Belden Batiste

Belden
"Noonie Man"
Batiste
Candidate for House of Representatives
Louisiana District 2

Website:
https://Belden4Congress.com

Email:
beldenbatiste@gmail.com

Phone:
504-322-5532

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Belden4Congress2021/
https://www.facebook.com/belden.batiste.5030

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFwwIsm-GPOqvY68A0-B2ag/videos

Article:
https://www.bigeasymagazine.com/2018/10/09/belden-batiste-dreaming-big-and-often/

Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste is a lifelong resident of New Orleans with over 20 years of “boots on the ground” community service and advocacy work.

“I want to work for you. We need to create more living wage jobs, improve our schools and make public safety - especially getting guns off the streets a top priority. With over twenty years of community service, I know what it takes to find solutions, navigate the complicated governmental agencies and get things done.”

Please watch
the videos below...

Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste was born and raised in New Orleans and is one of eight children and a member of the well known Batiste Family of musicians in Louisiana.

Batiste began his career in advocacy and human rights justice when appointed by Jerome “Big Duck” Smith as the Hunter’s Field park director at 14 years of age and served at the world renowned Tambourine & Fan Summer Camp. He became a single father and raised his son from birth, Belden, Jr., who is now 20 years old.

Now he is stepping forward to give truth for the citizens Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District. He believes that his neighbors are like him and deserve a true voice.

I have been working for the community since the age of 14. My campaign is funded by people like you, not by big money corporations and lobbyists. I am running for Louisiana 2nd Congressional District to work for the people, with the people, and toward the progress of the people. Your support will help me fight for real change and bring the voice of the people of Louisiana to Washington, D.C.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AND ACTIVISM

Tambourine and Fan Program Director
Books and Ball Program
Founder of Drums Not Guns Program
Super Sunday Parade Organizer
2005 Coach of The Year
2016 member of NOPD Community Engagement
Member of Justice and Beyond
Court Watch
Juvenile Justice Advocate
St. Mark Volunteer Music Teacher
People Assembly NOLA Take Down
Give Heart Children Toy Give Away
Volunteer for the Loft Nonprofit Christmas Kike Drive
Volunteer For Christmas Under The Bridge
Back To School Drive 2018 and 20`9
New Orleans Black Indian Alliance
1984 to Present Mardi Gras Indian

Batiste said he’d push a progressive agenda: a higher federal minimum wage, more investment in affordable housing and expanded health insurance coverage. Batiste accused outgoing Congressman Cedric Richmond of turning his back on communities exposed to high levels of industrial pollution, especially parts of the River Parishes that critics call Cancer Alley.

He criticized Richmond’s acceptance of campaign contributions from petrochemical firms. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, donors tied to the oil and gas industry have given Richmond almost $100,000 since the last election in 2018.

“For the last 10 years, we haven’t had a voice in Washington. I’m ready to go and fight to be that voice for the people.”

About Gordon Plaza:

"We’re just waiting to die":
The black residents living on top
of a toxic landfill site in New Orleans.

In 1909, Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL) opened to accommodate trash produced by half of New Orleans residents. ASL occupied 95 acres of previously undeveloped swampland surrounded by Abundance Street, Industry Street, and the Northeastern Railroad Company tracks.

In 1948, facing increased public health concerns, the Louisiana State Legislature passed a law prohibiting open-air landfills in highly populated areas. However, New Orleans city officials sidestepped this law to continue operating Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL) by transforming the dump into a so-called “sanitary landfill.” At ASL, the implementation of sanitary landfill procedures included spraying the dump with Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). DDT, a powerful insecticide, is now infamous for its detrimental environmental impact and carcinogenic capacity. Before 1956, ASL operators regularly sprayed the chemical Malathion to kill flies. After a particularly intense fly infestation in 1956, the city oversaw “experimental spraying” with Diazinon.

Throughout the 1950s, the local community suffered from horrible stenches, pest infestations, and smoke emanating from Agriculture Street Landfill (ASL). Spontaneous combustion commonly occurred at the site when incompatible wastes came in contact underground, garnering ASL the nickname “Dante’s Inferno.”

In 1957, the City closed the landfill because it could not accommodate any more trash. In September of 1965, following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Betsy, the City temporarily reopened ASL to accommodate excess trash produced by the storm. Much of this refuse contained high levels of toxic lead and arsenic. ASL did not close again until the summer of 1966.

Despite long-standing public concerns regarding the safety of repurposing landfills, in the 1970s, the City began construction of Gordon Plaza, a low-income housing project targeted at first-time home buyers, atop the toxic landfill.
By 1985, just four years after the first residents moved into Gordon Plaza, state environmentalists recommended testing soil and air in the Gordon Plaza subdivision to determine the extent of hazardous wastes underneath the houses that were built over an old landfill. Testing performed at the site of the new Moton Elementary School in 1983-1984 revealed high levels of toxic chemicals in the soil. Environmental Protection Agency officials told them that lead was the only one in over 130 toxic chemicals discovered in levels high enough to generate health concerns.

According to students of Moton Elementary, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) was aware that the site was polluted with toxins. In 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tested soil in Gordon Plaza and declared both the residential area and Moton Elementary a Superfund site. OPSB closed Moton Elementary in 1994.

In 2001 the EPA oversaw the installation of a layer of topsoil on Gordon Plaza properties to form a barrier from the toxic land. This soil was washed away by flooding during Hurricane Katrina.

In 2018, courts ordered the OPSB to pay restitution to former students of Moton Elementary due to the city and the school board’s previous knowledge of toxic contamination in the area. The suit awarded $1,000 per student for every year they attended Moton Elementary.

After nearly three decades, citizens in the surrounding community of Gordon Plaza are still fighting for resolution of fact that their homes were built upon an improperly remediated toxic waste dump site. Residents of Gordon Plaza continue to engage in political activism to spread public awareness about toxic contamination in their neighborhood. Residents hope to achieve fair and just relocation from their tainted properties.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/11/gordon-plaza-louisiana-toxic-landfill-site

https://www.vianolavie.org/2019/06/25/a-toxic-trek-through-nola-hazardous-waste-sites/

https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1489?tour=100&index=5