(The following story by Karen Nelson appeared on the Sun Herald website on December 11, 2009.)
BILOXI, Miss. — CSX railroad presented maps and drawings at a public hearing Thursday night to show how the company proposes to contain creosote in the sediment near the site of the former creosote plant in Gautier.
Company officials answered questions before the hearing and then the DMR took public comments for the Commission on Marine Resources to review when it considers issuing CSX a permit for work in the waterways and marsh.
A permit is required in keeping with the Coastal Wetlands Protection Act.
Steve Shepard, chairman of the Coast Sierra Club, asked CSX and state officials why they were proposing containment. The plant used creosote at the site for more than 100 years, beginning in the late 1800’s.
“Is the creosote leaking?” Shepard asked. “Have birds been poisoned or fish killed? Why is this necessary?”
If it’s not, Shepard suggested the company leave the area alone.
If it is, he suggested the company clean the site rather than try to contain the creosote.
The company proposes placing caps, or what constitutes large mats, on the bottom of Bayou Pierre and near the shore of the West Pascagoula River. The mats are to be roughly 1,200 feet long and 200-250 feet wide.
Residents attending the informational session asked what the company planned to do with the water-front site.
Gary Gerhardstein, CSX’s director of environmental systems, said CSX did not plan to develop it at this time. He said possible future use would be limited to green space or perhaps a park site.
He said that in addition to the caps that require a DMR permit, the company also plans to build a 30-foot deep, cement containment wall on the property to stop any creosote migration off property and the company will remove creosote that’s in the ground behind the containment wall.
Besides the mats, CSX needs the permit to dredge parts of Bayou Pierre and create a cut-through in an area of marsh to divert boat traffic from Bayou Pierre to a man-made channel that runs near the bayou.
Residents living along that channel expressed concerns about wash out along their property if the cut diverts boat traffic their way.