The Chef Menteur Landfill - 2937 Words

Introduction The recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina presented various challenges for many communities throughout New Orleans trying to rebuild their lives. The Village of Versailles is one such community, however, the Vietnamese-American community that populates the village has a history of being ignored and marginalized from decisions impacting their home, particularly with regards to the opening of the Chef Menteur landfill. This paper takes a look at the historical context of the Chef Menteur landfill to better understand the major stakeholders including the Vietnamese-American community, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network. It also sets forth perform a stakeholder analysis to coordinate each stakeholder to develop a monitoring and reporting plan for the Chef Menteur landfill. Using Colin Eden and Fran Ackerman’s stakeholder analysis to inform stakeholder coordination, and Archon Fung’s concept of minipublics, the Department of Sanitation will work with stakeholders to ensure that the concerns of the community and the environment are addressed in the monitoring and reporting plan. Background on Chef Menteur Landfill On February 9, 2006, then Mayor Ray Nagin signed an executive order suspending the Orleans Parish zoning ordinance, making it easier to zone 16600 Chef Mentuer Highway as a landfill site. Within close proximity to this landfill was the Village of Versailles, a community populated