JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — At St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church in Marrero, Pastor Melvin Zeno says there’s a decades-old issue.
“Our church has industries that are right upon it,” said Zeno.
In fact, there’s an industry next door. The church sits in a part of Jefferson Parish where big industries are all over.
“There are many, [in] my congregation in particular, who cannot come out. They have to stay in because of the fumes and all of that, that is within the air,” said Zeno.
That’s part of the reason why Wednesday, the parish council adopted new rules, changing how industrial zones in the parish must operate moving forward.
“We need to send a message that we’re going to do everything we can to protect and maintain our quality of life,” said District Two Councilman Deano Bonano.
Bonano says it’s a campaign promise two and a half years in the making. He says 90 percent of all the parish’s industrially zoned properties are in his district.
“I heard from my citizens over and over again that they wanted protection, they wanted relief from the odors, and they wanted to be able to feel safe in their home,” said Bonano.
Bonano says old regulations from the 1960s weren’t doing that, but the new ones will.
From now on, any new industries or expansions of existing ones in industrial zones must have an odor control plan approved by the parish, aesthetic fencing, and report air quality monitoring.
“You have to put it on a public website where the people have the opportunity to go look at the testing you did and what your results were,” said Bonano.
Another new rule is a 2,000-foot buffer zone between any hazardous materials and residential areas. That measurement does not extend across the Mississippi River, which has folks in River Ridge concerned.
“That needs to be changed because we’re the ones when that wind is coming from the West, or the Northwest, or the Southwest, we’re getting it on the East Bank, not the West Bank,” said President of the River Ridge Community Association Nancy Pearson.
Councilman Scott Walker says that can be taken up on a case-by-case basis.
Parish leaders hope new protections will attract more people. Zeno just wants his community to be safe.
“If we really want to see the growth and prosperity that we all think we are entitled to, then we have to take the action that is needful and necessary to receive those blessings,” said Zeno.
Councilman Bonano says no businesses will be forced to close or make changes because of the new requirements. Existing businesses are grandfathered into the previous set of regulations which they operate under.
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