26 years after the invasion of 1.3 million barrels of hazardous waste invaded Grand Bois
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Grand Bois, Louisiana, once known as a safe haven ridge and a secluded community with great hunting grounds and an abundance of deer is one of the oilfield’s safe havens for toxic waste since as far back as the 1970’s. Hidden in the wooded areas on the eastern side of town is a pit of radioactive waste on one end and various pits of oilfield waste on the other. Since March 1994, Clarice Friloux, a citizen of the United Houma Nation, and her Native American and Cajun community of Grand Bois have been in opposition of the toxic waste that has invaded their community. Friloux said the toxic waste has caused obvious health issues but also suspicious health issues to her neighbors who lived closest to the hazardous waste site. Without any consistent testing taking place since the mid-late 90’s, 1.3 million barrels of hazardous waste had been dumped in Grand Bois in 1994 alone, and Friloux cannot prove if the suspicious health issues were related to the hazardous waste, but the symptoms that occur living near chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide, benzene, xylene, toluene, lead, and arsenic are known to cause very severe issues each on its own. Friloux said, “It is a soup of hazardous waste chemicals and the facility and the community have no way to measure the levels of chemicals that are being exposed to our community.” Friloux and her neighbors cannot fish for food from their waterways because they are afraid to eat what is in it. Reflecting back to the 2005 Hurricane Rita, the community was flooded for the first time with a few feet of water for two weeks. Friloux says the sludge of chemicals and rain water from the hazardous oilfield waste pit was being pumped right into St. Louis Canal that runs midway through Grand Bois and southward into communities like Klondyke, Montegut, and Pointe-Aux-Chenes. Friloux and the Grand Bois community have not lived in peace since March of 1994 and Friloux believes it is a form of harassment that has been imposed on the community. Friloux and the community of Grand Bois reached a settlement with a couple of big name companies like Exxon and Campbell Wells back in 2000, and was able to close four oilfield waste pits, but there were certain actions that she thought was going to come out of the settlement that did not. “The state of Louisiana has allowed a “Sweetheart Deal” for the oil and gas industry to dump what the state labels as “non-hazardous” oilfield waste anywhere and there is no one held accountable,” said Friloux. Commonly, hazardous chemical plants and chemicals have been popular to land in minority communities. Communities like those near the Dupont plant in Reserve, Louisiana and the old landfill site in Gordon Plaza in New Orleans East have been in the news because of the health risk they impose in the communities. Grand Bois, almost 26 years later, is no different. The hazardous oilfield waste facility is still open, trucks are still unloading, and the community is still on guard. Friloux said, “There is no place like Grand Bois, this is my Grand Bois and I will fight for it and I know my kids will fight for it too.”
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