Something’s really fishy in Louisiana.
A small community in the area, called Tangipahoa Parish, has been dealing with a fishy smell in the air – and it’s been that way for years.
The town’s residents say the stench is so strong it’s gotten trapped in many of their homes.
Residents say the source is the wastewater from a nearby shrimp processing plant, called Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood, which is owned by Big Easy Foods. Neighbors have been fighting them about the smell since 2022.
According to their website, Gulf Island Shrimp makes southern staples like red beans and rice, jambalaya and “TurDucHens” — deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, which is then stuffed into a deboned turkey — and specialty shrimp products like shrimp Creole, shrimp etouffee and shrimp gumbo.
Located in the town of Independence, which sits adjacent to Tangipahoa Parish, the plant is being accused of causing the bad odor, which has reached nearby homes, one owned by Darlene Genova, who says she’s living in a ‘nightmare.’
‘There are literally times where I’ve had to sit with a clean towel that had a fabric softener from like the dryer over my nose in my own home. Oh, and you can’t go outside it’s just too strong,’ she tells Daily Mail.
Independence has a population of around 1,600 people. It’s main shops are a Piggly Wiggly, a few restaurants, and a City Hall. Big Easy Foods has a plant there.
Multiple residents in town have filed complaints, and a special meeting was held April 3
Residents of Independence, LA, say a strange smell has invaded their town
Larry Avery, who owns Big Easy Foods, out golfing as his factory stinks up a town
‘Going to the Piggly Wiggly, you could be waiting by the deli and if there’s a shrimp worker next to you or in front of you, you wanna get away from them, the smell is so awful. And it doesn’t matter what type of home you have, you can’t keep the smell out.’
Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood, a large factory that sits on the edge of town, has been using the town’s small wastewater treatment facility to dump its own waste. The small treatment facility can’t handle all that excess, so often the waste water overflows or doesn’t fully get clean and it smells like rotten shrimp.
The water is supposed to be sent to an oxidation pond and then mixed with the rest of the town’s wastewater, but residents believe Gulf Shrimp is cutting corners and dumping directly into their treatment plant.
Gulf Shrimp & Seafood did not return Daily Mail’s request for comment.
‘It smells like decaying bodies,’ Geneva says.
Making matters worse, because of the smell and rotten wastewater, bugs have invaded the town.
‘Now there’s flies in town,’ Geneva says.
Multiple residents in town have filed complaints, and numerous visits from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality have led to multiple checks and the facility, but no resolution.
Residents say the source is the wastewater from a nearby shrimp processing plant,
The seafood company 30 days to fix the smell, otherwise the town will pull permits
Louisiana gulf shrimp, a Southern staple on ice because they rot when they are warm
A shrimp boat in Louisiana that hunts for the shrimp the factory then bags
One resident, Victor Coslan, hates the smell so much he was forced to put his home up for sale a year ago. He also blames the smell as the reason why it hasn’t sold.
‘People pull up and they’re like, ‘Oh, what’s that smell?’ and they get back in their car and they leave,’ he told local news.
At a special meeting held in Independence on April 3 to address the matter, Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood promised to fix facility issues and the town council passed a motion to give the seafood company 30 days to fix the smell, otherwise the town will begin to pull any permits they need to operate.
‘Another dog and pony show,’ Geneva says.
‘They’re looking at $17 million water treatment project. No way that’s gonna happen.’
