[StBernard] Debris Disposal Problems, and More

[Westley Annis]

Debris Disposal Problems, and More

March 15 , 2006

By: Steve Cannizaro


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Residents urged not to throw debris into canals or stack materials nearby
because drainage could be affected; St. Bernard Council meetings to be shown
on Jefferson cable access system; volunteers sought to help plant flowers on
Arabi neutral ground this Saturday, March 18 
 

St. Bernard Parish residents are urged not to throw debris into canals or
stack any material on their banks because it can block drainage, backing up
water onto streets or clogging screens at pumping stations, forcing a pump
to be shut down and cleaned. 
 
Material clogging canals "has gotten bad lately,'' according to Bob Turner,
manager of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District in St. Bernard Parish, which
handles the major drainage canals and the pumping stations as well as levee
maintenance in the parish. 
 
A major effort was made to remove debris from parish canals from October
through January but now debris is building up again, Turner said. 
 
"Some people (along canals) just throw debris over their fence or stack
things on the canal banks and the wind blows it in.'' 
 
Items in a canal "can block culverts at roadway crossings'' or stop the flow
of water going to pump stations, causing it to back up on streets, Turner
said. Also, debris "can foul up the trash removal system at the pumping
station,'' causing workers to shut down the pump. 
 
Also, Turner said, the Levee Board is having serious problems with people
riding 4-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles on the levees. There's little
grass on levees and the 4-wheelers are tearing up sections, as well as
getting in the way of contractors working there, he said. 
 
Law enforcement officers are writing citations but also can impound a
vehicle and will if necessary, Turner said. 
 
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Displaced residents from St. Bernard Parish can soon see meetings of the
Parish Council on government access television channels in Jefferson and St.
Charles parishes. 
 
St. Bernard Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez said it will be
another way for residents now living outside the parish to stay connected to
St. Bernard. A schedule for showing the meetings in the other parishes
hasn't been set. 
 
Joseph DiFattaJr., vice chairman of the St. Bernard Council, said the
government contacted its neighbors about showing the meetings produced in
St. Bernard, and it got help from Jefferson and St. Charles parishes.
Plaquemines was willing but has no operating cable station of its own, and
St. Tammany hasn't responded, he said. 
 
"We appreciate other parishes giving us the opportunity to do this,''
DIFatta said. 
 
### 
 
Call it Spring Cleaning, Part II. 
 
Volunteers cleaned the Arabi neutral ground along St. Claude Avenue on March
4, making it ready for the planting of flowers and other shrubbery. Now
those volunteers and others are sought to help with the planting work to be
done this Saturday, March 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
 
About 70 volunteers from the Chalmette Refining Oaks Club, the Kiwanis and
4-H clubs, Old Arabi Neighborhood Association and individuals and parish
officials took part in the clean-up on the neutral ground and they and
others are asked to come back for the panting. 
 
Sign in will be at the parking lot of the Auto Zone building on St. Claude.
If there are enough workers, some will be asked to help with cleaning the
neutral at the entrance to the parish on West Judge Perez Drive.