Cleanup continues in Tangipahoa Parish more than a month after the explosion at Smitty’s Supply in Roseland that spewed oil and other toxic substances into the Tangipahoa River. Adam Adams, a federal on-scene coordinator with the EPA, says the EPA has set up a website to keep the public updated on the cleanup progress.
“It’ll explain sampling that’s being done, locations, it’ll show progress on recovery operations for the oil products, how much oily products and waste we’ve recovered,” Adams said.
Crews have contained the waste so that it does not get into the community; and so far, they have recovered more than five and a half million gallons of waste from the Tangipahoa River and affected ponds, and Adams says that represents more than half of the overall waste to be recovered. Adams says you can definitely see the progress in the ponds.
“There’s two ponds where we can actually see water now. Up until that point, it’s just been a solid layer of oily products on there,” Adams said.
Adams says yesterday, they started SCAT – Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Techniques. He says that’s the final step in the cleanup of the river.
“We assess the banks of the river to figure out the best way to clean up that oil. Is there no oil there, is there sheen, can we just flush it with water from the river, not a high pressure, just a soft flush?” Adams explained.
To visit the site, go to response.epa.gov, click on the region containing Louisiana, and the Smitty’s Supply Fire is the first incident on the list. Scroll down slightly to the image containing a huge link for the hub site.
