Industrial corporations ruining the environment is nothing new, but one aluminum refinery in Louisiana has managed to make it worse after hiding a toxic waste spill for months. Because of their mistake and refusal to tarnish their company’s reputation, tons of poisonous metals have seeped into the Lake Maurepas swamp, contaminating the wildlife and even nearby towns.
The company in question is none other than Atlantic Alumina, aka Atalco. Back in August 2024, Atalco’s River Parishes refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, suffered a leak of the so-called “red mud” industrial slurry byproduct– basically a toxic waste sludge consisting of arsenic, cadmium, and other poisonous metals. This red mud has apparently killed the refinery’s surrounding vegetation and even managed to find its way through the local sewage.
When the Department of Environmental Quality in Louisiana (LDEQ) investigated Atalco, the company didn’t seem to mention the harmful effects and the extent of the red mud discharge. Thus, the company basically allowed the red mud pollution to fester and ruin the environment and nearby towns for months, and also failed to notify the nearby communities.
“It is very dangerous. There can be a lot of toxic metals leaching out of it and getting into the groundwater,” according to environmental scientist, Slawomir Lomnicki of LSU (Louisiana State University), transcript courtesy of LAIlluminator
Apparently, some of the large open-air lakes surrounded by 50-foot earthen levees that the refinery uses to store the toxic waste after processing aluminum broke, spilling the red mud into the soil below, which happened to be damp and full of water.
So far, the LDEQ has only slapped a warning letter on Atalco as of May 29, though some online worry that the government won’t be able to do much to punish or sanction the aluminum company.
A tale as old as civilization
It’s still not clear what the Louisiana government plans to do in the disaster that the Atalco caused, nor is it certain whether the company actually plans to clean up its mess. They have already contaminated the nearby wildlife and drainage. While some were angry at both the government officials and Atalco itself, others were not surprised anymore.
One angry Redditor even managed to rope President Donald Trump into the discussion, assuming that Atalco is allowed to be granted a full pardon by the president if it ever gets into trouble. Another complaint is how this whole mishap is tied to big oil and mining companies, and how the company owners have local politicians as allies, which could explain the lack of laws definitively protecting the environment or regulating industrial operations.
“That’s fairly on brand for both LA and big oil,” says Brief-Pair6391
“It costs less to pay a fine than properly dispose of toxins and clean them up. nothing new. but getting cancer and dying early just because of these companies, probably sucks,” laments DifferentCobbler6250
“Chem trails in the sky? Bad. Chem trails in the lake? Good,” points out marine-tech
“Don’t worry, they’ll be happy to pay whatever Trump wants for a pardon. It’ll be much, much cheaper than actually cleaning anything up or compensating injured families,” assumes snozzbeery
