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Cleanup complete at Progressive Church in Marrero

Release Date: 11/05/2008
Contact Information: LDEQ: Jean Kelly at 225-219-3966; EPA: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Nov. 3, 2008) Cleanup of the Progressive Church 18-acre site in Marrero is completed. In order to build a Family Life Center for the church, friable and non-friable asbestos and some limited hydrocarbon and lead contamination had to be removed. The completion ceremony took place on Sunday, Nov. 2 at the Progressive Church in Marrero. Dr. Alex Appeaning, DEQ Deputy Secretary, presented plaques to the Progressive Church, the Regional Planning Commission and Waldemar S. Nelson and Company to commemorate the successful completion of the project.

The cleanup, which took approximately 10 months, was conducted in accordance with an approved Remedial Action Work plan from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. DEQ oversaw the project. The cleanup was funded, in part, with a Brownfield Cleanup Grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in the amount of $200,000 and a $300,000 loan from the Regional Planning Commission’s
Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund.

“Projects like this one, that clean up the environment, make property usable for business, create new jobs and help build the community, are good for the state,” said Harold Leggett, DEQ Secretary.“We want to commend all of the partners who made this possible – the Regional Planning Commission for Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany Parishes, EPA, DEQ -- and the foresight and planning of Pastor Sterling Mealancon and his congregation for a job well done.”

“EPA continues to use the Brownfields program to stimulate environmental and economic success in our communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “This program is a great example of how federal, state and local groups can work together to turn contaminated areas into viable properties.”

For more information on the Brownfields Program, go to the DEQ website at http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/tabid/269/Default.aspx.