Citizens from Jamestown drove to the Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources (LDENR) in Baton Rouge this week to personally deliver 800 letters of opposition to a ‘saltwater’ waste injection well operation, proposed for the old Acme Brick plant site on Hwy 792. The Mayors of Jamestown, Saline, and Castor joined the opposition to yet another injection facility. There are 7 Saltwater Disposal sites already operating within a 25-mile radius of the proposed Brickyard site and an 8th one has already been permitted.
These Parish and Town officials join a growing list of local and State leaders who are standing up against the increasingly controversial practice of injecting enormous volumes of hazardous material into the ground, given threats to aquifers and private property. In addition to recently permitting its first Carbon Capture injection facility, Louisiana has continued to permit drilling wells with insufficient regard to waste management. Plus, drilling wastes are imported from Texas for local injection, given Texas’ ban on this type of disposal.
Once permitted, Brickyard Trucking, LLC could accept up to 24,000 barrels a day of oilfield Exploration & Production Waste fluids. Its proposed site was never cleaned up, after having been severely polluted for decades. It released nearly 12,000 lbs. of deadly Hydrogen Fluoride into the air in 2001, as well as massive amounts of Hydrochloric Acid. The facility is considered “tantamount to a Superfund site” by the citizens, who are outraged that Sparta Aquifer Commission experts were not consulted, as Jamestown is a critical aquifer recharge area.
“This proposal adds insult to injury to rural residents who deeply care about their water, quality of life, and the burden that’s being left for future generations,” says Sherri Balance, one of the local leaders. “We’re shocked at the lack of public involvement and protection at LDENR.”
The citizens are demanding that a public hearing be held in Ringgold, LA and an extension of the public comment period of another month, to allow proper scrutiny of the application by experts and the public. Bienville Parish citizens are currently asking their State Representatives, Jack McFarland and Rashid Young, to help acquire an extension of the public comment period, given the fact that the online application remains incomplete and to give the Sparta Aquifer Commission a chance to consider the cumulative impact of waste injection in the area.