ROSELAND, La. (Louisiana First) — An independent testing expert who traveled to Roseland following the Smitty's Supply explosion in August said his early results are troubling for the people and animals in the area.

Scott Smith tested the soot and soil around Roseland. He said the results show toxicity rivaling and sometimes exceeding what was found in other major chemical disasters, including the East Palestine train derailment in 2023.

"I found dioxin levels that were 20x higher than East Palestine," Smith said.

Smith said his group of experts uses the same labs as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but uses tests that account for toxicity that forms when certain individual chemicals mix, a process known as synergistic toxicity.

"There are no standards for how these mixtures

See Full Page