THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

It sure is a shame how those wide area evacuations can disrupt your business. Don't you worry none, the good old Pelican State has your back.

A story published this week by The Daily Advertiser newspaper in Lafayette, Louisiana, revisited the explosion in the rural community of New Iberia. The paper revealed that the then-owners of the plant, Multi-Chem, paid no fine to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), which routinely fines chemical, oil and gas companies for environmental damage caused by accidents.

The plant, which still goes by the name Multi-Chem but is now owned by Halliburton Co., mixes various chemicals for oil and gas industry processes, including the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. The Advertiser also revealed that once the plant was owned by Halliburton, it was promised $1.8 million in tax incentives by Louisiana Economic Development (LED) to assist in its expansion and relocation in nearby Vermilion Parish...

The 2011 plant explosion initially forced people in a 5-mile radius of the plant to evacuate and released black smoke into the surrounding neighborhoods, with one resident telling The Associated Press he could taste the “bitter ... foul” taste of chemicals after the incident.

After the explosion, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company $49,000 for seven different violations, including a lack of safety equipment on the site and a lack of clear protocol for how to handle accidents.

Multi-Chem has also been accused of discharging contaminated water in Louisiana without a permit. The company has been sued several times elsewhere in the United States for various environmental issues, including one case that led to the closure of a Multi-Chem plant in Ventura, California, in 2012.

When reached by phone, a representative for Halliburton, Multi-Chem's parent company, said no one would be available to answer questions about activists' complaints.

And if you are worried about a fine well here you go. Everything is jes' fine, keep up the good work.