Regional Brownfields Projects      Search

Southern Louisiana Regional Portfields Initiative

Redevelopment Initiatives            Consortium

Brownfields Program Coordinator:
Rebecca Otte, RPC Environmental Planner, rotte@norpc.org

Progressive Church Site, Marrero, Louisiana
Environmental Site Assessment Update

Cleanup Underway

Under the Regional Planning Commission's (RPC’s) Brownfield Redevelopment Program, the cleanup of asbestos in soil and limited hydrocarbon and metals contamination is underway at the Progressive Church site in Marrero. The cleanup is expected to be completed by the end of March 2008.

Under the Regional Planning Commission's (RPC’s) Brownfield Redevelopment Program, a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) was conducted at the Progressive Church site in Marrero, Louisiana. Based on the results of the Phase I ESA, soil and groundwater samples were collected at the site, the predominantly vacant land located at 6539 4th Street, near Cohen Street in Marrero. The sampling was conducted in accordance with the work plan approved by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) through their Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP), and included measures to mitigate the potential disturbance of asbestos-containing materials due to the work being done at the site.

Based on the results of the sampling, a Remedial Action Work Plan (RAP) was developed to address the asbestos in soil located on the northern portion of the site and a limited area of hydrocarbon and lead contamination. On October 2, 2007, LDEQ approved the RAP. Cleanup activities began on January 15, 2008, and are expected to be completed by the end of March 2008. Progressive Church received a $200,000 cleanup grant from the USEPA Brownfields Program and will also be using a $300,000 loan from the RPC’s Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund program to help finance the cleanup.

Documents associated with the Progressive Church Site environmental assessment and cleanup include:

	Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Progressive Church Site, Marrero, LA (October 2005)
	Phase II Investigation Findings, Progressive Church Site, Marrero, LA (December 2006)
	Voluntary Remediation Program, Remedial Action Work Plan, Progressive Church Site, AI Number 117913VRP, Marrero, LA (May 2007)

Please contact Rebecca Otte, Environmental Planner at the Regional Planning Commission, if you have any concerns or questions: 504-568-6622.

Southern Louisiana Regional Portfields Initiative

Through the Brownfield Redevelopment Program, the Regional Planning Commission is the lead local agency for the Southern Louisiana Regional Portfields Initiative, in partnership with NOAA, EPA and LDEQ. In May 2006, the RPC hosted a Portfields Peer Exchange Workshop, partnering regional ports with federal, state, and local partners.

Over 75 people attended the LDEQ-sponsored event, including representatives from the Port of New Orleans , St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District, Jefferson Parish Port District, Port of Greater Baton Rouge , Greater Lafourche Port Commission (Port Fourchon), and Port of South Louisiana .

Representatives from the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission ( Massachusetts ), Port of Bellingham ( Washington ) and Port of Tampa ( Florida ), the three original Portfield Pilot ports, enhanced the workshop by sharing their experience with the program.

Following the workshop, the ports submitted proposed project summaries for potential Portfield projects. The federal, state, and local partners are now reviewing the summaries to determine which agencies can best assist with which projects.

The goal of the Portfields Initiative is to partner government agencies with local ports to facilitate projects and explore application of innovative technologies. Possible projects are not limited to just brownfield redevelopment, but may also include stormwater management, security mechanisms, wastewater pond cleanup, habitat restoration, environmental protection, and any other port project that might benefit from agency collaboration.

Based on the project summaries, the goal of the partners is to choose at least one project from each port for implementation. The government partners have agreed to a two-year commitment, which will hopefully be extended based on the success of this initiative.

Meeting Minutes from the Portfield Peer Exchange Workshop May 23 & 24, 2006

Presentations and EPA Handouts (PDF files):

Regional Ports

Port Fourchon: About the Port, by Greater Lafourche Port Commission;
Web site: http://www.portfourchon.com

Port of New Orleans: Southern Louisiana Portfields Initiative, Portfields Peer Exchange Workshop, by the Port of New Orleans; Web site: http://www.portno.com/

Port of South Louisiana: About the Port; Web site: http://www.portsl.com/index.htm

Port of Greater Baton Rouge: About the Port; Web site: http://www.portgbr.com/

Port of St. Bernard: Southern Louisiana Regional Portfields Pilot, by St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District; Web site: http://www.stbernardport.com/index.html

Portfield Pilots

Port of Bellingham: Revitalizing a Maritime Community under Portfields, Lessons Learned; Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington State; Web site: http://www.portofbellingham.com

Port of New Bedford: Portfields Initiative: Revitalizing Port & Harbor Communities, by, New Bedford, Maine, Harbor Development Commission (HDC);
Web site: http://www.portofnewbedford.org

Port of Tampa:Southern Louisiana Portfields Initiative Peer Exchange Workshop, Port of Tampa, Portfields Lessons Learned, by Tampa Port Authority; 
Web site: http://www.tampaport.com/index.asp

Partners

LADEQ: Voluntary Remediation Program and Brownfields Initiatives, by Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); Web site: http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/brownfields

NOAA: Southern Louisiana Portfields Initiative, by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA);
Web sites: Portfields Main Page: http://www.brownfields.noaa.gov/htmls/portfields/portfields.html;
NOAA Coastal Brownfields: http://www.brownfields.noaa.gov/

EPA (Handouts): Overview of Brownfields Grant Program, FAQs sheet and, Targeted Brownfields Assessments;
Web site: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

Port Security: Port Security Grant Program, 2006 (PSGP), by Eighth Coast Guard District;
Web site: Homeland Security Office of Grants and Training: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/grants_programs.htm

Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program: Southern Louisiana Portfields Initiative, by Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP);
Web site: http://www.btnep.org/home.asp

RPC Applying the Southeast Louisiana Regional Brownfields Redevelopment Model

Potential Brownfields Site, Plaquemines Parish

Communities need the tools to assess, cleanup and reuse contaminated properties through partnerships, streamlining, research, and community-based projects. The Regional Planning Commission for Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany Parishes (RPC) undertook the regional brownfields effort to provide these tools. The RPC created a regional policy group, the Southeast Louisiana Regional Brownfields Consortium, to steer the effort, to develop a regional resource for the information needed by communities to formulate brownfields development plans, to synthesize those plans throughout the region, and to prevent the creation of new brownfields sites. The Consortium will assist the communities of the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John, St. James and Tangipahoa to achieve a common goal—sustainable development.

The Project

The Southeast Louisiana Regional Brownfields Consortium is the centerpiece of all phases of the project. The Consortium membership includes private citizens, representatives of governments and community organizations, representatives of the state of Louisiana and federal agencies having brownfields programs, and participants from banking, real estate and business interests. The Consortium will develop brownfields selection criteria, formulate regional brownfields development strategies and create a regional geographic information system (GIS) of brownfields sites.

With input from the RPC and supporting federal agencies, the Consortium will facilitate the establishment of uniform criteria for use by parishes and municipalities to identify and to select possible brownfields sites. After completion of the development program, the Consortium and the RPC will continue to work with communities throughout the region in a sustained effort to identify existing and potential brownfields sites.

Program Work Scope 

The work scope for the Regional Brownfields Redevelopment Program contains six primary tasks: 

• Develop a Community Participation Process
• Identify Tools and Procedures for Selecting and Evaluating Brownfields Sites
• Formulate Site Development Strategies and Tools
• Develop a Brownfields GIS                        
• Identify Project Partnership Opportunities
• Evaluate the Regional Brownfields Redevelopment Program.

Program Goals

These tasks are designed to accomplish the following program goals:

• To create a regional brownfields redevelopment model that can readily be used by local parishes and cities to identify and to cleanup current brownfields sites, as well as to prevent future sites from occurring.
• To develop standardized regional site development procedures, and to encourage use of regionally compatible GIS criteria.
• To act as the regional forum for discussion and dissemination of the regional model, procedures, and GIS criteria.
• To assist local parishes and cites in developing detailed scopes of work for their jurisdictions and for the regional model and procedures.
• To provide factual information relative to brownfields site identification, cleanup and prevention for local public and private use and action.

Project Objectives

The objectives of the project are to develop resources that fall within four categories:

Referral/Enrollment Application

If you know of a property that might qualify as a Brownfield site or would like to apply to the Brownfields Program, please fill out the attached Referral/Enrollment Application form (a PDF file) and mail or fax it to our offices.

Mailing address:

Rebecca Otte, Environmental Planner
Regional Planning Commission
1340 Poydras Street, Suite 2100
New Orleans, LA 70112

Attention: Brownfields Program Coordinator

Telephone Number: 504-568-6622
Fax Number: 504-568-6643

Regional Brownfields Consortium

The RPC has established a Regional Brownfields Consortium that includes representatives of all parties with an interest in brownfields redevelopment. This Consortium will guide brownfields planning and project development in the region through such activities as conferences and workshops, regional policy recommendations and other ways of working together.

The Consortium will provide guidance to communities in the development of model revisions to parish and municipal policies and regulations in order to encourage brownfields activities and the removal of barriers to brownfields redevelopment.

With RPC support, the Consortium will use EPA funds to develop innovative approaches to gather and subsequently to share valuable information among all communities in this region. This research will include technical studies, data collection and analysis. It will also include public forums designed to gather information about needs and expectations regarding brownfields. The Consortium will explore the use of a GIS Data Management System to identify all brownfields in the region, to track their development status, and to link this information to other related databases in the region.

With RPC assistance, the Consortium will use EPA funds to formulate regional strategies that demonstrate the benefits of different groups working together. This effort will serve as a model of regionally based sustainable solutions from which communities throughout the nation can learn.

Project Strategy

The strategy for achieving the overall goals will consist of accomplishing work in four areas:

• Creation of the Southeast Louisiana Regional Brownfields Consortium
• Review of policies and practices that encourage brownfields activities, the removal of barriers to brownfields development, the development of brownfields identification criteria and the linking of GIS within the region.
• “Assessment of brownfields” process development and formulation of coordinated strategies to address all aspects of brownfields development.
• Implementation of regional strategies for projects in the region and continuation of information gathering, policy guidance and community education activities.

Meetings to Inform the Public

Future meeting dates can be obtained by checking RPC's Web site Meeting Notices.

RPC Brownfield Redevelopment Program (off-site): http://rpcbrownfields.org/index.html

        Rebecca Otte, RPC Environmental Planner, rotte@norpc.org

For Frequently Asked Questions about Brownfields, you can go offsite to: http://www.hud.gov/bfields/brownqa.html

For additional information on the EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative, you can go to their web site: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/