Overview
- A 2025 fire and explosion at Smitty’s Auto Supply released oil and persistent chemicals that residents and independent testers say continue to contaminate local ponds and waterways and reach communities downstream.
- Independent tester Scott Smith has sampled more than 75 sites and collected over 200 samples, finding near-zero PFAS and dioxins in some northern stretches but detections at other sites that trace pollution from ponds and the Tangipahoa River toward Lake Pontchartrain.
- Residents report new or worsening health symptoms since the blast and gathered at a community meeting to review test results and demand information on what they may have been exposed to.
- PFAS and dioxins are long-lasting 'forever' contaminants that can move through water bodies and build up in fish and soil, raising concerns about long-term ecological harm and human exposure from fishing, swimming, or using local water.
- Community leaders are urging the EPA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to coordinate systematic testing, release exposure guidance, and plan remediation to protect nearby towns and recreational uses of the river and lake.