March 17
March 17, 2009
Loyce "Lois" H. Matherne
March 19, 2009
Houma concrete mat maker Submar is making improvements to its property along the Intracoastal Waterway on Dunne Street and has no plans to move, Submar President Kenneth McAllester said at a public meeting held last week in Houma with nearby residents.
At several recent Terrebonne Parish Council meetings, the company has been criticized by neighbors about excessive noise, trucks using unauthorized routes and cement dust.
But McAllester said the decibel level of noise coming out of the facility is well within the legal range and a recent test for cement dust showed none present.
The company has also had a decrease in the number of trucks. New equipment at the facility will reduce the number further.
“Submar has worked internally to make sure they use truck routes,” said Terrebonne Parish Manager Pat Gordon. “The Public Works Department checked catch basins for cement dust. There was no cement dust caking in the catch basins.”
Gordon also said Submar has looked into incorporating parts of adjacent Academy and Point streets into the facility, though nothing has been submitted.
“I have a right to be on my site,” McAllester said. “We’ve taken appropriate steps to make it better.”
“We will be there in one shape or form,” he said. “If your intent is to have Submar leave, it won’t happen. We made that decision two years ago. We will work with the parish.”
Submar will construct a new building “to block the visual impact of the plant” and will load trucks in the back of the facility nearer the Intracoastal Waterway, McAllester said. The ground in front will be concreted.
“Once we put the building in, you won’t know we’re loading trucks,” he said.
Drainage problems will also be addressed.
Terrebonne Parish Councilman Alvin Tillman, whose district contains Submar, said the facility had “looked horrible, full of potholes, but it looks better.”
According to McAllester, normally residential and commercial areas are not located so close to one another. In general, the company’s facilities in Texas, California and Florida are not located close to residences.
The Submar site had once been the location of oilfield services provider Halliburton, said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet. Submar, needing waterfront property, located at the site in the early 1990s.
Claudet said he did not find out about neighbors’ complaints until December.
Both he and Tillman emphasized that Submar is not moving from the site.
Tillman pointed to the amount of money Submar is spending as evidence the facility will improve.
McAllester said that the improvements to Submar were not made in response to neighbors’ recent complaints.
Plans for improvements have been around for two years, according to the company president.
Submar President Kenneth McAllester said that the company is going to remain at its current location on the Intracoastal Waterway in Houma, but will make improvements to the facility. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
