Harlan Kirgan
The St. Landry Parish Council introduced three ordinances governing waste disposal in the parish in reaction to a proposed injection well near the St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Landfill at Beggs.
The unanimous action in a packed meeting room on Wednesday by the Council marks its first foray into land use regulation.
The land use issue was raised by Tommy DeJean, of Opelousas, as he spoke in favor of the ordinances.
“This parish needs to do a comprehensive land use map because the parish is growing,” DeJean said. “We have a lot of commercial development on the south side and that’s great, but you are going to have a lot of knocking of heads between commercial interests and private property interests.”
DeJean added, “There has to be rules put down to where if I come to this parish to settle here, for example, I want to make sure I don’t have a solid waste disposal site on the side of me.”
The three ordinances approved with the Council as co-authors follow Eagle Oil LLC seeking a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources for a well to be used to dispose of fracking waste from oil and natural gas drilling.
At Wednesday’s meeting Dwight Landreneau, of Washington, said he was speaking behalf of residents opposing the disposal site. He encouraged the Council to act on the ordinances as co-authors to show the unanimous support.
The three ordinances, which are to be effective March 21, include:
— Require neighbors and parish government consent.
Any commercial facility designed to dispose of or generate hazardous waste including, but not limited to, exploration and production waste disposal facilities and facilities using gun barrels and tanks to separate liquid and solid wastes, proposed to operate within St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, shall obtain written notarized consent of all residential property owners within a one-mile radius of (the facility, and consent from the Parish Council, prior to construction and operation. Proof of such notarized approval shall be submitted to the Parish Council for siting approval prior to commencement of construction and operations, and shall include in the notarized consent a statement by the adjacent landowner(s) whether the adjacent landowner has any water well used for domestic, livestock, irrigation, or agricultural use. If said facility does not meet the requirements of this ordinance, such land use is prohibited unless a variance is issued by the Parish Council, and any commercial facility designed to inject hazardous waste, including, but not limited to exploration and petroleum waste, below the surface of the ground, proposed to operate within St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, shall obtain written notarized consent of all residential property owners within a one-mile radius of the facility and consent from the Parish Council, prior to construction and operation. Proof of such notarized approval shall be submitted to the Parish Council for approval prior to commencement of construction and operations, and shall include in the notarized consent a statement by each adjacent landowner whether the adjacent landowner has any water well used for domestic, livestock, irrigation, or agricultural use. If said facility does not meet the requirements of this ordinance, such land use is prohibited unless a variance is issued by the Parish Council. This ordinance shall not apply to any facility operating prior to the enactment of this ordinance. This ordinance shall not apply to any government-owned facility.
— Permit required for the commerical disposal or exploration and petroleum waste and/or hazardous or nonhazardous solid waste.
No person or business entity may operate a Commercial Class II Injection Well in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, without first submitting for approval a Land Use, Historic Preservation, Neighbor’s Rights, and Environmental Protection Permit Application to the Parish Council. The Parish Council shall have the discretion to approve or deny the permit application for any non-geological and non-engineering basis as may be permitted by law. This ordinance shall not apply to any facility operating prior to enactment of this ordinance. This ordinance shall not apply to any government-owned facility.
— Minimum distance required between disposal and drinking water aquifer.
No person or business entity may operate a commercial waste-disposal facility that disposes ofexploration and production wastewater by Commercial Class II Injection Well in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, without approval of the Parish Council, if the proposed underground zone of disposal is within 5,000 feet of a potential drinking water aquifer unless the owner and operator of said facility obtains a variance from the Parish Council. This ordinance shall not apply to any facility operating prior to enactment of this ordinance. This ordinance shall not apply to any government-owned facility.
The Council also authorized Parish President to sign an engagement letter with environmental attorneys in the firm of Scott, Vicknair, Hair & Check, LLC.
At the Feb. 6 meeting, the Parish Council’s attorney, Garrett Duplechain, said, “It is important for our parish to be able to protect its environment.”
Andrew Jacoby, one of the environmental attorneys to be employed, said at the Feb. 6 meeting that is not too late for the Parish Council to act.
If the state approves the permit before the Parish Council acts, that could prove “dicey,” he said.