A levee failure at a Louisiana bauxite refinery allowed caustic red mud laced with arsenic, cadmium, and chromium to contaminate waterways and public land for months before regulators intervened.
Wesley Muller reports for the Louisiana Illuminator.
In short:
- Atalco, the nation’s only bauxite refinery, failed to report or repair multiple levee breaches that leaked toxic red mud into public ditches and the Blind River Swamp from at least August through December 2024.
- State and federal inspections found elevated levels of carcinogenic heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic, and chromium in soil and water samples on and off-site, some exceeding safe limits by thousands of percent.
- Records show Atalco neglected inspections of its levees for over three years, even after prior warnings of erosion risk, while a worker died in a separate chemical exposure incident during the same period.
Key quote:
“You would definitely get injuries and skin burns from it. The plants and any fish in the area would die from that. You can’t survive that high of a pH.”
— Corinne Gibb, chemist, Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Why this matters:
Red mud is a notoriously difficult waste byproduct of aluminum production, storing massive amounts of caustic, metal-laden sludge in open-air pits. When containment systems fail, as they did repeatedly at Atalco in Gramercy, the consequences for ecosystems and human health can be severe. Chemicals like arsenic and cadmium can linger in soil and water for years, accumulating in crops and wildlife and increasing cancer and neurological risks in surrounding communities. Yet state officials were kept in the dark about the breaches for months, and enforcement responses have been minimal. The refinery’s use of unlined ponds and its failure to conduct inspections despite clear permit obligations reveal a systemic breakdown in both industry compliance and government oversight.
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