[StBernard] DEMO's

[Westley Annis]

jer wrote:

I would be at every council meeting expecting to be heard each time, write
every agency I could, get the word out to every blog, get the press and
action reporters behind me at every stage regarding this "human interest
story", backed up with an attorney, perhaps....

And discourage each and every voter in the parish to consider what the
politicians have done to accommodate me considering my finances. If there is
a "heartbeat" in the parish, to save a homeowner who is about to go belly-up
with the last vestiges and remains of that home, I'd want them to drag me
off to prison so that I can write the truth about my story for all to
absorb.


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this type of activism you suggest is what we have been advocates for in our own neighborhoods around Murphy Oil Meraux refinery

there is no guarantee that our rebuilt homes and revitalized neighborhoods have not already been promised to industry's future petitions for zoning changes

we're still naive and with a lack of information on the refinery's total expansion plans and plans for the residential buyup lots.
we seek at the very least disambiguation

sidewalks are finally being restored, but not to all four streets - just yet, 
changes to the make-shift parking lot between the=2 0neighborhood and the refinery or on the existing refinery fence (changes like adding a screening material similar to the new one at the high school ball field) and further compliance with local codes (such as vibrations, noise, dust, lighting) would result immediately and significantly in improvements to our quality of life

 residents have signed up for the LLT/LRA Lots Next Door AND neighborhood~community greenspace with LLT/LRA properties, but our Council Representative has indicated these neighborhoods maynot be allowed to participate....


we have been to countless meetings to save our homes, preserve our neighborhoods, our residential streets and protective greenspace.
we have had countless meetings and discussions with the industry to reserve our rights to clean air, clean water and uncontaminated soil. 

we petitioned the regulatory agencies to simply enforce the existing federal permits.  with new permit applications we asked not only for control improvements but also for improvements for soil subsidence, berms or secondary containment levees, and even the anchoring of tanks to prevent another catastrophic spill.  our own council, as early as 2006 wrote a Resolution for a letter of no objection to expand the tank farm into the wooded area north of the 20 arpent; seemingly to repeat the mistakes of the crude oil spill which resulted in part from poor planning which allowed tank farms too close to established subdivisions. 

we petitioned for our Fire Station property, if taken out of service, to be designated greenspace and not landswap traded for incursion
 ---- at the very least wait for the independent fire rating or study of fire station placement expected in the near future. 

we presented our long range goals - our vision for our neighborhoods' future and what commitment was needed from the council and administration to obtain those goals.  and after the council-allowed encroachment by way of a petrochemical testing lab in a residential district, we petitioned for no more zoning changes -- as we see the empty spaces of the Murphy owned residential lots as a true protective buffer.

we need the councils and administrations commitment to that now and for future generations

 the only thing protecting us from the most hazardous processing side of the refinery is the residential zoning  

change that, allow more encroachment and incursion, and the parish has re-created the unbalance between residential and industrial districts and set the precarious location of residents subjected daily to industry and OSHA standards.  far from a modernized code which would be more protective of public health and safety

we have been patient and reasonable given the consequential damages 
  we are not litigious.  we care far more for our homes and neighborhoods,for public health and safety and our community.  
unfortunately, sometimes our rights must be preserved20through the courts.

SJK