NO Landfill: Video Tour of Bayou Sauvage with Father Luke : NOLA Indymedia

Stop the Illegal Dumping in New Orleans East!

We are one big inter-connected tidal pool of humanity floating on a gorgeous and endangered wetlands. This is a VIDEO tour of the Bayou Sauvage and Chef Mentuer Landfill Site for the new illegal dump for millions of tons of hurricane debris plus May 10 rally against the landfill at City Hall.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the region is left with literally millions of tons of debris to collect and dispose of as an essential part of the recovery process. New Orleans Mayor Nagin, who is up for re-election on May 22, claimed "emergency powers" and circumvented public hearing process and safety standards to designate and begin dumping debris in New Orleans East - not 20 yards from the Bayou Sauvage wetlands and a mile from a community of predominantly thousands of Vietnamese and African-American families not a mile away.

Not only is New Orleans East a profound and unique multi-generational community that spans New Orleans back to 3 villages in Vietnam, but it is also bordered by the nation's largest urban wildlife refuge, the Bayou Sauvage, and home to many endangered species as well as alligators, turtles, egrets and other swamp critters.

Despite massive flooding and lack of government support, the Vietnamese community in New Orleans East has accomplished profound recovery and rebuilding on their own initiative, organized through the Mary Queen of Vietnam Church, to account for the welfare of community members, gut and rebuild homes, and host many volunteers who have come to the region and need support for their work.

The Vietnamese community in New Orleans East is leading the fight against this landfill which Mayor Nagin approved by sideswiping law that demanded community hearings before a landfill could be built. On May 10th, members of the Versaille Community and the Mary Queen of Vietnam Church, together with the Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, went to City Hall and demanded that Mayor Nagin hear their protest. A 3 day moratorium was put on the dumping until, Mayor Nagin said, he could "prove to them it is safe".

See the video tour of the Bayou Sauvage and the Chef Menteur Landfill site with Father Dung Nguyen and feel for yourself the unique and interconnected landscape that is threatened by the city of New Orleans's illegal dumping.

More information about the Landfill is published courtesey of Citizens for a Strong New Orleans East at FACTS ABOUT THE LANDFILL

To Support opposition to the Chef Menteur Landfill, contact Citizens For a Strong New Orleans East at: cfsne@gmail.com or contact: Mary Queen of Vietnam Church.

Additional background on the circumstances and recovery efforts of New Orleans East immediately after Hurricane Katrina can be found in this previously published Video: New Orleans East: Sustaining a World Community in a Neglected Disaster Zone.

To use this footage or for additional media support for New Orleans East, please contact the author.