Times-Pic July, 15 2008

A proposal by a Plaquemines Parish construction debris landfill to begin accepting wastes from barges on the Hero Canal will face a public hearing before state environmental regulators today.

Industrial Pipe Inc., owner of the facility, was cited for violating its operating permit by accepting its first bargeload of debris from a Chicago landfill through the wrong entrance to the landfill in April, said Tyler Ginn, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality's enforcement division.

..."We unloaded a barge directly into the landfill in April as a way of showing the department how we could safely do it," he said. "Our records showed we did do it safely."

However, the proposed change is not sitting well with residents of the Oakville community, said Corinne Van Dalen, a supervising attorney with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which represents the Oakville Community Action Group and Louisiana Environmental Action Network.