Harbor Police officers receive medal
November 8, 2006Heart attack kills Thibodaux councilman
November 10, 2006A Houston-based company’s bid to buy property near a Terrebonne Parish school to store crude oil tanks has local school board members concerned.
The Terrebonne Parish School Board deviated from its regular agenda to address concerns about Plains All America Pipeline possibly purchasing property near Greenwood Middle School to store the tanks, which contain toxic chemicals. District 6 representative L.P. Bordelon said he has received calls from many concerned residents.
Terrebonne Parish Superintendent Ed Richard Jr. said the board wasn’t notified that the company was requesting a permit until after the Terrebonne Parish Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing on Oct. 19. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representative informed the superintendent that the board has until Nov. 13 to submit any opposition to the request.
Even if the pipeline business has met state planning and zoning requirements and agrees to place the tanks 250 feet away from the school, the board members still have safety concerns. Collectively they have asked Board President Clark Bonvillain to formulate a resolution opposing Plains All America placing tanks, which are at least 212 feet in diameter and 50 feet high, near any school in Terrebonne Parish.
The resolution will be sent via certified mail to the following organizations: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Plains All American Pipeline, the Terrebonne Parish Council and the Parish President, the Department of Environmental Quality Control, the Houma-Terrebonne Regional Planning Commission and the Terrebonne Legislative Delegation.
During the meeting, several board members asked if there was a way to verbally voice their opposition.
“I feel that the board, all or a few, should be present at any public hearing concerning Plains All American’s request for a property permit,” said Roger DeHart, District 7 representative. “The public officials and the residents need to know that the board has concerns with this construction.”
Several calls to Plains All American went unreturned as of press time.
In other business, the board was set to approve a recommendation from Bordelon concerning the school board’s Strategic Plan of Action for the financing and implementation of renovations needed in the Terrebonne school districts until District 9 board member Hayes Badeaux presented the board with a substitute motion.
Badeaux asked that each member review the plan and related issues and then submit a prioritized list to the board president. Each member will pick items from the plan that he views as the most important, particularly at the individual schools in their district, according to the substitute motion.
In a 6-3 vote, the nine-member panel gave itself until the end of the year to review the $140 million plan and forward their lists to Bonvillain. A master list will be compiled and distributed to the Building, Food Services and Transportation Committee for review. Bordelon, District 3’s Richard Jackson and District 8 member Donald Duplantis voted against the action.
The next Terrebonne School Board meeting is set for Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in the boardroom.
