The broken sprinklers in the LAlumina Burnside Refinery are causing the red mud to dry down and spread via wind around the neighbouring Pelican Crossing locality. Human beings residing in the Ascension Parish region have to unnecessarily deal with the red dust flying in the air whenever the wind is strong. After the refinery closed down, the company was asked to contain the red mud with water sprinklers to keep the entity wet so that it wouldn’t blow out in a gale. But what is left out of the LAlumina Burnside Refinery is a sore site containing a pond of harmful waste material (red mud) produced during alumina extraction from bauxite ore.
People living in Gonzales, Louisiana now know that it is the company’s fault that they are suffering for an ample amount of time. As soon as the residents began to make settlements in Pelican Crossing, Gonzales, they realised their neighbour is not that cordial.
After reports from dwellers started pouring in, The Department of Environmental Quality also looked into the matter to find the situation to be true.
When Shelita Bailey, AVP Integrative Health Services at the University of Miami Health System moved to Pelican Crossing a few years back, she witnessed the red dust blowing in the wind many times.
"It really just started with a big cloud in the neighbourhood. We're hopeful that it will clear up, and we don't have to continue going through this over and over again," Bailey remarked.
It was not long that the origin of the cloud was traced back to the closed LAlumina Burnside Refinery very near to their residential complex. The cloud was being formed by the blowing wind which picked up the red mud particles from the refinery’s storage facility.
Numerous complaints were lodged against the plant and an inspection conducted by DEQ concluded that these violations should be properly addressed.
A resident at Pelican Crossing, Jodie Crandall insisted, "I know they say they have sprinkler systems, and I know they have water cannons. Our patio overlooks all of that, and we see what's not running, what's not happening. We don't see them ever running now."
DEQ stated that LAlumina has checked and confirmed that some of their sprinklers are not working. DEQ has ordered the company to install additional sprinklers to stop the red dust from blowing.
While LAlumina Burnside Refinery plant superintendent, Aaron Templet revealed in March that the red mud area has a sprinkler system that stays active 24 hours a day all week. Aaron confirmed that the system had been approved under DEQ to help prevent the displacement of red mud by the wind. On Thursday, Templet said that they are now negotiating sprinkler rates and working with DEQ to get the installation done.
The DEQ has set an ultimatum for the company board that if the sprinklers don’t arrive soon, they might be fined. The proposal for sprinklers is being evaluated by the state at this moment and is expected to conclude in two or three weeks.
According to the state’s data, this problem has been a recurring concern for the local people since 2017 thus DEQ is not at all foreign to the entire ordeal.
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