By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

NORCO – A remediation project in the works for several years to clean up the heavily polluted Bayou Trepagnier will take a step forward next month when the principal organizations hold a public meeting to discuss a remedy for the bayou’s damaged environment.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and the Office of Environmental Assessment; Remediation Services Division will conduct the meeting at 7 p.m. on June 5 in the meeting room of the La Maison Magnolia on 950 First Street in Norco.

The organizations hope public feedback will help assist in its recommendation to use one of 10 alternatives to clean-up Bayou Trepagnier, which was heavily polluted as a result of more than 70 years of dumping from the nearby Norco Motiva Enterprises, LLC refinery.

The alternative, named the restoration compatible sediment cap, is an $8 million proposal to remove and replace polluted sediment from the bayou and spoil banks and to monitor any future impact to the water and soil.

It is expected to assist in wetlands restoration efforts, eliminate public health issues created from the pollutants and create a more aesthetically pleasing area for the popular boating location.

&#8220As a member of the LDEQ Work Group, Motiva Enterprises LLC believes this to be the best option,” said Lily Galland, Communications and External Affairs Manager of Shell Chemical LP. &#8220(The) alternative provides additional risk reduction and aids in long-term wetland restoration efforts.”

The project encapsulates roughly a one-mile stretch of the three-mile bayou, from the Engineer’s Canal to the hurricane levee north of Airline Drive.

The bayou, located roughly 10 miles west of New Orleans and just east of the Bonnet Carre lower guide levee, became a point of environmental interest in spring 2000 when the LDEQ formed its Bayou Trepagnier Work Group.

Drainage from the Motiva Enterprises, LLC Norco refinery left thick layers of lead and toxic materials throughout the soil since 1920, long before the company purchased the facility in 1995. Motiva Enterprises, LLC halted dumping in 1998, but over 70 years of toxic drainage left the soil rich in harmful contaminates.

The clean up is part of one of Kathleen Blanco’s chief department goals to decontaminate 25 percent of Louisiana’s polluted waters that no longer support wildlife and recreation by 2012. Bayou Trepagnier and the Tchefuncte River in Tangipahoa were the first two water bodies to be granted initiatives.

Capital costs for the 10 proposed alternatives range from nothing to $30 million.

All 10 alternatives are outlined in the dense draft document that can be obtained from the DEQ’s website at http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/apps/pubNotice by searching for the term bayou trepagnier.