Based on a WWL-TV newsroom survey, we compiled a list of the top 10 local stories of 2011 and honorable mentions.
In mid August, a discharge from a Bogalusa paper mill poisoned the water of the Pearl River, killing scores of marine life. Temple-Inland was the mill responsible for spewing a black liquid, known as black liquor – a byproduct of the papermaking process – into the waters of the river.
“This is worst fish kill I’ve ever seen,” said Richard Artique, a St. Tammany Councilman, after touring waters.
Thousands of dead fish could be seen floating in the waters, as officials had to brings hundred of workers to clean up the massive fish kill.
“This is terrible, this is unbelievable,” said Artigue, adding that the stench smelled “like a bunch of dead bodies.”
The effects could be seen 50 miles downriver, in the Rigolets. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation said strong evidence showed the discharge reached Lake Pontchartrain.
Officials later determined that the mill's equipment malfunctioned and spilled the black liquor into the Pearl, depleting oxygen and killing hundreds of thousands of fish.
--Michael Luke--
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