BURNSIDE — The Ascension Parish government unveiled on Tuesday that it had completed its part of the cleanup at a defunct alumina plant that has irked neighbors for years with blowing red dust.
Parish workers covered two of the five “red mud lakes” that were left behind when LAlumina shut down in 2020. The dust gets its red color from bauxite, a byproduct of alumina production.
People living near the shuttered plant have complained for much of that time about the dust staining their clothes, vehicles and homes. The most recent complaints came just weeks ago as the dust appeared to stir up again.
The parish and state Department of Environmental Quality, along with LAlumina, agreed in 2024 that the parish would do some of the work required as part of the closure of the facility. After necessary approvals, that work started in 2025.
“Our priority has always been to do everything we can to protect the families who live near this site,” said
Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment. “We weren’t willing to sit around while our residents continued
dealing with red dust blowing onto their homes, vehicles, and property. That’s why Ascension Parish
Government partnered with LDEQ and LAlumina to implement an interim partial closure plan while the
permanent closure strategy was being finalized.”
The parish’s work involved using dirt “harvested” from drainage projects to cover 40 acres of the two red mud lakes closest to homes, which a news release said was “the primary source of airborne bauxite residue during dry, windy conditions.”
The parish provided workers, equipment and the dirt for this work, the news release said.
From this point, LAlumina is responsible for the rest of the work necessary to handle the “long-term, permanent remediation” of the site, governed by DEQ, the parish’s news release said. LAlumina is expected to begin implementing the full, permanent closure plan in the coming weeks.
Cointment said he is proud of the work that parish employees did on the project.
“Their work has significantly reduced the exposed areas that allow dust to become airborne and has made a real difference for the families living closest to the site,” he said.
The parish will continue to provide dirt from its drainage projects for the project, the news release said. At one point, DEQ and Ascension Parish announced that dirt removed as part of an Air Products plant’s construction would be used for the LAlumina site, but Air Products later canceled that project.
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