(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today wrote Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Mike McDaniel and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin urging them to close the Old Gentilly Landfill in light of recent revelations that two Morial political cronies had a hidden financial interest in the company running the landfill.  (See attached.)

            One of the Morial cronies, Stan “Pampy” Barre, recently pled guilty to federal criminal charges in another case.  Documents in that case disclosed that he and Morial confidante Roy Rodney, an unindicted co-conspirator in that case, had a hidden financial interest in AMID/Metro Partnership, the company running the Old Gentilly Landfill.

            Barre admitted being paid large sums of money under another city contract obtained from the Morial administration for little or no real work, but rather for his connections.

            “Their involvement in the reopening of the Old Gentilly Landfill certainly suggests that it is a similar example of corruption and cronyism at work,” Vitter said.

            Vitter said today that the fact that these two Morial cronies are allegedly not benefiting from the deal because they failed to meet certain obligations to their partners shouldn’t matter.

            “The operators still lied to the public and the state,” he said.

            Vitter cited concerns about the way the contract was awarded in a U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works field hearing in New Orleans Monday.  Vitter is a member of the EPW Committee and encouraged the committee to hold the hearing in New Orleans to focus on landfill and coastal erosion issues following the 2005 hurricanes.

             “Our ability to address corruption and cronyism head on and demonstrate that it will not be tolerated is essential to our continuing recovery,” Vitter said.

            Vitter also questioned why the city of New Orleans agreed to a contract in which it only receives 3 percent of the landfill’s revenues when other landfill contracts have netted the city up to 22 percent.  To date, the Old Gentilly landfill has generated $33 million in fees since it was reopened.

            “The Old Gentilly Landfill is clearly a raw deal for the citizens of New Orleans,” Vitter said.  “The city retains all liability for the site yet receives minimal payment for operations compared to other sites.”

            Vitter and U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the EPW Committee, previously expressed concern about reopening landfills that fall short of modern standards and the potential environmental impact of such actions in a September 26, 2005, letter to the Environmental Protection Agency. They also questioned why the Old Gentilly Landfill was needed given the capacity of other landfills in the area which charge lower fees and meet tougher environmental standards.

            “The extraordinary 2005 hurricane season clearly requires an extraordinary debris management plan.  However, it does not require extraordinary contracts to felons, extraordinary payments to landfill operators, or extraordinary risks to our citizens.” Vitter wrote in his letter to the two officials.

Click here to view Senator Vitter's Letter to Secretary McDaniel.