New Orleans, Landfill Operators Settle Suit with Land Owner

New Orleans Advocate

The city of New Orleans and the operators of a New Orleans East landfill that opened after Hurricane Katrina and quickly became the region’s busiest dump have agreed to pay $8 million to settle a long-running lawsuit with a group of people who actually own the property on which the landfill sits.

The settlement agreement — which was filed in Civil District Court on Thursday — will make the city the owner of record of the land.

It also will absolve the old property owners from any environmental liabilities that might arise from the millions of cubic yards of waste that have been dumped on the site, according to Joel Waltzer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

The suit was filed in November 2007, roughly two years after the hastily permitted Old Gentilly Landfill opened its doors and began taking in as much as 100,000 cubic yards of debris on busy days.

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