LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 27, 2000

HAHNVILLE – The site of the illegal dump recently discovered by the St.

Charles Parish Department of Planning and Zoning is massive, to say the least.

Roughly measured at 75 feet in width, 300 feet in length and 20 feet in height, it’s now the target of a state Department of Environmental Quality investigation.

Acting planning director Bob Lambert said several illegal dump sites have turned up across the parish, much of it construction material from the current boom in residential construction.

In the past few weeks small dumps have been found in St. Rose and Montz,along with the Boutte site, located behind the tracks running along Old Spanish Trail, a stone’s throw from Interstate 310.

“All of them are on private property and, in some cases, with the owner’s knowledge,” Lambert said.

Enforcement efforts by the state will only be directed at the Boutte site because the amounts of illegal items dumped is simply not enough to warrant state attention.

This leaves it up to the personnel-strapped local enforcement effort to pursue the cleanup of the smaller sites.

Lambert said the smaller sites, near Little Gypsy power plant and along Turtle Creek Road off Almedia Road, will continue to be monitored, and if much more illegal dumping occurs the cases will be forward to the state for action.

The Boutte site, privately owned and currently leased to a fireworks dealer, is under DEQ scrutiny.

Lambert said at that large site the firewood dealer would cut up trees to sell as firewood and burn the stumps and tree-tops, under the “permission” of a 1998 burn permit. However, such permits are one-time-only permits, good for one day at a time.

Besides the wood refuse the lessee has also allowed dump truck loads of items ranging from refrigerators, sheetrock, shingles, siding, conduit, broken toilets and air conditioners.

The Boutte site came to Lambert’s attention due to an anonymous tip about illegal burning there. He personally arrived at the site and tookphotographs.

The Turtle Pond site came to Lambert’s notice after local citizens complained during a recent town hall meeting conducted by council member April Black. Items found there included wrecked cars, brokentoilets and roofing material.

Lambert said Black, along with most of the council members, have enthusiastically backed his department’s efforts to clean up St. CharlesParish.

The Montz site was discovered by inspector Judy Caillouet of his office, who noticed a new corrugated culvert in a River Road ditch, followed the ruts into the high grass and found the roofing material, shingles and discarded furniture.

Lambert said DEQ’s first action in dealing with an illegal dump is to issue an administrative order to cease the activity and to clean up the site.

Next, a public notice is published alerting the public to the site. Then acompliance order is issued, and finally a fine is imposed.

“The point is, if we can shift enforcement to state agencies with more authority than we have, then we can lighten our own workload, resolve the situations much quicker and ease the burden on the local taxpayers,” Lambert elaborated.

Lambert said all he can do locally is have the parish attorney sue the property owner to have the sites cleaned up. Meanwhile, he also applaudedefforts such as Swampeyes in St. Rose in aiming to keep the parish free ofillegal dumping and littering.

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