[StBernard] Chalmette Trailers Must Move Due To Contamination

[Westley Annis]

Chalmette Trailers Must Move Due To Contamination
TheNewOrleansChannel.com

NEW ORLEANS - As many as 26 families may be forced to move out of Chalmette.
Parts of the city have been declared unsafe by the Environmental Protection
Agency and the state Department of Environmental Quality. Residents in
Chalmette must be asking themselves what else, especially some of those that
live on Lena Street. The Federal Emergency Management Agency started calling
them earlier this week to tell them the ground they've been living on for
the past 10 months is contaminated. 

For Larry Lestelle and many of his Lena Street neighbors, it wasn't the last
straw. It was just the next one when Lestelle was informed that his FEMA
trailer sits on a piece of ground now considered dangerous. 

"Well they say there are but I don't have the specifics or the exact levels
of the oil contamination. It may be normal stuff that has settled in spots
from after the flood waters going down and it might be just in certain
spots," said Lestelle. 

The EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality have informed
FEMA the area contains unsafe levels of diesel and oil range organics that
present long-range health risks. 

"Supposedly, the trailers weren't supposed to be put in but they were. Then
the testing was done, and they finally became concerned with the stuff
that's in the soil. But if it is only specific spots in the soil, then the
soil should be removed, not the trailer," said Lestelle. 

FEMA is offering alternatives to the affected residents: to move them into a
group of commercial site or put up a trailer on an alternate private site
chosen by the applicant. 

But Lestelle is working to get back into his house right behind his trailer.
He doesn't want to move. 

"And it's not just me. It's quite a few other people. From what I
understand, 26 trailers are targeted for this," said Lestelle. 

According to FEMA, Lestelle and anyone else can stay as long as they sign a
waiver saying they've been informed of the risk. Lestelle said rather than
jump through one more hoop, he'll sign, stay, and take his chances.