Port of New Orleans Response to citizen questions regarding the Riverfront Cold Storage Facility

1. What is the evacuation plan for surrounding neighborhoods and tourist locations should a leak occur?

There has never been a leak at a NOCS facility that required an evacuation. However, in the unlikely event that an evacuation would be needed, state and city emergency response officials would be leading the effort. NOCS would notify 911, State Police, New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans Police Department and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The New Orleans Office of Emergency Operations has a protocol for dealing with chemical leaks. A report of a leak to 911 will cause the New Orleans Fire Department to dispatch its Haz Mat unit, and, if NOFD needed to evacuate the area, it would initiate notification by reverse 911 calls and by other means of communications.

2. What compensation and accommodations will be provided for those affected by such a leak?

In the unlikely event that this is necessary, this issue will be handled on an as needed basis by the appropriate officials.

3. It is the Cold Storage Unit's responsibility to report an ammonia leak of 100 lbs or more. Please describe the potential hazard of a 98 lb. leak.

NOCS reports all leaks of 50 pounds or more to all relevant public safety and regulatory agencies as mentioned in the answer to question 1.

4. Have any tests or surveys been taken regarding the effects on nearby historic structure and roads of 18 wheelers carrying on streets such as Elysian Fields?

Elysian Fields is a designated City of New Orleans truck route. As such, it is designed to handle trucks and our traffic engineers have confirmed that it has an adequate structure to handle this traffic. The Port's interest and the neighborhood's interest are aligned. If the roadway does not perform to its design specifications, the Port would partner with the neighborhood to have the appropriate agencies address these issues.

5. Have you taken into account the effects of these 18 wheelers on the surrounding railroads? Does the chance of a derailment increase?

The terminal operator will provide a security guard at the entrance to the facility to ensure that trucks don't stop over the active tracks. The existing rail crossing is designed to allow trucks to cross the tracks without damaging them. Rail crossings are routinely inspected to ensure that they are in good working order. Similar rail crossings in another section of Port property handle 1,500 to 3,000 trucks per day. Even with this volume of truck traffic, we've never had an issue with a damaged rail crossing causing derailment.

6. It has been stated by the Port that this facility will drastically affect the local Louisiana poultry farmers. What percentage of the poultry stored in this unit will be from Louisiana merchants?

On average, 35% to 40% of the poultry shipped through the Port of New Orleans is grown in Louisiana.

7. What will the capacity of the new facility in tons of product?

35,000,000 pounds of product can be warehoused at a time.

8. Do you plan to go through a 106 Review process?

Yes. We expect to.

9. Will the 18 wheelers have an impact on pollution, air quality or historic structures in our area?

The additional traffic generated by this terminal will have a negligible impact on the area. With more than 22,000 vehicles per day traveling on Elysian Fields, this facility accounts for less than a 1% increase in traffic.

10.Please describe your response plan and the impact on the resident and visitor population if the recent ammonia leaks in Shreveport or Wichita occurred at this location .

Please see question 1.

In the Shreveport leak (Sept. 08), 14 homes were evacuated. However, as soon as firefighters had a chance to look at the leak they determined there was no threat. It's important to point out that the plant where this happened was not in operation, and apparently the ammonia was being stored there without regular supervision. This is very different from what happens at NOCS's refrigerated warehouses where refrigeration equipment is checked several times on a daily basis by a maintenance team and monitored by automated systems to prevent and detect leaks. Further, no storage of ammonia will occur on-site other than what is used in the equipment. There will be no tanks sitting in the sun, unattended, as was the case in the noted Shreveport incident.

In the Wichita leak (July 07), 20 workers at a Nestle plant had to be evacuated. Nobody outside of the plant was evacuated.

In both cases, there were no reports of injury.

11. How many pounds (lbs.) of toxic chemicals might you have on site? What chemicals will those be and what are their hazardous material designations?

There will be about 40,000 pounds (a little more than one truckload) of ammonia contained in the refrigeration system within the warehouse.

12. Is this a relocation of NOCS Jourdan Road facility because of the closing of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, or is this an expansion of their current capacity?

The primary purpose of this project is to replace dockside cold storage capacity lost because of the closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. None of the vessels can get to the Jourdan Road Terminal through this route anymore. About 40% of the vessels can get to Jourdan Road via the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock. However, these vessels must incur additional costs and delays traveling up the Mississippi River through the lock and past three movable bridges. The other 60% of the ships that are too wide to navigate through the lock must berth on the river and wait for NOCS to truck cargo from Jourdan Road to a riverfront dock - a time-consuming and costly operation.

The Port is obligated to rebate the additional costs of these efforts because of the lack of proper waterborne access to the NOCS's leased terminal at Jordan Road. Moreover, this inefficient way of handling cargo makes New Orleans vulnerable to losing the frozen poultry business and the jobs that go along with it.

Before Katrina, the Port was in the process of extending the dock at Jourdan Road to provide a third ship berth. The new facility at the Governor Nicholls Street Wharf will be able to dock three ships. The warehouse will be slightly smaller than the warehouse at Jourdan Road. The refrigerated warehouse at Jourdan Road is still useful for handling refrigerated products, including export poultry in the event that Governor Nicholls is at capacity.