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Local pilot tests sorbent curtains to catch oily sheens and sediment in storm drains
Summary
A UNO grant‑funded pilot in Tangipahoa Parish will test polypropylene sorbent curtains and sediment traps in roughly 15 drains to capture oil sheens and some sediment; installations began at a Hammond mall parking lot and will pivot to Kentwood for additional testing.
Don Bates presented a UNO grant‑funded pilot project July 27 that tests polypropylene sorbent curtains and small sediment traps in stormwater drains to capture floating oily sheens and some suspended sediment.
Bates said the team designed a simple, low‑maintenance curtain and sediment‑trap system to catch hydrocarbons and visible oily films that run off parking lots and gas‑station areas. "We came up with a concept of a curtain, and then we have a sediment trap," Bates said, noting the devices were installed largely in a mall parking lot in Hammond and that the team plans to pivot testing to Kentwood. He said the pilot targeted about 15 test drains and that, for testing, devices were being changed and visually inspected every 30 days.
Bates described the devices as low‑tech, replaceable sorbent sleeves that can be serviced by regular maintenance staff, and said the goal of the initial phase was to validate whether the concept catches oily sheens rather than to complete quantitative analysis. Parish President Robbie Miller thanked project partners and noted much of the litter‑and‑waterway work is grant‑funded, limiting parish financial exposure.
Council members asked about deployment locations (Bates recommended gas‑station catch basins as high‑priority sites) and maintenance; Bates said the sorbent sleeves could be swapped out by standard maintenance staff and that longer replacement intervals were possible after pilot testing.
