barge activity. Second, the terms of lease Tubal-Cain agreed to are favorable to the port—$120,000 a year.
The lease terms were finalized in late 2013 and Tubal-Cain spent 2014 obtaining necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Pontchartrain Levee District. It did not need any permits from the city-parish and the proposed use was compatible with the M2 zoning. Tubal-Cain also consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a nearby bald eagles nest to ensure the proposed project would not interfere with the federally protected species.
“They’ve spent a lot of money to do this thing correctly,” Hardman says. “You’d never even know it was there. We really thought this would be a great fit.”
But opposition is mounting. Earlier today councilmembers John Delgado and Chandler Loupe filed an ordinance to change the zoning on the property from heavy industrial to heavy commercial. The measure would go before the Metro Council Aug. 19. That’s one day after the LDEQ public hearing but, presumably, before any permits are issued. Delgado says legally the city-parish is in its rights to change the zoning as long as the change takes place before final permits are issued.
Delgado says his measure is designed not only to prohibit any “waste-burning facilities from being developed near neighborhoods,” but also to address usage all along the river.
“We need to have a clear vision for the river and build things that attract people to Baton Rouge, not scare them away,” he says.
—Stephanie Riegel
