Acadian red tape

At the corner of South Acadian and Claycut, a weedy wedge of abandoned land serves as an occasional parking lot for heavy machinery belonging to city-parish government.

A pair of deserted gas pumps at this dreary eyesore has stood useless and rusting since 1986, when the last operator of the gas station, Quicksilver West Inc., went belly-up.

Today, unpaid property taxes total $32,624.61, and no buyer has been willing to pay off that city-parish debt—not to mention the potentially costly removal of the underground fuel tanks.

Laws requiring gas stations to replace aging tanks took effect in the 1990s, long after this station’s owner went out of business.

Finally, however, the land is getting some attention.

State workers will remove the gas pumps and pull the underground tanks sometime in the next year, says Lou Buatt, general counsel for the state Department of Environmental Quality. They also will test the soil for contamination. Once DEQ signs off, the lot will go to the highest bidder at a surplus sale, says city-parish attorney Larry Book.