Mile 121.0 - LBD - Old Pan American Southern Oil Refinery

121 LBD - Old Pan American Southern Oil Refinery

The Pan American Southern Refinery was built on Destrehan Plantation in the early 1900's and produced tar, heating oil, gasoline, lubricating oil, asphalt, and other petroleum products until it was closed in 1958.

New Orleans:

Gert Town

The neighborhood of Gert Town is located in Mid City New Orleans near Xavier University, the only historically Black, Catholic University in the United States. Just blocks from the university and within this residential neighborhood was the Thompson-Hayward chemical plant. From 1941 to the 1970’s the plant mixed a variety of liquid and powdered insecticides and herbicides in large outdoor vats, including Aldrin, Dieldrin, Chlordane, DDT, and the herbicide 2,4,5,-T (one of the 2 constituents of Agent Orange). In the 1980’s the site was used by Harcros Chemicals to store dry-cleaning chemicals and pesticides. Spills of chemicals and dumping of chemicals into storm drains were common. The facility was shut down in 1988 and some remediation was conducted. Large amounts of toxic material remained and an additional clean up was performed by the US EPA from 2006 - 2007.

Press Park, Gordon Plaza, and Liberty Terrace

The town home development Press Park, the neighborhood Gordon Plaza and the apartment complex Liberty Terrace were built in 1978 as part of a redevelopment project, championed by local politicians, aimed at helping to give low income African-American residents of New Orleans a piece of the American Dream. By 1986 residents began complaint of trash popping up through the soil in their yards and health problems. The developments had been built on the old Agriculture Street Landfill, a primary landfill for the City of New Orleans from 1909 to 1952 and was used again to dispose of waste from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and 1966. In 1994 the area was put on the Superfund list by the EPA and a cleanup was conducted; removing contaminated soil, installing fabric barriers and placing new soil but the residents remained in place. Hurricane Katrina devastated the area and the flooding is thought to have allowed contamination to seep to the surface. The town homes and apartment complex (which was being used as a retirement home) remain abandoned but most of the single family homes are currently occupied.

Versailles

During the Vietnam Conflict many Vietnamese refugees were resettled to South Louisiana, the thought being that refugees from the Mekong Delta would feel most comfortable in the Mississippi Delta and have opportunities as fishermen and in the seafood industry. A large population of Vietnamese Americans developed in New Orleans East as well as on the West Bank. It is said to be the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. One of these communities is a neighborhood in New Orleans East called Versailles which is centered around Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church. The residents of Versailles live in typical 60’s and 70’s suburban style homes but many backyards and the nearby fields are filled with gardens growing all manner of vegetables, often being tended by folks in traditional conical hats. The water for the gardens, as well as fish, comes from the lagoons and bayous that flow around the neighborhood. Following Hurricane Katrina the residents found out that a landfill for hurricane debris was to be built adjacent to the neighborhood and on a bayou connected to their waterways. The residents, who traditionally kept a low profile and avoided conflict with those outside of their community, organized and began to fight the landfill. Public hearings were flooded by residents, often requiring overflow rooms to hold everyone. The landfill was ultimately shut down before it had accepted very much waste some of which was removed but some still remains. The community is now working to increase it’s sustainability and developing community based farms and aquaponics.