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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US TODAY.[Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng Salt Water Intrusion Briefing 9-29-2023]
I WANT TO INTRODUCE SHARI FROM THE DEAF ACTION CENTER.AND THIS, UM, PRESS CONFERENCE IS IN PREPARATION FOR THE POTEN POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF THE SALT WATER INTRUSION COMING TO JEFFERSON PARISH.
SO WE'RE HERE TO BRIEF YOU ON OUR JEFFERSON PARISH PLAN TO INTAKE WATER FROM FURTHER UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
UM, I WAS, UM, WENT TO BATON ROUGE TODAY, JUST GOT BACK A LITTLE WHILE, UH, WITH OUR TEAM TO ATTEND THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MEETING, THE UNIFIED COMMAND MEETING.
UM, AND THE, WE GOT SOME GOOD NEWS AT THAT MEETING.
SO IT WAS WELL WORTH THE TRIP THAT OUR PLAN WAS APPROVED.
SO THERE NEEDS TO BE, FIRST AN UNDERSTANDING THAT DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF WATER BROUGHT IN AT THE DIFFERENT INTAKES, THERE'S GONNA BE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU.
THE SMALLER INTAKES HAVE OPTIONS TO, UM, GET WATER FROM OTHER PARISHES.
LIKE FOR, FOR INSTANCE, WE'RE SENDING WATER TO PLAQUEMINES PARISH, USE REVERSE OSMOSIS TECHNOLOGY, OR EVEN HAVE WATER BARGED FROM UPSTREAM, UH, TO THEM.
AND THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS IS, IS DOING THAT NOW FOR PLAQUEMINES PARISH SO THEY CAN MIX AND, AND MIX THE WATER AND DILUTE THE WATER TO GET IT TO SAFE DRINKING LEVELS.
MANY OF THOSE OPTIONS ARE JUST NOT AVAILABLE TO OUR INTAKES IN JEFFERSON PARISH.
UM, SO WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH A DIFFERENT SOLUTION.
SO LET'S GO BACK AND JUST SO EVERYBODY REMEMBERS IN JEFFERSON PARISH THAT WE HAVE THREE INTAKES.
GRETNA WILL BE THE FIRST ONE IF THE, IF, IF AND WHEN THE INTRUSION COMES UP HERE, GRETNA'S GONNA BE THE FIRST AFFECTED.
THEY TAKE IN 4 MILLION GALLONS A DAY.
THEY'RE THE ONLY MUNICIPALITY THAT DOES THEIR OWN WATER SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S WHY I'VE ASKED MAYOR BELINDA CONSTANT TO BE HERE WITH YOU TODAY SO SHE CAN GIVE YOU AN UPDATE.
SHE HAS BEEN VERY BUSY AND HER TEAM ON THEIR EFFORTS FOR THE GRETNA INTAKE, UM, REMINDER THAT WESTWEGO RESIDENTS, ALTHOUGH THEY MIGHT GET A BILL THAT SAYS WESTWEGO, THEY REALLY ARE, THEY PURCHASE THEIR WATER FROM US.
SO IF YOU'RE IN WESTWEGO, YOU GET YOUR INTAKE, YOUR WATER COMES FROM THE WEST JEFFERSON INTAKE, JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE WEST BANK.
AND THEN THE, SO WE HAVE GRETNA AS THE FIRST ONE, AND THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE PARISH IS AGAIN, THE WEST, JEFF AND EAST JEFF INTAKE.
AND IT REALLY SHOULD BE SEEN AS TWO SEPARATE SYSTEMS AND TWO SEPARATE PROJECTS.
THEY'RE NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY.
UM, WEST JEFFERSON WITH 30 MILLION GALLONS A DAY, AND EAST JEFFERSON WITH 40 MILLION GALLONS A DAY.
SO TWO DETE DISTINCT PROJECTS THAT ARE OF COMPARABLE SIZE.
I WANNA THANK OUR TEAM FOR COMING UP WITH THIS PLAN.
THEY HAVE BROUGHT IN, UH, DURING THIS WEEK.
I WANTED TO GIVE THEM THEIR TIME.
I TOLD THEM TO BE CREATIVE, TO LOOK AT EVERYTHING.
AND, UM, AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, KUDOS TO MARK FOR BRINGING IN THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS OUR ENGINEERING DRAINAGE AS WELL AS OUR WATER DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA INTRODUCE THAT.
BUT WE'VE BEEN STUDYING THIS SITUATION FOR WELL OVER A WEEK.
THEY'VE BEEN WORKING, YOU KNOW, VERY LONG HOURS TO WHAT WE'RE SAYING OUR SYSTEM IS GONNA BE.
AND WHAT WORKS FOR US ON THOSE TWO PROJECTS IS WHAT WE'RE CALLING A FLEXIBLE WATERLINE SYSTEM.
SOMETIMES IT'S KNOWN AS LAY FLATS IN THE INDUSTRY TO DRAW IN FRESH WATER FROM UP THE RIVER.
SO OBVIOUSLY, WE'RE GONNA GET STARTED ON THE WEST BANK.
UM, THE INTRUSION WILL HIT THAT FIRST GRETA AND THE WEST BANK FIRST, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE, THAT, THAT WILL GO FIRST.
AND THEN JUST TO REMEMBER THAT GRAND ISLE IS ACTUALLY SERVICED BY THAT WEST BANK LINE 32 DOWN.
WE SEND WATER THROUGH A PIPELINE 32, UH, MILES DOWN THERE.
BUT LAFOURCHE PARISH, WE, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY LINE TO LAFOURCHE PARISH THAT WE ESTABLISHED AFTER IDA.
AND THEY, LAFOURCHE WILL, UM, BE A GOOD PARTNER WITH US IN SERVICE GRAND ISLE.
SO THEY WON'T BE AN ISSUE FOR THIS, FOR THIS EVENT, I WANNA THANK OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR COMING AS WELL.
AND AFTER THIS, I WILL, UM, LET THEM TALK AT THE END.
BUT WE HAVE WITH US, AND I KNOW SOME OF 'EM DIDN'T COME IN THE ROOM, BUT SOME, SOME OF US DO HAVE A COUPLE PEOPLE HERE THAT WALKED IN.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, UH, REP, REPRESENTATIVE KERNER, COUNCILMAN VAN RANKIN, COUNCILMAN BYRON LEE, UM, COUNCILMAN AT LARGE, RICKY TEMPLATE, COUNCILMAN SCOTT WALKER.
DID I MISS ANYBODY? WALKED IN THE ROOM? SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING, FOR BEING HERE.
SO WITH THAT, UM, I WILL, I WANNA TURN IT OVER TO OUR TEAM, OUR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, MARK DREWS, AND SYDNEY BALEY IS OUR WATER DIRECTOR.
UM, AND THEY CAN GIVE YOU MORE SPECIFICS ON OUR PLAN.
UH, MARK DREWS A PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR.
UH, BASICALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, AFTER BRAINSTORMING AND, AND DOING A LOT OF RESEARCH, WE'VE COME UP WITH WHAT WE BELIEVE IS THE MOST PRACTICAL PLAN.
THE GOAL IS TO PUT A FLEXIBLE PIPING SYSTEM, UH, WITH DIESEL PUMPS, UH, HIGH VELOCITY DIESEL PUMPS, SO WE CAN GET ENOUGH FLOW THROUGH THE PIPES, UH, AND EXTEND THAT SYSTEM APPROXIMATELY 15 MILES UP RIVER FROM THE WEST BANK PLANT TO A LOCATION THAT IS IN THE VICINITY OF A NATURAL SILL IN THE RIVER.
THAT'S JUST PROBABLY JUST A LITTLE BIT, UH, UP RIVER OF KENNER, UH, WHERE THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN GRADE IN THE MISSISSIPPI
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RIVER, UH, WHERE IT GETS THE BOTTOM GETS A LOT SHALLOWER.UH, AND IN RECENT PAST THE 1988, THE TOW ACTUALLY REACHED ABOUT THAT POINT AND QUICKLY RETREATED.
SO IF WE CAN GET IN THAT VICINITY ACCORDING TO WHAT THE CURRENT PROGNOSTICATIONS ARE, WE SHOULD BE, OKAY.
UH, THE SYSTEM BASICALLY ON THE WEST BANK, UH, CONSISTS OF FOUR 12 INCH DIAMETER, FLEXIBLE LAY FLAT PIPES.
UH, WE CHOSE THAT SYSTEM OF PIPING BECAUSE THE LAY FLATS, UH, WITH THAT DIAMETER ARE MUCH MORE NIMBLE THAN ANYTHING ELSE BECAUSE THERE ARE OBSTACLES WE HAVE TO GET AROUND ON THE BATCHER.
UH, THERE ARE SOME ACCESSES THAT WE'LL HAVE TO CROSS, AND IF THERE'S ANY OBSTACLES, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO MOVE THOSE PIPES AROUND THAT, UH, THOSE OBSTRUCTIONS.
UH, THE DIESEL PUMPS, UH, BASICALLY ON EACH LINE, IF I'M RUNNING FOUR PARALLEL LINES, ROUGHLY AT A FIVE MILE SPACING, I'LL HAVE A PUMP ON EACH ONE OF THOSE LINES.
OKAY? SO THOSE PUMPS TECHNICALLY WILL BE SPACED ROUGHLY AT 5,000 MILE, UH, I MEAN FIVE MILES.
OKAY? SO WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS FROM THE INTAKE OF THE PLANT, ABOUT FIVE MILES AWAY, WE WOULD HAVE FOUR PUMPS.
OKAY? THEN FIVE MORE MILES, FOUR PUMPS, AND THEN FIVE MILES WHERE WE WOULD THEORETICALLY BE THE INTAKE.
UH, 15 MILES, I'D HAVE ANOTHER SET OF FOUR PUMPS.
UH, THOSE PUMPING SYSTEM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT ONCE I GET FIVE MILES AHEAD, IF NEED BE, WE CAN PUMP FROM THERE.
WE CAN LITERALLY MAKE THAT OUR SUCTION.
UH, SO WHAT THE PLAN IS, IS WE MAY GO FIVE MILES, START BUILDING OUT TO 10.
IF WE GET REPORTS FROM THE COURT AT OKAY, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE EVERYTHING'S SLOWED DOWN AND IT'S NOT GONNA REACH THAT FAR, THEN WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO JUST STOP AND SIT TIGHT THERE.
UH, WHICH IS ALSO WHAT THE STATE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE HAPPEN.
SO WE DO HAVE THAT ABILITY, UH, WHEN WE GO TO THE EAST BANK, IT'S GONNA BE A SIMILAR SYSTEM.
UH, THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IS I'LL BE RUNNING FIVE LINES BECAUSE THE EAST BANK INTAKE IS LARGER THAN THE WEST BANK INTAKE.
UH, SO WITH THAT, THAT PRETTY MUCH, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF WHAT, WHAT THE PLAN IS.
UH, AND WE DO BELIEVE IT'S DOABLE WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME.
AND THE SCHEDULE WITH THE CORE IS SET OUT, UH, WITH REGARD TO THE INTRUSION AND IT'S MOVING.
UM, BELINDA CONSON IS THE MAYOR OF GRETNA.
SHE AND I HAPPENED TO BE, IT SEEMS LIKE A LONG TIME AGO, BUT IT WAS JUST LAST WEEK IN DC ON ANOTHER PROJECT.
WE WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL STAFFERS AND EXPLAIN THE URGENCY OF THIS MATTER ALONG WITH PARISH PRESIDENT HINCKLEY.
SO I KNOW WE'VE BEEN WORKING AT SINCE THAT TIME.
UH, BELINDA, CONSTANT MAYOR OF GRETNA.
I JUST WANNA SAY, UH, THANK YOU TO CYNTHIA AS WELL AS PARISH PRESIDENT KEITH HINKLEY.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ALONGSIDE HIM AS WELL, BECAUSE, AS CYNTHIA SAID, WE ARE THE ONLY MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT WITHIN JEFFERSON PARISH THAT OPERATES OUR OWN WATER AND SEWER.
AND THEREFORE, UM, WE INTAKE WATER SEPARATE AND APART FROM JEFFERSON, UM, PARISH, UH, PLAQUEMINES PARISHES, UPPER UPPER PLAQUEMINE IS EQUALLY ABOUT THE SIZE OF GRETNA.
SO WE HAVE BEEN IN, UH, COORDINATION WITH THEM AS FAR AS OPTIONS, UM, BECAUSE WE WITHDRAW ABOUT 4 MILLION GALLONS A DAY, SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN WHAT JEFFERSON PARISH DOES.
WE ALREADY HAVE PLANS IN PLACE.
WE HAVE DONE WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO, ACCORDING TO FEMA GUIDELINES UNDER EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CRISIS, UM, PUT OUT FOR BID, AND WE'LL HAVE OUR BARGE SECURED BY 3:00 PM TOMORROW.
WE ALSO, BECAUSE OF THE, UH, AMOUNT OF WATER INTAKE THAT'S INVOLVED, WE ARE, UM, ACT ACTUALLY ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RO OR REVERSE OSMOSIS.
UM, AND WE'RE LOOKING INTO DOING THAT AS WELL FOR DU REDUNDANCY, UM, PROTECTION.
WE HAVE, UH, WATER, UH, TANKERS, UM, 18 WHEELERS, UM, THAT'S BEEN SECURED AND RESERVED AS WELL AS, UM, AN ORDER IN FOR THE NECESSARY BOTTLED WATER ON 18 WHEELERS, UH, THAT WE WILL HAVE BROUGHT INTO THE CITY FOR OUR CONSTITUENTS.
UM, WE REALLY WANT THE CONSTITUENCY TO UNDERSTAND, UM, THAT WE STAND READY AND WE ARE, UM, ABSOLUTELY READY FOR WHAT WE WILL, UM, WHAT WE'LL BE INVOLVED IN THIS FOR THE CITY OF GRETNA.
THERE MAY BE SOME TIMES WHEN WE MAYBE ARE UNCOMFORTABLE AND MAYBE WATER.
UM, WE WOULD HAVE TO REDUCE WHAT WE'RE USING, UM, AND USE IT FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES ONLY.
BUT WE, UH, ABSOLUTELY HAVE THE BEST INTEREST ALONG WITH JEFFERSON PARISH FOR OUR PEOPLE, AND WE STAND READY, UH, AND ARE PREPARED FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD IN THE COMING MONTHS.
AGAIN, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO CYNTHIA FOR, UH, INCLUDING THE CITY BECAUSE OF OUR UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES.
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AND WE'RE HERE TO WORK WITH JEFFERSON PARISH AS MUCH AS WE CAN.AND YES, THAT THE MESSAGE AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UH, IT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT THROUGHOUT JEFFERSON PARISH.
AGAIN, WHAT GRETNA MIGHT BE INSTRUCTING TO THEIR CITIZENS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT FROM WEST JEFF, PEOPLE ON THE WEST BANK VERSUS PEOPLE ON THE EAST BANK AS WELL.
SO, UM, PLEASE STAY IN, STAY IN TOUCH WITH US AS WITH THAT.
UH, JUST A LITTLE BIT OF THE OUTREACH THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PAST WEEK.
I KNOW I MENTIONED AT OUR COUNCIL MEETING THIS WEEK EARLIER, THE SHELVES WERE EMPTY WITH WATER AND PEOPLE WERE, YOU KNOW, HAVING ISSUES WITH THAT.
AND REALLY THE STORE JUST GOT CAUGHT, CAUGHT OFF GUARD.
WE IMMEDIATELY CALLED A MEETING.
WE HAD PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, 35 GROCERS BY WITHIN 24 HOURS.
THANKS TO MY TEAM FOR GETTING THAT TOGETHER.
I WANTED INDIVIDUAL CONTACT, NOT WITH A NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OR EVEN A STATE ASSOCIATION, BUT WITH THE MANAGERS WHO ARE IN THE STORES IN JEFFERSON PARISH.
I WANTED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS OPEN WITH THEM BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT, UH, AS A PEOPLE OVER THESE PAST COUPLE YEARS AND OUR CITIZENS GOING INTO STORES AND SEEING EMPTY SHELVES IS JUST FRIGHTENING FOR THEM.
SO, TO EXPLAIN THAT THE SALT WATER INTRUSION WOULD, WOULD POSSIBLY, UM, REQUIRE THAT EVERYBODY IN THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA HAVE DRINKING WATER TO GIVE THEM AMPLE NOTICE.
WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR THEM TO WORK THEIR DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, THE, THE SHELVES WERE ALWAYS STOCKED WITH VERY FAIR PRICED WATER.
AND THAT WAS, THEY PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN US ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE.
AND I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS.
UM, THE NEXT DAY MY TEAM WAS SENDING ME PICTURES OF LARGE WATER PALLETS AT THE DOOR.
WE HAD A SIMILAR CALL A COUPLE DAYS LATER WITH THE, UM, HARDWARE STORES, WITH THE DRUG STORES, WITH THE CONVENIENCE STORES AS WELL.
'CAUSE THEY SELL WATER TOO, AND MANY OF THEM ARE PART OF NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CHAIN.
SO I REALLY FEEL CERTAIN THAT OUR, OUR BOTTLE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY, WE WILL BE FINE.
AGAIN, THIS IS FOUR PARISHES THAT IT'S AFFECTING, AS THE GOVERNOR SAID TODAY, FOUR PARISHES IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY.
UH, THERE'S NO REASON TO BELIEVE WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE BOTTLE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY.
UM, WE HAVE HAD A MEETING TODAY WITH THE FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, JUST BEING ABLE TO ENGAGE THEM AND START THE COMMUN UM, THE, THE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS AS WELL.
AND LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HAS HAD DAILY CALLS.
WE PARTICIPATE ON, UH, SARAH BABCOCK WITH OUR PUBLIC HEALTH.
WE'RE WORKING AND REACHING OUT TO THE HOSPITALS AND ALL THE MEDICAL PROVIDERS.
AND THEN WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT IF, IF THERE IS CORROSION, AND WHAT LEVEL OF CORROSION WOULD THERE BE.
WE REACHED OUT TO THE PLUMBING.
I WENT TO A MEETING OF THE PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION.
JUST WITHIN THE PAST TWO HOURS, I HAD A MEETING WITH THE HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION TO JUST MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS COMING OUR WAY.
AND FROM A TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, I SAID, OUR CITIZENS ARE GONNA WANNA HAVE QUESTIONS COMING UP.
AND I WAS ASKING THEIR ASSISTANCE FOR THAT.
AND THERE A LOT OF THEM ARE REACHING UP THROUGH THEIR, UM, THEIR, THEIR IN INDUSTRY, UM, PROFESSIONALS TO, TO ASK THOSE QUESTIONS FOR US.
SOME OF THEM ARE REACHING OUT TO THEIR NATIONAL BRANCHES.
SO I WANNA THANK THEM FOR THAT.
AND I HOPE IF, AND WHEN IT GETS TO THAT TIME, THEY WILL HELP US WITH THE GUIDANCE ABOUT MANY OF YOU WILL HAVE ABOUT YOUR HOMES AND ABOUT YOUR APPLIANCES AND ABOUT YOUR BUILDING.
SO I ALSO WANNA THANK THE REST OF OUR TEAM BECAUSE REALLY THIS HAS BEEN, THIS IS NOT A STORM, BUT WE'VE CERTAINLY BEEN WORKING IT AS IF WE WERE PREPARING FOR A VERY LARGE HURRICANE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT A HURRICANE.
BUT OF COURSE, OUR PUBLIC WORKS TEAM, UM, AS WELL AS JOE VALIENTE, OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR, WE, WE'VE, UM, ACTIVATED OUR E O C AT A LEVEL THREE SARAH BABCOCK IN TERMS OF OUR PUBLIC HEALTH PIECE AND GRETCHEN, UM, IN TERMS OF OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION, AS WELL AS OUR EAST BANK.
AND WE AND WEST BANK LEVY DISTRICTS THAT ARE, THAT HAVE BEEN HELPING US WITH THIS CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.
I WANT EVERYBODY TO, UM, NOTE THAT OUR JEFF PARISH.NET WEBSITE HAS A LINK, A DASHBOARD FOR SALTWATER INTRUSION, AND WE'VE PUT A LOT OF, UH, RESOURCES THERE.
AND NOW'S THE TIME IF YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE TEXT ALERTS TO GET THOSE ALERTS.
AND JP NOTICIAS TO 8 8 8 7 7 7.
UM, DOMINIC AND PITO, I'M SORRY, I SAW YOU COME IN LATER.
OUR COUNCILMAN AND I DO WANNA INVITE OUR, OUR COUNCIL TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS YOU IF THEY WANT TO.
SO WE'LL START WITH OUR CHAIRMAN, COUNCILMAN SCOTT WALKER.
SO, UM, WE CAN HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OF ANYONE? YES.
IS THIS PIPELINE PROJECT IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE ONE IN NEW ORLEANS OR ARE THESE COMPLETELY SEPARATE? SO NEW ORLEANS IS DIFFERENT IN THAT, UNIQUE IN THAT WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS TWO SEPARATE PROJECTS FOR THE EAST BANK AND WEST BANK.
30 MILLION GALLONS A DAY AND 40 MILLION GALLONS A DAY.
NEW ORLEANS VOLUME IS SO MUCH MORE THAN BOTH OF THOSE PUT TOGETHER.
I DON'T WANNA SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THAT PARISH, BUT I KNOW CARROLLTON, I'VE HEARD OVER A HUNDRED MILLION GALLONS A DAY.
SO THEY NEED DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT FOR THEIR PROJECT.
IT WILL BE LINED UP IN THE SAME AREA.
THERE WILL BE A LOT OF COORDINATION.
I'M GONNA LET MARK SPEAK TO THAT 'CAUSE HE WAS
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ACTUALLY AT A MEETING TWO NIGHTS AGO, MARK WITH, UH, NEW ORLEANS STORAGE AND WATER BOARD.UM, BUT OUR, OUR, OUR PROJECT IS SEPARATE, SEPARATE CONTRACTORS, BUT WE'LL BE IN THE SAME AREA ON THE EAST BANK.
THEY DON'T, UH, THEIR ALGIERS IS NOT PART OF THIS ON THE WEST BANK, SO I'LL, I'LL LET MARK, UH, TALK TO THAT.
UH, THEIR CLAN IS SIMILAR IN THAT THEY WANNA RUN UP TO THAT SAME POINT.
UH, AND WE ARE BOTH OBVIOUSLY, UH, RUNNING ALONG THE EAST BANK, UH, ALONG THE BATCHER.
SO A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, THE SEWAGE AND WATER BOARD, UH, OUR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, WE MET WITH BOTH LEVY DISTRICTS AND WE MET WITH THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, DETERMINE BASICALLY THAT BOTH PLANS WILL BE FEASIBLE, UH, FROM A STANDPOINT OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS.
UH, WHICH OF COURSE THEY AGREED THERE WILL BE SOME ANALYSES THERE RUNNING.
UH, SO THEY PROMISED US THAT ANY ANALYSIS THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO RUN FOR STABILITY IF IT'S REQUIRED, UH, 'CAUSE WHEN YOU'RE PUTTING THOSE PUMPS OUT, YOU'RE PUTTING SOME WEIGHT ON THE BATCHER, THEY WOULD HAVE A 24 HOUR TO 48 HOUR TURNAROUND.
UH, SO WE WILL BE COORDINATING RUNNING THOSE TWIN SYSTEMS, UH, ALONG THE ERS.
SO, UH, EVERYONE WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER.
WE HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SEWAGE AND WATER BOARD AND THE CORE AND OUR LEVEE DISTRICTS.
DO YOU HAVE AN ESTIMATION ON WHEN CONSTRUCTION COULD START ON THIS AND WHEN THOSE FIRST FEW PUMPS COULD BE OPERATIONAL? UH, I WOULD ASSUME THAT THERE IS A CHANCE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE MAY BE ABLE TO START AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK WITH THE CONSTRUCTION.
UH, OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE TO MOBILIZE ALL THE EQUIPMENT, BUT WHAT WE ALREADY WILL BE DOING IS WE'VE ALREADY BEEN SCOUTING, UH, THE ROUTE, UH, 'CAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO DO IS WE HAVE TO GET ACROSS ALL THOSE ACCESS POINTS SO THAT WORK IS ACTUALLY BEGUN.
AND THAT'S OBVIOUSLY PART OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS.
SO THE NEXT STEP IS BRINGING IN THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT, UH, WHICH WE HOPE TO START SOMETIME NEXT WEEK.
UH, AND AS SOON AS THE EQUIPMENT IS IN, THEN THE CONTRACTOR WILL BEGIN TO WORK.
I WOULD ANTICIPATE, UH, I DON'T SEE A PROBLEM FROM OUR STANDPOINT ON THE WEST BANK 'CAUSE WE WILL START THERE FIRST 'CAUSE IT'S FIVE MILES, UH, DOWN RIVER FROM THE EAST BANK PLANT WITHIN A COUPLE OF WEEKS WE SHOULD BE AT THAT POINT WHERE WE ARE AT LEAST FIVE MILES DOWN.
UM, DO YOU GUYS KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT, AND I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN BEING BROUGHT UP NOW ABOUT LEAD PIPES AND POTENTIAL CORROSION TO LEAD PIPES.
UM, I KNOW NEW ORLEANS IS WORKING ON A STUDY ON OF THEIR SYSTEM.
ARE YOU AWARE OF HOW MANY LEAD PIPES YOU GUYS COULD BE DEALING WITH, UM, AND WHAT POTENTIAL, WHAT THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS AFFECT BE? SYDNEY BALEY, DIRECTOR OF JEFFERSON PARISH WATER DEPARTMENT? TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE'RE WORKING ON THE ANALYSIS OF OUR LEAD PIPES.
UM, CURRENTLY, UM, RIGHT NOW WE INJECT A, A PARTICULAR PHOSPHATE THAT, UH, THAT FIGHTS AGAINST THE CORROSION.
UM, WE WILL ANALYZE AND CONTINUE TO, UM, RUN TESTS TO SEE HOW MUCH WE HAVE TO INJECT TO BE ABLE TO, UM, FIGHT THE CORROSION.