All Congregations Together (ACT) and its local and national partners won a commitment from Mayor Ray Nagin to close the Chef Menteur Landfill effective August 14, 2006.  Mayor Nagin's decision was a major victory for members of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, St. Paul's Catholic Church and other residents of New Orleans East who fought for months to stop Waste Management from dumping hazardous debris at the site. 

ACT, Citizens for a Strong New Orleans East, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Sierra Club, Asian American Justice Center, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and many other organizations joined together to oppose the landfill because it was located on land that was previously wetlands, close to homes and could have resulted in hazardous material flowing into residential neighborhoods. Located directly across the street from Bayou Savage, this landfill threatened one of the nation's largest natural wildlife preserves, and was positioned one mile from Our Lady Queen of Vietnam Church.  In addition, this pit was to be dug 30 feet deep which would pose a direct threat to contaminating the water table for the entire New Orleans East community.  

Now ACT and its partners are (a) pressing the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to completely end consideration of the site as a landfill; (b) asking city and state officials to work with the community to develop a comprehensive debris management strategy; and (c) requesting congressional hearing on debris management post-Katrina.

More information
Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute White Paper
700 plus attend Mayoral Forum in New Orleans
Landfill to close for testing

As of June 27, 2007, All Congregations Together (ACT) is no longer affiliated with PICO.