A northshore plant that makes spices for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has been fined by the state after leaking 27,000 pounds of ammonia gas that led to the closure of Interstate 12 in 2015.
Last week, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality finally fined the company, Diversified Foods and Seasonings, Inc., just over $50,000 for the “unauthorized release” of the toxic gas, as well as several other violations.
The state DEQ found that the Madisonville-area company did not properly train employees, did not act on the recommendations of prior inspections and didn’t update its safety procedures when it upgraded to new equipment.
The ammonia leak from the refrigeration system in 2015 formed a “vapor cloud” on the south side of the facility, according to DEQ. The fire department sprayed down the area with water to keep the chemicals from spreading.
I-12 was closed in both directions for several hours, and three workers were sent to the hospital. The facility is just north of the interstate and west of the Turnpike Road exit.
Traffic on westbound Interstate 12 exits at Louisiana 1077 west of Covington due to an ammonia leak at a plant along the highway on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015.
After the leak, the state DEQ reported that water contaminated by the ammonia flowed into a nearby retention pond and “affected the soil and vegetation” around the facility.
Bryan White, the general counsel for Diversified Foods, said the company spent over $1 million cleaning up the soil and a nearby drainage ditch, and $4 million overhauling the plant’s refrigeration system, which was responsible for the leak.
The company can ask for a hearing to dispute any facts that the agency cited in its decision to issue a penalty. White said the company planned to do so.
“We don't believe the fine is appropriate under the circumstances,” he said. “We also don't believe that LDEQ has acted in a timely manner to impose a fine.”
State DEQ press secretary Gregory Langley in a statement that the agency "issued an appropriate and timely action and put the respondent on notice of a potential penalty."
Langley said both parties "entered into negotiations to settle the action and obtain compliance but the negotiations were not successful. Penalties were then issued.”
“That's not correct,” White said. “There was an initial meeting shortly after the incident, and that was all.”
It isn’t unusual for the state DEQ to issue fines years after the fact. A 2021 audit report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, an independent government oversight agency, found that it can take as long as nine years to fine companies where there are known issues.
The delays have gotten worse in recent years. The agency doesn’t have enough employees, the audit found, and those that they do have are overworked.
“As a result, there is a risk that facilities may have violations that remain uncorrected for years,” the report said.
In 2018, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development gave the company a $500,000 grant to help it expand its operations.