A public playground in Roseland, Louisiana, remains closed after environmental watchdogs reported detecting dioxin in the soil at levels nearly 100 times the US Environmental Protection Agency’s cancer-screening threshold. The playground is located near the site of the Smitty’s explosion, which occurred more than a year earlier.
Scott Smith and Mindy Bish, who have raised contamination concerns since the explosion, presented their findings to local leaders. Roseland Mayor Van Showers said he was concerned by the reported soil levels and confirmed the playground would remain closed while officials develop a remediation plan.
Smith and Bish also raised concerns about a playground at the nearby Roseland Montessori School, which they said remained in use despite being separated from the closed public playground by only a chain-link fence. They called for Smitty’s to cover the costs of cleanup. Smith also expressed concern that contaminants could be moving through drainage ditches into the Tangipahoa River. However, he reported that his testing found no contaminants in the town’s drinking water.
WDSU reported that it sought responses from Tangipahoa Parish school officials, Smitty’s and the EPA but had not received replies by publication.
