Former waste tire facility added to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality list of restoration sites

Trinity Velazquez
·1 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is working to address the environmental concerns posed by the Cottonport Monofill site in Avoyelles Parish.

LDEQ said the former waste tire facility, abandoned in 2015, poses risks due to thousands of stacked waste tires and tire chips on the property. LDEQ Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto has formed “Tiger Teams.” LDEQ said they will develop an action plan to fix this and other long-ignored sites across the state.

Giacometto visited the Cottonport Monofill site in mid-April. During her visit, she met with state senators and the mayor of Cottonport. LDEQ said the goal was to speed up solutions to the site’s environmental challenges.

Oscar Magee, the team leader for the Cottonport Monofill Legacy Project, said they are assessing the site and exploring ways to close it. Magee said they want to keep the environment healthy for Louisiana residents.

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The Cottonport Monofill facility joins other environmental sites. The LDEQ has identified them as priorities for remediation, also known as Legacy Projects. The red dust issue with LAlumina, LLC in Ascension Parish is also on the Legacy Project list, LDEQ said.

According to LDEQ, Giacometto created these Legacy Projects to confront old environmental concerns. These concerns were caused by abandoned or unresolved hazardous facilities. LDEQ said the team aims to use effective solutions and restore specific hazardous sites to meet Louisiana’s standards.

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