SBA Shipyard is a 98-acre former barge construction and repair facility that operated from 1965 to 1999 in Jennings, Louisiana, along the Mermentau River. The site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL), the EPA's roster of the most serious contaminated sites in the country, on September 9, 2016. It is currently in the remedial investigation phase, which began January 9, 2017. No final cleanup remedy has been selected yet, and physical construction of cleanup systems has not started.
The barges serviced at the facility typically carried diesel, coal tar, creosote, crude oil, gasoline, and asphalt. Cleaning those barges left behind soil, sediment, and groundwater contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and metals, often mixed together in on-site pits. Contamination has spread into underlying groundwater, adjacent wetlands, and nearby surface waters. An abandoned barge at the site has released hazardous materials into the Mermentau River, which is used for recreational fishing. Investigations since 2018 have looked at soil and groundwater for volatiles, non-volatiles, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dioxins/furans. In 2021, the state began testing for tributyl tin compounds, a toxic chemical commonly used in Louisiana shipbuilding. A 2022 study of sediment and fish tissue found no organometallic compounds above human health and ecological risk screening levels.
The EPA conducted interim removal activities from March 2001 to January 2005 and a separate removal action between August 30 and September 4, 2015. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality referred the site to the EPA in September 2012 after hazardous materials were released from the abandoned barge into the river. Louisiana supported the site's NPL listing because other federal and state cleanup programs were not viable at that time due to limited funding. The site is divided into two operable units. An Administrative Order of Consent for Operable Unit 1 was finalized November 18, 2016. EPA Region 6, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and the responsible party are working together through the Superfund Remedial Program.
Human exposure status and groundwater migration status cannot currently be determined due to insufficient data. Community members who want to stay informed or ask questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Manager.
