The company says it is obeying all rules. As the state takes a closer look, a trial is set for May. Above it, a sign nailed to a telephone pole advertises cancer insurance. Closer in, a faint but annoying rotten-egg stink hangs in the air.
Residents say the smell is milder since their outcry reached lawmakers in Baton Rouge.
But it's still there. So are the 16 waste pits, which contain or have contained benzene, toluene, arsenic, barium, hydrogen sulfide and lead. The town's 318 residents hope to shut the pits through a lawsuit that blames U.S. Liquids, which bought the site last year, for health problems stemming from the waste, including respiratory infections, burning eyes, chronic headaches, nosebleeds, asthma and rashes. They worry the list may eventually include cancer. The suit is scheduled for trial in May, but the state, long considered environmentally reckless, is taking a closer look at Grand Bois now.