Blackwater Midstream LLC will add two storage tanks to the 46 it already has in Westwego.
Blackwater Midstream LLC, which owns and operates a liquid chemical storage terminal in Westwego, is adding two more tanks to the 46 it already has at its industrial site along the Mississippi River. After some contentious remarks from one member, the Westwego City Council on Monday night approved the company's plans to add 4 million gallons of storage capacity for unspecified, non-flammable chemicals.
Blackwater, which has had a hot-and-cold political relationship with Westwego officials, ultimately wants to add at least six tanks, a plan that the company has discussed publicly several times in recent months. The company provides the chemicals to manufacturers, including those along the Mississippi River corridor. Blackwater executives asked the council last month to approve six tanks, but the council shot down the request in a 3-2 vote.
Frank Marrocco, Blackwater's chief commercial officer, returned Monday with the revised plan, asking for two tanks now and deferring action on four. Blackwater has about six acres available for development at the 26-acre site.
"Two of the six are more pressing for us on a business need," Marrocco said, describing the chemicals to be stored as "nothing flammable, nothing combustible."
The only chemical discussed Monday was sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda. Marrocco said Blackwater already handles it at the site. The council found the two-tank proposal more palatable and approved it in a 4-1 vote.
The council's new make up might have had as much an effect on the outcome as Blackwater's revision. Monday's was the first meeting for three members who were elected earlier this year and started their four-year terms on July 1. All three -- Johnny Nobles Jr., Norman Fonseca and Gary Toups -- voted for Blackwater's plans.
Councilman Glenn Green, whose district includes the Blackwater terminal, led the move to approve the plan. "I've really made Blackwater crazy," Green said in motioning to approve the company's request. "They've met every standard I've set. For those two tanks, for the materials they say they're going to store, I so move."
Fifth District Councilman Larry Warino Sr. was the lone dissenter. He cited Westwego's history with Blackwater, saying the company never notified city officials when it took over the site, and he made vague references to "a couple of spills, a fire." He also resurrected a comment that Blackwater chief executive Michael Suder made to a local business reporter in 2011, after the council rejected the company's expansion plans.
"They said we were 'the stupidest city on Earth,'" Warino said in paraphrasing Suder's comment. He added that Blackwater has tried to ease opposition by buying turkeys and a passenger van for the city's senior citizens program.
Warino said Westwego's "community action panel," an advisory committee comprising political appointees, has not met to consider Blackwater's plans. He also warned his new colleagues on the council to tread cautiously, as their decision would be felt for years. "I don't want the city to smell like Fourth Street and Barataria," Warino said, referring to a gaseous odor that often permeates that industrial intersection in Marrero.
Warino's comment drew an immediate response from Marrocco. He said Blackwater has never had an odor complaint at the Westwego site.
A chief concern among some Westwego residents, particularly for those whose homes are adjacent to the terminal, is the noise of railroad cars. Marrocco said the additional tanks will not mean that more rail cars will visit the site.
Chemicals also are transported to and from the terminal on the river and over roadways, Marrocco said. "I think we're all very sensitive to the noise issue," he said.
Last month, Marrocco appeared before the council at Green's request and asked city to approve Blackwater's request for six tanks. At the time, Jefferson Parish's hazardous materials officials were still reviewing Blackwater's plans.
Then-City Councilman Ivy Rogers balked, saying the community action panel had not weighed in on the proposal and that he would not vote on the proposal without that input. Councilman Melvin Guidry also opposed the plan, leaving Green and Councilman Ted Munch voting in favor. Rogers, Guidry and Munch have since left the council.
Warino was absent then, meaning the council was tied. Mayor Johnny Shaddinger cast the tie-breaking vote in rejecting the request.
On Monday, Shaddinger said his primary concern had been the noise created by rail cars but that his worries have been allayed. Responding to Warino's opposition, the mayor said he did not want to penalize Blackwater because the city's community action panel had not met to consider the company's proposal. He also cited the city's rocky past with Blackwater.
"They've said some things. I'm aware of that," Shaddinger said of Suder's "stupidest city" comment. "It's water under the bridge."