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A new study from Southeastern Louisiana University has found dangerous concentrations of heavy metals and other pollutants in Lake Maurepas, traced largely to industrial runoff and human activity, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
Led by chemistry professor Fereshteh Emami, researchers analyzed 400 samples and uncovered arsenic levels up to 6,300% above the EPA’s drinking water threshold, with similarly alarming levels of lead, cadmium, nickel and copper. Using advanced modeling, the team traced the pollution to rivers feeding the lake—including the Amite, Tickfaw and Blind—and to Pass Manchac, with evidence linking the spike in contamination to toxic chemicals from combustion vehicles and industrial events. While mercury levels were within federal limits, the team warned of bioaccumulation risks in fish and crops.
The study comes amid growing scrutiny over a planned $8 billion carbon sequestration project under the lake by Air Products. Southeastern has been monitoring Lake Maurepas since Air Products proposed the carbon sequestration project. The company plans to use carbon capture technology to trap emissions from an $8 billion hydrogen manufacturing complex in Ascension Parish and take them by pipeline to Lake Maurepas, where Air Products will have the capacity to inject an estimated 5 million tons of CO2 per year about a mile below the lakebed.
In the first half of 2023, Air Products performed seismic testing to map the geological formations under the lake. In August of that year, the company moved a large temporary drilling rig into Lake Maurepas that served as a test well for the collection of core and fluid data, which ended in early 2024.
Though the researchers found no direct pollution link to the project, local officials say the findings warrant extreme caution before adding further industrial stress to an already compromised ecosystem.
