A DEAL is Reached
December 13, 2018
LSU SEASON AN UNQUESTIONED SUCCESS
December 13, 2018
A Gibson recycling company is on track to receive the permit it has sought to allow treatment on its site of naturally occurring radioactive waste from the tanks and hulls of ships, and other scrap metal such as dismantled pipelines.
A zoning variance allowing the permit for Modern American Recycling Services, or MARS, squeaked through the Terrebonne Parish Council last week by a 5 to 4 vote. The approval — marking a second bite of the apple by MARS executives, following a defeat last year — drew strong objections from Parish President Gordon Dove, who stated at the meeting that he would veto the measure.
But that claim was rescinded after attorneys advised Dove that since the approval was a resolution and not an ordinance, his approval was not needed for the permit. Some procedural questions remain, and Dove said he is seeking an opinion from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on how such matters should be dealt with in the future.
MARS President Anthony Authement told council members that the operation was to be a safe one, and that inspections would be done by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. But council members and Dove questioned the safety edge because those inspections would only occur every two years.
Council members John Navy, Arlanda Williams, Scott Dryden and Al Marmande voted against the variance and therefore the permit. Council members Steve Trosclair, Gerald Michel, Darrin Guidry and Christa Duplantis-Prather and Dirk Guidry voted in favor of approval.
Duplantis-Prather was the swing vote. When the matter came before the Council in 2017 she had voted againt it.
A special permit is required because MARS will be processing, briefly storing and shipping off NORM – an acronym for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. According to the U.S. Geological Service, NORM includes materials such as uranium, radium, and radon, dissolved in very low concentrations during normal reactions between water and rock or soil. Ground water found with oil deposits can have unusually high concentrations of dissolved materials built up over time.
“Saline, radium-bearing water is unavoidably brought to the earth’s surface with the oil and must be separated and then disposed, usually by return to depth in an injection well,” a USGS fact sheet says. “At some oil-field sites the pipes and tanks that handle large volumes of this ‘produced water’ can become coated with scale deposits that contain radium.”
In the 1980s, when the oil industry and government learned that disposed-of oilfield pipe, certain barges and other waste contained higher-than-acceptable levels of NORM, regulations were promulgated, and protocols developed for safe handling, cleaning and disposal of NORM-contaminated materials.
Authement said that currently, MARS checks for radiation levels to determine if NORM exists on pieces of equipment they cut up for recycling. If detected, then an outside company must come in, remove the affected pieces, clean them at a different location and then return the cleaned pieces to MARS. The new component of the operation will see all of that done at the MARS scrapyard, under controlled and confined conditions, Authement said, with all required safeguards in place to prevent contamination of the earth or nearby water. Gibson residents who have spoken against the permit sought by MARS expressed concerns that the material could get into Bayou Black, which ties in to the Terrebonne Parish water system, and where many people crab and fish. More than a score of Gibson residents attended the Council meeting to express opposition to the permit.
The motion to approve the variance, and by extension the permit, was made by Councilman Gerald Michel. There was a delay in finding a second, and after the question appeared closed Councilman Darrin Guidry provided one. Guidry, whose district includes parts of Gibson where residents fear a NORM facility, felt compelled to issue a detailed statement on his reasons for voting in favor.
“After extensive research, it became evident that permitting MARS not only helps remove NORM from equipment, but also removes NORM from a company located near homes in Terrebonne Parish,” Guidry said. “The MARS facility is located in Amelia about as far away from residential structures as you can get. They currently receive recyclable oilfield equipment, cut it into manageable pieces and truck it through the community of Gibson to PSC Gibson Industrial Services — a company already permitted to remove NORM in Terrebonne Parish.”
PCS, Guidry said, is located across Bayou Black from Old Spanish Trail, which is in his district.
“PCS removes the NORM, puts it into barrels and trucks it back in front of the residents of my district to Hwy 90 and on to another state or parish,” Guidry said. “My vote Wednesday was primarily to stop this naturally occurring radioactive material from being trucked in front of Terrebonne Parish homes by allowing MARS to remove the NORM on their site and transport it out of the parish using the Hwy 90 on-ramp only a few hundred yards away.”
Guidry said he took into consideration a claim by a DEQ scientist that the MARS facility would pose no environmental threat, as well as Terrebonne Parish Water District Director Mike Sobert’s statement that no threat to drinking water would result.
“After extensive research and much due diligence, it became evident that permitting MARS will help protect my constituents who live on Old Spanish Trail in Gibson,” Guidry said.
Parish President Dove said his opposition was based on the objection of residents.
“Nobody is more pro-business than Gordon Dove,” he said, adding that what he saw as strong opposition from residents moved him to offer a veto, until consultation with attorneys resulted in knowledge that he could not do so. The Parish President can veto an ordinance, but not a resolution, which is what the Council voted to pass. Dove maintains the vehicle for approval should have been an ordinance, and that will be the sum of his opinion request.
“My hands are completely tied so we are processing the permit,” Dove said.” “They will have it.”
Supporters of the plant questioned whether Dove would in any event have a conflict of some sort with the issue. His step-son, Jake Himel, is the owner of Reliant Recycling, which is seen as a competitor.
No conflict has existed, or does exist, Dove said.
“They do not fool with NORM waste,” Dove said of Reliant a company in which he has no financial interest. “They have NORM waste meters on his yard. If a truck or a vessel pulls up with NORM it is rejected. They do not compete against mars on steel with NORM. And if it doesn’t have NORM it’s open competition.”
Dove said that even if the Attorney General opines that the vote was not done correctly, it will be too late to stop the permit process. Revoking a permit on such a technicality, he said, even with the weight of an Attorney General opinion, could prove extremely expensive due to litigation costs.
A Gibson recycling company is on track to receive the permits it has sought to allow treatment on stie of naturally occurring radioactive waste from the tanks and halls of ships and other scrap such as dismantied pipetimes.
