Old contaminated sites in Vermilion Parish still need cleaning up

It is no secret Vermilion Parish has had its problems when it comes to contaminated land and water, thanks to the oil and gas industry and chemical companies. With the help of the government, much of the contaminated land and water were cleaned up over the last 20 years. Wilma Supra reminded Abbeville Rotarians that there is still plenty of land and water left to clean up.
Since 1981, Supra has been an environmental expert in South Louisiana, who has been battling big companies over contaminated land and water.
When she spoke to the Rotarians this week, she pointed out locations throughout Vermilion Parish that are still contaminated.
One specific location she said still needs to be cleaned up is the property in conjunction with Broussard Chemical/AntiFreeze.
In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Louisiana DEQ began investigating the Broussard Chemical/AntiFreeze facilities .
Over the next two years, EPA performed emergency source removal at the sites by removing waste material, waste containers and some contaminated surface soils.
The EPA invested more than $2.5 million in its investigation, removal and disposal of waste material from five Broussard Chemical properties.
Four of the sites were on South Henry Street (near Duhon Brothers Oil Company), about two miles south of Abbeville. Today, there is little indication that at one time there were storage tanks and a warehouse.
While 25 ground storage tanks, 376 drums containing over 20,680 gallons of waste have been removed, Supra said the land where the tanks were located is still contaminated.
Supra told the Rotarians that DEQ is still monitoring those locations, 20 years later. In 2014, DEQ did soil boring on South Henry and checked water wells at what is known as the Rice Bowl and Rose Bowl Tank Farm sites (near Gooch Street). Duhon Brothers Oil Company sits in between the two contaminated locations.
“There is still a need for soil removal and water restoration,” said Supra about those sites. But because of cost, Surpra said DEQ or EPA does not have the money to remove the contaminated soil or water.
DEQ’s results showed the surface soil had excess of benzene, aliphatic and aromatic volatile compounds. The ground water was contaminated with four heavy metals and four hydrocarbons in excess of government standards.
Based on a report from Supra, the findings at the Rice Bowl site are an “immediate threat to human health or the environment.”
What that means is the land where the tanks were removed is still contaminated. At the Rice Bowl location, there are no homes or businesses on the land.
The Rose Bowl findings are similar to the Rice Bowl findings. The surface soil contained large amounts of vinyl chloride, dichlorethene, benzene, and 16 volatile organic compounds.
The ground water contained eight hazardous volatile compounds and 12 toxic heavy metals.
In Abbeville, another site known as the Ceramic Shop Tank and Drum Storage on Main Street, is also contaminated, Supra said.
In Jan. 7, 1995, a spill occurred at the Ceramic Shop and around 25,000 gallons of waste was released from two storage tanks that flowed into the Vermilion River and into the soil.
Last year in January, DEQ tested the soil at the Ceramic Shop and discovered there is still and excess amount of benzene and vinyl chloride still in the surface soil.
The ground water (30 feet below the surface) contained 10 toxic heavy metals, eight volatile organic compounds and one pesticide.
Supra said DEQ tested other locations south of Abbeville where Broussard Chemicals had storage tanks and the results were the same as sites on South Henry Street.
Most, if not all, of the residents who live near the contaminated sites no longer have well water. They are connected to a water system.

Broussard went to prison

On July 15, 1997, John Wesley Broussard, owner of Antifreeze Inc. of Abbeville, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette.
He pled guilty to four felony counts of violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Broussard was sentenced to 37 months in prison, three years of supervised release and fined $4,000 to be paid to EPA. Antifreeze Inc., was fined $250,000, and ordered to pay $2,962,155 for environmental cleanup, and $1,000 to the Louisiana State Police. Antifreeze Inc., manufactures anti-freeze and oil treating compounds sold to trucking companies, industries and government agencies. Broussard and Antifreeze illegally transported and stored hazardous wastes including benzene, carbon tetrachloride and chloroform.