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5 EPA J. 14 (1979)
A Death in Louisiana

handle is hein.journals/epajrnl5 and id is 56 raw text is: A Death in Louisiana By Peyton Davis Damaged drums were dumped into this open landfill. T he dangers of hazardous waste disposal were tragically dramatized when an accident occurred on July 25, 1978, at a site in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, operated by a private concern. In the early hours of the morning, Kirtley Jackson, a 19-year-old truck driver, died while he was discharging waste from his truck into an open pit. The coroner's report showed he died from inhaling toxic fumes caused by a reaction of mixing liquid wastes in the open pit. The problem arose because toxic wastes from dozens of industries in Louisiana, Texas, and elsewhere were being dumped indiscriminately with neither safety equip- ment, nor orderly procedures in effect at the facility. Two eyewitnesses, in the closed cab of another truck several yards away, were able to furnish details of the death. No one is likely to wander accidentally into this swampy rural area of south Louisiana where the facility was located. Until the tragedy occurred, little attention was paid to the fact that the site was open 24 hours a day with a minimum staff-or that the area was surrounded by a river, bayou, canal, and fishing lake and had a history of flooding. In fact, high water marks on trees were at or above the tops of the open pits. Davis is a Region 6 Public Information Specialist Repairs being made to the bridge at Lou- isiana death site after angry citizens burned it to prevent trucks from entering the haz- ardous waste dumping ground. The State of Louisiana had issued a per- mit for disposal of toxic wastes, but the permit was for injection well disposal, not dumping into open pits. The Louisiana Department of Health and Natural Re- sources has a small understaffed solid wastesection, and it had become impos- sible for them to track and control the dozens of waste sites throughout the State. They were therefore unaware that this facility had developed four huge open pits for dumping of hazardous wastes. After the death was reported by the news media, the reaction of the citizens of Iber- ville Parish was intense and emotional. They wanted a speedy response to the incident, and became enraged when State environmental officials reported at a public meeting that they could exercise little or no effective jurisdiction in the matter. Dissatisfied with what the officials pro- posed to do, the local citizens took things into their own hands by burning the bridge that led to the site. Destroying the only entrance to the facility proved an effective, though illegal, way to stop the hazardous waste dumping. The situation had reached explosive proportions by Aug. 1 when the Deputy Sheriff, Ralph Stassi, contacted EPA's Region 6 Enforcement attorney, Pat Hud- son, with information on the death and a request for EPA assistance. An emergency planning meeting was called for members of the Region 6 En- forcement, Surveillance and Analysis (S & A), and Air and Hazardous Materials (A & H) Division. As a result, Myron Knudson, Director of S&A, sent Inspector Ed McHam to the site that same day. A member of the Iberville Parish Sheriff's department has credited Region 6's quick response with helping avoid violence and possible bloodshed in the community. McHam began his inspection August 1, and soon was joined by Michael Talmount of OSHA's Baton Rouge Office and Jim Sales of the Region 6 A&H Division. On August 4, local officials and McHam were denied entrance to the facility. A State court refused to issue a search warrant as C requested by local officials to continue their investigation of the death. With this double setback, EPA decided to obtain a Federal search warrant from the U.S. Magistrate in Baton Rouge. After three days (and long nights) of work by the Region 6 legal-technical team of Hud- son, McHam, and Albert Hebert, as well as assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Lamelle, a warrant of entry and inspection was obtained. Because of the uncertainty of the situa- tion, the U.S. Marshall's office accom- panied Region 6 inspectors each day until EPAJOURNAL

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