With Few Protections In Place, Residents Fear Allowing Borrow Pit To Operate Will Have Grave Consequences
Numerous Hester and Grand Point area residents living near the Big Shake borrow pit property are extremely concerned about potential issues, issues such as drainage, flooding, buffer zones, future maintenance, and others that could arise if the Parish allows the Big Shake borrow pit owners to operate without having certain rules, regulations, and requirements in place before clay is actually dug and sold.
In 1989, Yolande Schexnayder & Sons (YSS) was incorporated as a sugarcane farm and years later in 2008 YSS entered into a purchase agreement with Louisiana Earth Corps (LEC) and grants LEC the rights to market, mine and sell clay from roughly 100 acres of the property. At that time the property is named “Big Shake Pit”.
Fast forward to December of 2020 and the current owners of Big Shake, St. James Construction Materials, LLC (SJCM), purchased the roughly 490-acre tract from YSS and LEC, and since then SJCM has been trying to get clearance to operate as a borrow pit. SJCM paid $3 million for the property and agreed to pay a percentage of the proceeds to YSS when the clay was mined and it was projected YSS would ultimately be paid roughly $12 million in total. Initially, SJCM planned to excavate, sell, and deliver up to 9 million cubic yards (estimated 500,000 truck loads) of clay material for U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) levee projects, mainly the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Risk Reduction Project currently underway in St. John Parish. However, and since purchasing the property, the company has run into several roadblocks, mainly the St. James Parish Land Use Plan, which was adopted in 2014. When adopted, the land in question was categorized as residential/agricultural, which means no commercial or industrial business is allowed unless the business is granted a special exception/variance from the St. James Parish Planning Commission.
Things came to a head when SJCM applied to the Parish for electrical and water permits and they were denied based on the Land Use Plan’s designation. At the time they were advised to appear before the Planning Commission, which would have allowed the Planning Commission to set rules, regulations, and other requirements for the owners to operate as a borrow pit.
So, rather than appear in front of the Planning Commission, SJCM sued the Parish in District Court, and among other things, argued they were grandfathered from the Land Use Plan because the original owners (YSS), operated the property as a borrow pit from 2009-12 (some clay was mined and sold to the USACE following Hurricane Katrina) and that since that time the property had continuously been marketed as a source of clay.
Well, a local Judge agreed with SJCM, but the Parish appealed the decision, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the District Judge’s ruling and said SJCM would have to abide by the Land Use Plan and appear before the Planning Commission to operate as a borrow pit. The Parish would soon issue a “Stop Work” order based on the Appellate Court’s ruling.
Since then, and to the surprise of many, the St. James Parish Council, after meeting three times behind closed doors in Executive Session to discuss the Big Shake matter, authorized Parish President Peter Dufresne to negotiate with SJCM and try to come up with a settlement agreement.
Now, it is no secret time is of the essence for SJCM as contracts to supply the USACE with clay is projected to be awarded soon, so one could surmise a settlement agreement is much faster than the process laid out by the Parish’s Land Use Plan.
To date this settlement agreement is still in the works and has not yet been finalized and/or signed, but the public did get a look into some of the possible details when Parish land use attorney Vic Frankiewicz and President Dufresne briefed/updated the Planning Commission on the status of Settlement Agreement and the site restoration/ nuisance ordinance. The briefing was held on September 26th.
The Planning Commission has been in the process of drafting an Ordinance to govern site restorations and nuisances. This ordinance will regulate land disturbing activities (such as borrow pits) that could become a public nuisance or health hazard, and it will add regulations concerning site restoration.
The following are some, but not all, of the items discussed during the briefing that could be included in the settlement agreement, along with some of the issues residents are concerned
about: *SJCM plans to dig five (5), 30 ft. deep borrow pits (lakes) in Hester. There will be a 3 ft. :1 ft. ratio on the slopes of the pits. All together roughly 400-acres of land to be converted into lakes. Laddie Roussel, Hester resident and developer of Richard’s Hester Heights Subdivision, says a 400acre lake is like a 400-acre concrete slab, and because water cannot absorb water, he fears there will be massive run-off, which in turn will cause potential flooding and serious drainage issues. Also, there are no requirements thus far to require levees to be built around the pits. Area residents also inquired if SJCM would be required to conduct a drainage study and submit a flood control plan before digging commences and were told neither is being required in the settlement. Any study of plan would occur after the pits are dug. Residents were also told the USACE would ensure drainage was properly done during clay mining since it was for a Corp’s project, and that the Corp could shut the project down should SJCM not perform the work properly. However, Roussel said he personally spoke to the Corp’s Project Engineer for the West Shore Project and was told the Corp does not have anything to do with drainage or buffer zones around Big Shake. Residents point out the Parish’s draft ordinance calls for a 500 ft. buffer for occupied residences and 150 ft. for open land. They also point out the Corp has a 1,500 ft. buffer for the Mississippi River, and Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes, who both have ordinance regulating borrow pits, call for buffers of 1,500 ft. and 2,000 ft., respectively.
*Begin clay mining this November or December to supply clay to the Corp for the West Shore levee project in neighboring St. John Parish.
*SJCM will put $500,000 in an escrow account when its starts digging pond #3 and the funding would be used to fill in borrow pits should SJCM fail to follow through on their commitments.
*SJCM will construct a 500 ft. cement road from the Big Shake scales to Hwy. 3125 to reduce dust in the area. *SJCM has agreed to drain and fill a borrow pit that was previously dug (by YSS). This particular pit has no slope and partially cuts into property owned by the Roussel Brothers. *SJCM agrees to reserve space for an 80-lot subdivision on west and north side of their property. SJCM will not be the developer so some other developer would have to develop. Also, the borrow pit slope (3:1 ratio) will start at back property marker/line of these lots.
*SJCM will put a 100’ buffer along the inside perimeter of the lakes bordering the Roussel Bros. properties and Richard’s Hester Heights Subdivision. From the 100’ buffer they will begin their 3:1 slope for borrow pit lakes. Also, SJCM plans to donate the 100’ buffer to adjacent landowners.
The residents feel the buffer should be more than 100 feet and even point to the draft ordinance concerning site restoration and nuisances.
In talking with Laddie Roussel, who will be surrounded on all sides by manmade lakes should all pits be eventually dug, says there are many other issues that the preliminary settlement agreement does not address.
Roussel said he and his neighbors and family members are concerned about the following: *Who manages the lakes and maintain all the common areas around the lake?
*Are all the other risks and operational issues associated with the pit operation in Hester and/or along Hwy. 3125 through the east bank of St. James Parish and Towns of Lutcher and Gramercy being considered?
*The Ricky Lane residents along Hwy. 3125, who could be exposed to significant drainage and flooding because of these pits. This area already has flood and drainage issues and homes have had to be sand bagged due to back water issues.
Roussel points out that the Ricky Lane community is another reason a drainage and flood plan impact study should be required before clay is mined.
In another matter tied in with Big Shake, and due to the settlement agreement in the works, SJCM will not be mining the originally projected 9 million cubic yards of clay, which YSS was to get a percentage of as part of the purchase agreement.
So, YSS and LEC, on August 1, 2022, filed a lawsuit against SJCM claiming breach of contract. YSS/LEC claims because SJCM will not sell as much clay as was projected at the time of the sale, which means YSS/LEC will not be paid as much, the original sale or purchase agreement is null and void.
All involved will be watching this suit very closely.