[FONT=Verdana]A national volunteer group that has knocked down about 60 homes for free in St. Bernard Parish is considering pulling out of the parish, saying red tape is preventing its work and tying up about $6 million in equipment loaned for the effort. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Robert McKee, who is coordinating demolitions for the national nonprofit Christian Contractors Association, said the group's volunteers basically have been at a standstill while they try to get the green light from regulatory agencies so that the debris can be collected and parish government can receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as it has for other storm-related debris collection. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]More than 4,400 homeowners have requested that Christian Contractors demolish their homes. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The latest delay came this week, as the state Department of Environmental Quality gave McKee a deadline to submit a written demolition plan promising to remove hazardous household waste, such as paints, before his crews knock the homes to the curb. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Under DEQ rules, homeowners don't have to submit written demolition plans. McKee said that because Christian Contractors is a volunteer group working for free for individual homeowners, he believed he could be required to submit a plan. Even so, he said he has been taking hazardous items out of homes before demolition. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]But in a heated verbal exchange during the a Parish Council committee meeting Thursday, DEQ environmental scientist Wayne Desselle said Christian Contractors would be served with a cease-and-desist order if McKee didn't comply. Desselle said DEQ had requested the plan two weeks ago. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]McKee turned in the one-page report of his scheduled demolitions on Thursday, but his group now will have to wait for DEQ to approve the report before it can resume demolitions. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Desselle said the Christian group would not be facing a delay if it had turned over the report when the agency first sought it. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Some Parish Council members said they were frustrated about the new delay and also about the slow pace of home demolitions in general in a parish where an estimated 10,000 homes need to meet the wrecking ball after Katrina's surge flooded most with more than 6 feet of water for nearly two weeks. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"When does this defy logic?" Councilman Mark Madary said. "Whoever is in the way, they have to get out of the way. The process is being stymied because too many (regulatory) people with white (construction) hats have been in the way." [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Unified Recovery Group, the parish's contractor in charge of the cleanup effort, told the council it had demolished 486 homes as of June 14. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]On Friday, McKee said he canceled his scheduled demolitions because he heard from Desselle that he wouldn't have clearance from DEQ to continue working in St. Bernard. Instead, McKee sent his crews to Plaquemines Parish, where he said they knocked down seven homes with no interference from DEQ. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Council Vice Chairman Joey DiFatta, Madary and Councilwoman Judy Hoffmeister met with McKee late Friday to encourage him to stay in St. Bernard a little longer. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"It appears that DEQ requested a demolition plan from the Christian Contractors group, and that request was fulfilled Thursday," DiFatta said. The delay "is costing the people of St. Bernard precious demolition ability and we hope that the DEQ in Baton Rouge will have an answer for us Monday so this gentleman and his group of volunteers can tear down as many homes as possible." [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Parish officials are trying to complete as many demolitions as possible before June 30, the date FEMA has said it will quit paying for 100 percent of the demolition bills. After that, the federal agency will cover 90 percent of expenses, with the parish required to put up the remaining 10 percent. [/FONT]