More than a month after the massive industrial fire at Smitty's Supply in Roseland, Louisiana, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made public a 305-page inventory of hazardous materials stored on-site. The facility, which distributed petrochemical products for brands such as Shell, Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Chevron, held millions of gallons of motor oils, coolants, solvents, methanol, acids, and bases, among other products.

The August 22 fire took two weeks to extinguish and spread smoke, soot, and chemical residue across the area, contaminating homes, businesses, and waterways, including the Tangipahoa River, which flows into Lake Pontchartrain. In addition to bulk storage, the site included a grease manufacturing plant, automated bottling lines, laboratories, rail cars, and a fleet of tankers, underscoring the scope of the disaster.

The EPA received the inventory from the company on August 27 but withheld it until it confirmed the list did not contain Confidential Business Information (CBI). Once cleared, the agency made the list available to the public, responding to growing demands for transparency.

According to EPA spokesperson Edward Mekeel, the materials included off-the-shelf products such as motor oil, antifreeze, degreasers, polymers, and paints. Before the fire, the plant had a storage capacity of 8.7 million gallons.

The release follows pressure from the public and local leaders to understand the environmental and health risks posed by the fire. The inventory now allows independent experts to assess the potential soil, water, and air contamination and examine loterm effects on nearby communities.

As recovery efforts continue, the EPA has deployed containment booms and removed over 2 million gallons of contaminated liquid and waste from the area. The agency insists that chemical runoff has not yet reached Lake Pontchartrain, but cleanup operations and off-site monitoring remain ongoing.

This incident reignites a broader discussion about the balance between corporate confidentiality and public safety, especially when industrial operations intersect with vulnerable communities and ecological systems.