Jul 10, 2015
Today, Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) Secretary Peggy Hatch announced the public hearing on Tubal-Cain’s permit application will be postponed until Aug. 18. The public comment period will also be extended until Aug. 31.
“In response to concerns and requests from the community, DEQ will postpone the public hearing on Tubal-Cain’s proposed permit and extend the public comment period,” Hatch said. “We encourage all concerned citizens to utilize this period to learn more about the issue and provide comment to the department. We will take every comment into consideration and respond before a final determination is made.”
In December 2014, Tubal-Cain submitted an application for a marine barge cleaning facility in an area locally zoned as “heavy-industrial” along the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. While not required to hold a public hearing for proposed “minor source” permit applications, DEQ elected to schedule a hearing earlier this year in response to significant public interest.
The public hearing for the proposed permit will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, in the Oliver Pollock Room at the Galvez Building, 602 N. Fifth St. downtown, and the public comment period will extend to Monday, Aug. 31. Interested individuals can submit comments in writing by post, email, fax or may be hand-delivered to DEQ. Delivery may be made to the drop-box at 602 N. 5th St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802. U.S. Mail may be sent to LDEQ, Public Participation Group, P.O. Box 4313, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4313. Emails may be submitted to DEQ.PUBLICNOTICES@LA.GOV and faxes sent to (225) 219-3309. Written comments carry the same weight as comments made at the public hearing.
The Tubal-Cain application and proposed permit may be viewed in DEQ’s Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) under the agency interest number (AI) 192411. When a final decision on the proposed permit is reached, the basis for decision will be available in EDMS under the same AI.