[StBernard] St. Mark's School Site to be new Lacoste Elementary School

[Westley Annis]

As the community continues to grow, so does the St. Bernard Parish public
school system.

After several months of negotiations with the Archdiocese of New Orleans,
the school district recently completed paperwork to obtain ownership of the
site of the former St. Mark Catholic church and school in Chalmette.

The school system plans to build the new Lacoste Elementary School on that
site in order to alleviate crowding at Arabi, Chalmette and Joseph Davies
elementary schools.

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The school board recently approved bids to remove the contaminated soil from this site.  Testing in August 2010 found levels above the LDEQ RECAP standards.  It'll be great to have another elementary school back in the district, however, young kids tend to play outside and at times eat the mud and sand they play in. I guess everyone is assuming the contamination is from the crude oil spill, but what about the ground water contamination?  I have not been able to find any information on, and LDEQ has not been able to confirm after numerous inquiries, the source of the ground water contamination.    There is no information towards whether the ground water contamination is from the unlined solid waste empoundments, called 'ponds', or from the 2005 crude oil spill, or some other reoccurring source.  
I really hope the school board has independent testing to assure the health and safety of our children.  --- SJK
 
http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=7300499&ob=yes&child=yes
 
http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view.aspx?doc=7303314&ob=yes&child=yes
 
Recent soil and ground water testing results at former St. Mark's Church and School Site, where St. Bernard Parish School Board is planning another elementary school.

----levels exceeded RECAP screening standards for non-industrial land use for TPH-DRO, TPH-ORO and three PAH compounds: Benzo(a)anthracene, Benzo(b)flouranthene, and Benzo(a)pyrene

---the RECAP screening standard protective for groundwater was exceeded for the PAH compund 2-methylnaphthalene