Fenceline Community Tours
St. Bernard
The Community
size of town – population |
32,069 |
Size of town – square miles |
7.34 square-miles |
Distance from New Orleans |
7.73 miles |
direction from New Orleans |
East/Southeast |
Population size pre Katrina |
32,069 |
Population size post-Katrina |
The household population of St. Bernard parishes is estimated to have dropped from 66,441 pre-Katrina to 25,296 by the middle of 2006. |
racial breakdown |
Pre-Katrina: 92.69% White, 4.81% Latino, 2.39% African American. Post-Katrina of St. Bernard: 87.6% White, 7.3% African-American, 5.5% Latino. |
income level |
Pre-Katrina: Median income for a household was $36,699, median income for a family was $43,804. Post- Katrina St. Bernard: 33.8% of residents reported making less than they did the before the storm, and of those who reported income 13.9% were making between 15,000-24,999 and 13.4% were making between 35,000-49,999. |
Anecdotal reports of illnesses (Please list) |
Asthma, Viral Conjunctivitis, Cancer, Lead poisoning |
How many schools are there in the community? |
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, there were over 20 schools in Chalmette. Shortly after the storm, in late 2005, the St. Bernard Parish School Board opened the St. Bernard Parish Unified School which served all students in grades K-12. As of the 2006-2007 school year, the Unified School has now back to serving 7-12th graders and retains the building’s original name of Chalmette High School. Andrew Jackson houses grades PK3-6. There are currently no Catholic or Private schools. |
If someone is able to walk down the block with you and point to homes with illnesses, say cancers or asthma, make a note of the addresses. For example
12 Carroll drive – cancer survivor 14 carroll drive – cancer death 16 carroll drive – cancer death, brain tumor
The Polluter:
Name of company, and explanation of the name |
Murphy Oil, Meraux Refinery |
(for example, Chalmette Refining is really ExxonMobil) Began in 1900 Charles H Murphy Sr. started lumber company |
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Year that plant began operating at this site |
1961 |
Benzene, Ammonia, Trimethylbenzene, Butadiene, Carbon Disulfide, Carbonyl Sulfide, Chlorodifluoromethane, Cyclohexane, Dioxin, Ethylbenzene |
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Name of plant manager |
Greg Neve |
Distance of plant manager’s home from the facility |
5.35 mi |
Exactly how far is it from the closest residence? |
100 ft. |
Distance of plant to nearest school |
1.57 mi |
What contributions has the company given to the local |
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parish, school, other non-profits? |
$5M hurricane relief, Community Spirit Award $5000 a year to charity of winner’s choice |
How many people from the community work there? |
20-30% population (Murphy is a major employer) |
Corporate profits in 2006 |
$846.5 million |
Sights: Billowing smoke stacks, flares, empty houses, overgrown yards, debris all over roads Smells: Rotting eggs… indescribable smells that make you feel physically ill
Community Goals:
What does (or did) the community want from the local company? |
Residents want complete compensation for their homes Information on health Environmental protection Clean up of debris The truth about the oil spill toxicity, and why some residents are allowed to move back in. |
What is the name of the community group? |
There is no community group yet, but the beginning of a movement to start one. |
How long has the community group existed? |
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Key Players:
Who is the leader of the community group? |
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If other offices are filled (i.e. Vice Pres, treasurer, etc., ) who are they? |
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Has the community had any contact with any DEQ official(s)? If so, who? |
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Any other key figures from government agencies or the plant? |
Plant- Dennis Bennett, David Mendrick |
Are the workers at the plant unionized? |
Some workers belong to unions, mainly unknown, One is USW International Union |
If so, who is the union leader? |
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In Their Own Words:
(Excerpts from an interview with Sheila
“Murphy oil doesn’t want people to know the truth. They want to continue to just sweep it under the rug, pay of the big officials, say.. eeeeeeeeh St. Bernard parish is fine, everything’s all good- and those officials don’t even live here.”
“We are definitely not being told the truth and that’s what I want people to realize. Because my family, my nephew moved back into the Parish… and I feel it. I think 5 to 10 years down the line… due to the toxicity of the soil, and air pollutants, that they’re gonna be ill. And there’s way more people that are you to get sick”.
“I really want to stress is family oriented, community spirit. It’s one big huge community that’s been ripped apart. Nobody handed the storm appropriately… and still to this day no one is. Not the officials, not the government… there are things still not in place that should be. There are people that… I’m convinced… I do know a lady that had her blood tested and she had high levels of lead in her blood. Hold on I don’t know its lead specifically… its metals, something from the air that’s not supposed to be in her blood.”
“I know these people that lived in Chalmette. They had a dog that didn’t grow hair. Now as soon as they moved the Baton Rouge, the dog grew hair! I’m so serious ya’ll. What is that?”
“My family thinks I’m crazy and I am: I’m seein things that are going on that are so politically incorrect and not only just political, but environmentally. No St. Bernard parish resident should have to fool with any of these buildings. If they receive 50% or more of water, they should have their homes automatically demolished and be given homes equal to or greater than what they had. Period, end of story. And that’s what I want people to be. I want people to get fired up and say, you know what, enough’s enough and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Researchers: Katie Winterbottom & Amara Narten