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PORT BILL DIES IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEE |
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After winning approval in both the Louisiana House and Senate, a bill that would have allowed the Ports of New Orleans and Plaquemines to develop harbors under cooperative agreements has died in a conference committee amid a dispute over the role of Plaquemines’ two Dock Board seats.
Amendments proposed in a conference committee would have limited Plaquemines’ votes to only Plaquemines-related issues, but supporters immediately urged legislators to reject the idea, citing the full voting rights of Jefferson and St. Bernard Parish Dock Board members.
Another of the deal breakers was the call to remove the two Plaquemines seats if a cooperative agreement had not surfaced within two years.
Although the bill is dead in its current embodiment, Gov. Bobby Jindal could choose to revive the issue by including it in the call for an anticipated January special session.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure remains a top concern among the bill’s critics and supporters. Because of a recent population spike in Belle Chasse, the area’s only artery is typically clogged, highlighting the need for additional roads and railways to handle traffic from the ports. The prospect of a port, said Parish President Billy Nungesser, is refueling interest in long-rumored projects, like the Peters Road bypass.
“Just the words ‘port in south Plaquemines’ will help us get funding for things we should have gotten funding years ago to do,” Nungesser said.
District 3 Council Member Jerry Hodnett, who opposed the bill because of the increased traffic a port would bring through Belle Chasse, echoed the sentiment.
“If they’re going to come in here and put, say, a container port five miles below Belle Chasse with no way out except through Belle Chasse,” Hodnett said, “I’m not going to be for that. I’m not going that route.”
Nungesser, however, vowed that the necessary roads and railways will be in place before a new port would be allowed to unload its cargo.
“I can assure the people of Plaquemines Parish, that as long as I’m parish president, we will never build a port that brings rail through the Belle Chasse area,” Nungesser declared. “That won’t happen.”
Among the alternatives, he said, is extending rail tracks down Peters Road to Citruslands, where a study has suggested a port could be placed. Nungesser said he has asked Citruslands’ owners to draft a cost proposal to the parish.
Policing
The last iteration of the port bill also included a passage to give the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office sole jurisdiction to police the parish’s ports. An earlier version, said Sheriff Jiff Hingle, would have allowed the Harbor Police to police the entire parish and even levy fees for doing so.
“I wasn’t happy with that at all,” Hingle said. “We got that out altogether and it’s no longer a concern.”
Opposition
The various concessions the Port of New Orleans was forced to endure to get the bill passed both houses did not satisfy District 8 Council Member Lynda Banta, who adamantly opposed the expansion.
“I think this is the first step in many more to come,” Banta said. “I think port consolidation is going to happen. I think this is the first step to get us used to the idea, and that there will be more bills forthcoming.”
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STRAIN SIGNS CITRUS QUARANTINE ORDERS |
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Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain announced Friday at a citrus growers meeting in Belle Chasse that he would sign quarantine orders for New Orleans, Plaquemines and other parishes infested with the Asian citrus psyllid.
Strain will also sign two additional orders, one quarantining Orleans Parish for citrus greening disease and another to limit the movement of nursery stock, unless it is treated according to USDA regulations. Without regulation at the state level, Strain said, the USDA will quarantine the entire state under the same conditions as New Orleans.
As part of the quarantine, nursery stock from Plaquemines has to be treated no less than 30 days before being moved and no less than 10 before shipping. Only then can it be shipped outside the parish to other areas of the country that do no have a citrus industry.
According to Tad Hardy, administrative coordinator with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, local citrus growers will need to sign a compliance agreement, which regulates the movement of nursery stock according to federal orders.
Citrus greening can only spread by the Asian citrus psyllid or grafting infected plan material, Strain said. It cannot be spread by human contact nor can it make anyone sick.
The only Louisiana case of citrus greening was found on a seven-year-old residential lime tree in Algiers, said Joe Bravata, the USDA officer in charge of the surveying the area. Before the tree was uprooted and destroyed, he said, the USDA took DNA samples to help determine the tree’s origin.
“That’s the problem we’re having,” he said. “We don’t know where (the infected lime tree) came from and we don’t know how long it’s been infected.”
In addition to the chemical sprays commercial growers will need to use, Strain said, agriculture officials are considering a host of other treatment options.
In Florida, for instance, growers have embarked on an eradication campaign to replace infected trees with those from ultra-clean nurseries known to be disease-free.
Scientists are also studying experimental treatments, including natural predators of the disease-causing bacteria and genetically-altered lines of citrus trees engineered to be resistant to the bacteria.
According to USDA documents, if the psyllid is detected on a citrus plant during inspection, it will have to undergo additional treatment and inspection before being allowed to move from a quarantine area. Fruit, however, is not regulated, but must be cleared of all leaves.
Certain ornamental plants are also susceptible to citrus greening, said Bravata, including orange jasmine, a large shrub with white flowers.
Symptoms include leaf mottling and notches, yellow veining, oblong fruit or fruit with small seeds. |
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