By LEONARD GRAY – Managing Editor

HAHNVILLE – Using the Luling Pond sweage treatment facility to replenish nutrients was a plan suggested to the ?St.Charles Parish Council at their March 8 meeting.

However, the Comite Resources study report met with a less than enthusiastic reception, as it was pointed out the council has already sunk a substantial amount of money to decommission the pond and divert raw sewage to the Hahnville Treatment Plant.

The study, begun August 2001 to determine the suitability of wetlands in the vicinity of the Luling Pond, examind the possibility of using treated municipal effluent to replenish the wetland communities in the area include forested wetlands.

The study included water chemistry analysis, characterization of sediment, and vegetation composition and productivity analysis. Boardwalk construction was completed to provide access and protect the sampling sites.

In the study’s executive summary, it was noted: “This area is a characteristic coastal swamp forest with permanent inundation and organic surface sediments. The vegetation was dominated by baldcypress and water tupelo with a small amount of red maple.

Nitrogen in the surface water was dominated by NH4, consistent with the low oxygen contents. Iron is the most prevalent soil metal constituent, followed by magnesium, sodium, and manganese. Overall, the control

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and treatment plots are similar.”

The total maximum daily load standards determined that the addition would be “negligible” and that contaminents from the Pond would be imperceptible.

The $125,000 study indicated that the forested wetlands would assimilate most nutrients in the secondarily treated effluent from the Pond.

It is also expected, John Day of Comite Resources commented, that the productivity of the swamp forest will be enhanced. The overall results of the study indicate that the use of the forested wetlands for wastewater assimilation will be a long-term solution for treatment of the effluent of the Luling oxidation pond.

Councilman Brian Fabre, whose Willow Ridge home borders one of the test areas, expressed his own concern for the safety of neighborhood children, including his own, who frequently play in the area of the marsh.

Additionally, Councilman Clayton Faucheux pointed out that for the program to work, the raw sewage would have to be treated – something the Pond is ill-equipped to do so now.