ROSELAND — The U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Louisiana have filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against Smitty’s Supply, Inc., accusing the company of years of environmental violations and a catastrophic August explosion and fire that released oil and hazardous chemicals into the Tangipahoa River.
The 65-page complaint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, alleges the Roseland-based lubricant manufacturer violated multiple provisions of the Clean Water Act and the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality and Attorney General Liz Murrill joined the federal government in seeking civil penalties and court-ordered corrective actions.
According to the complaint, the August 22 explosion at Smitty’s Supply’s 20-acre facility sparked a fire that burned for more than two weeks, engulfing massive storage tanks that contained oil and chemical products. The disaster sent thick black smoke across Tangipahoa Parish and forced the evacuation of roughly 800 nearby residents.
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EPA responders later determined that millions of gallons of contaminated firefighting water, oil, and chemicals flowed off-site into drainage channels that emptied into the Tangipahoa River, spreading pollution more than 47 miles downstream toward Lake Pontchartrain.
Photos included in the complaint show oil sheens coating the river’s surface near Lee’s Landing Marina. EPA crews deployed booms and skimmers to contain the spill, ultimately collecting an estimated 11 million gallons of contaminated material from the river, ponds, and the site itself.
EPA contractors skim and remove oily residue and debris from the Tangipahoa River during hazardous material cleanup connected to the Smitty’s Supply incident. 
As of Sept. 30, 2025, petrochemicals still filled ponds near the Tangipahoa River across the street from the destroyed Smitty’s Supply facility in Roseland nearly six weeks after it exploded. (Photo: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) Polluted water and cleanup equipment along the Tangipahoa River as the EPA responds to the August 22 Smitty’s Supply explosion and hazardous material release. An EPA response vessel surrounded by oil-containment booms during hazardous material recovery efforts near the Smitty’s Supply site in Tangipahoa Parish. Response workers on a “Responder” boat monitor cleanup operations on the Tangipahoa River after the Smitty’s Supply plant fire and chemical spill. EPA crews deploy containment booms to collect oily runoff and hazardous material from the Tangipahoa River following the Smitty’s Supply plant fire in Roseland, Louisiana. An oil slick is visible on the surface of the Tangipahoa River at Serenity Sands near Independence on, Aug.. 25, 2025. Cleanup crews were collecting contaminants from the waterway, ditches and ponds after an explosion four days earlier at the Smitty’s Supply facility in Roseland. (Photo by Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) A containment boom collects oily material from the surface of the Tangipahoa River at Serenity Sands near Independence on Monday, August. 25, 2025. Cleanup crews were collecting contaminants from the waterway, ditches and ponds after an explosion four days earlier at the Smitty’s Supply facility in Roseland. (Photo by Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
The lawsuit alleges that Smitty’s had long failed to comply with state discharge permits and federal spill-prevention requirements, including maintaining an inadequate Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure plan and lacking a federally required Facility Response Plan.
EPA inspectors said the company’s plans were missing critical elements such as emergency response procedures, tank inspection details, and proper containment measures. Between May 2022 and August 2025, Smitty’s reportedly logged more than 230 violations of its discharge permit for excessive pollutants such as oil, grease, and fecal coliform bacteria.
Both the state and federal governments are asking the court to impose fines of up to $68,000 per day per violation and to require Smitty’s Supply to overhaul its operations to prevent future discharges.
The Tangipahoa Parish fire remains one of the largest industrial incidents in recent Louisiana history. Cleanup operations are ongoing, and the EPA continues to monitor the site amid concerns that remaining oil and hazardous substances could leak again during heavy rainfall.
The new lawsuit comes just months after Smitty’s Supply filed its own civil suit against two companies it blames for causing the explosion. In that case, Smitty’s alleges that Fulton Thermal Corp., a New York-based boiler manufacturer, and J&M Boiler Combustion Control Services of Baton Rouge were negligent in providing, installing, and maintaining a thermal fluid heater that allegedly exploded and sparked the fire.
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According to that earlier filing, Smitty’s said it purchased the heater from Fulton in 2021 and relied on J&M for maintenance, claiming both companies failed to properly design and service the unit. Neither company has publicly commented on the allegations.
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