Proposed tank storage near Black Bayou causes alarm

A 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.

The pipeline company currently operates a crude oil storage facility in Gibson, A. Patrick Diamond, director of Strategic Planning for All American Pipeline. He said the company is currently evaluating several alternatives for developing a similar facility, and is negotiating with several landowner groups in an attempt to buy several different sites for the potential project.

According to Diamond, a permit was filed Oct. 2 with the Houma-Terrebonne Regional Planning Commission regarding a parcel of property located south of Black Bayou on La. 182. A permit application for the project was filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 10, and the state Department of Environmental Quality the next day, he said. Both groups issued a joint public notice on Oct. 13, which began a 30-day public comment period for the proposed project, Diamond added.

Because the land will not have to be subdivided, Diamond said the company withdrew its application before the parish planning commission, which would have opened the project up for public hearing at its Oct. 19.

Terrebonne Parish Superintendent Ed Richard Jr. said at last Wednesday’s school board meeting that he wasn’t notified that the company was requesting a permit until that Oct. 19 commission meeting.

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.”

Diamond said in a release that Plains All American and its subsidiaries adhere to high standards of environmental quality and are committed to providing a safe workplace that protects the health and safety of its employees and the communities surrounding its facilities.

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.

Sophia Ruffin can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or sophia@tri-parishtimes.com.