The St. Bernard Citizens for Enviornmental Quality and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade will be holding a community meeting this Saturday, July 22 at noon at Flour Power Bakery, located at 2101 Paris Road in Chalmette.

The meeting will be to inform citizens who live in the Chalmette Vista neighborhood and the surrounding areas about a buffer zone program that we are proposing.

A buffer zone is an area around a refinery or other big industrial facility. It is an area of empty space to protect people and to serve as a buffer in times of an accident at the refinery.

It is safer for families NOT to live next to a refinery. We are advocating that ExxonMobil buy people’s property for a fair price and create a buffer zone around their plant. This would impact the Chalmette Vista neighborhood as well as some neighboring streets.

This voluntary program would provide residents with the OPTION to sell their property to the refinery for a fair price. This means that individuals who live in the area would not be forced to sell their property if they were not interested.

For more information, citizens are encourage to attend this short informational meeting.

Snacks will be provided.