DEQ Says New Orleans Landfill Should Remain Open

Date: July 15, 2006

Source: The Times-Picayune, http://www.timespicayune.com

The Louisiana DEQ recommends that a contentious landfill reopened to accomodate Hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts should remain open. The agency issued a statement saying that the Chef Menteur landfill, which has been criticized by environmentalists, "poses no threat to public health" and "is needed to clean up New Orleans in an environmentally sound and timely manner." This position is in direct conflict with New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin who intends to close the landfill next month. The landfill's opponents had forced the Mayor's hand by filing a lawsuit in state court claiming that he lacked the authority to exclude the City Council from land-use decisions, even under a state of emergency.

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