Though he said there is no immediate risk, Mayor Ben Morris said the sheet steel plates that line Bayou Bonfuca near Heritage Park are starting to rust and will need replacing in the future.

The problem came to the mayor’s attention earlier this month when city workers noticed one of the plates just to the south of the boat launch in Heritage Park had rusted away, leaving a big hole in the bank. Not wanting to have anybody fall into the hole and get injured, the city filled in the area and put a temporary fix to the plating.

The heavy sheet metal plating was put in place back in the early 90s, not to keep the water in the bayou but to keep creosote pollution from getting into the water. It was all part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to remediate the area from a creosote plant that operated near where the Department of Public Works now stands after it was declared a Superfund site.

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Work on the area started in 1993 and cost $14 million to complete. Besides covering up the wood-treatment plant, the EPA also put in the heavy plating to keep the creosote and other pollutants from leaching out of the soil and into Bayou Bonfuca.

The area fixed recently now has a small chain link fence in front of it with signs telling people not to go past the fence because of the sharp edges of the plating.

Morris said the repaired plating is a very small part of the entire plating system, but inspection by the city shows the metal is rusting.

“It will take awhile, but it could all rust out and break down,” Morris said. “We’re OK now, but there is the potential of a washout.”

He assured residents there is no current danger but said the city should start looking into future repairs to the plating. Morris said that under an agreement with the EPA, the city is responsible for the funding and repair of the plating.