State documents show a contractor has recovered dozens of oil-covered and injured animals after the Smitty’s Supply Inc. environmental disaster in Tangipahoa Parish. Several others were found dead on site or later died from their injuries. 

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality released a report Thursday showing the most recent count for the wildlife known to have been impacted by the Aug. 22 fire, explosion and massive chemical and petroleum products spill. 

Lindsay Reeves, a spokeswoman for the Center for Biological Diversity, called the report “deeply troubling” though said she’s not surprised at the impact on wildlife given the massive volume of the oil spill. The disaster polluted the surrounding environment with an estimated 12 million gallons of oily and liquid chemical waste, according to state and federal records.

The report, dated Dec. 3, details a state contractor’s work recovering 74 live wild animals, including 59 listed as “oiled” and 15 others — mostly opossums and raccoons — that were captured and relocated to unaffected areas. A total of eight animals were listed as dead. 

The contractor, Wildlife Response Services LLC, sent a team of five workers to Tangipahoa Parish on Oct. 11 with a few off-road vehicles and a trailer outfitted with equipment to scrub down oiled wildlife. The WRS team established a temporary rehabilitation center where animals have been bathed, fed and monitored until they’re well enough to be released back into the wild. Some have been sent to veterinary clinics for more advanced treatment. The location of the rehab center hasn’t been disclosed.  

The company reported 29 animals have been rehabilitated and released as of Dec. 3. Separate records from the Department of Environmental Quality note some animals were released at the Joyce Wildlife Management Area, a state-owned swamp just north of Pass Manchac.

Most of the oiled animals recovered have been reptiles, including 50 turtles and three alligators. Also listed as oiled were four birds and two amphiumas, which are large, aquatic salamanders often mistaken for eels or snakes. 

Among the birds were large species that typically nest near water: a Canada goose, a great egret, an osprey and a pied-billed grebe. The grebe later died, but the goose and egret recovered and were released. The report doesn’t mention the status of the osprey.

One bobcat is listed in the report, though it doesn’t specify whether it was injured or just relocated. A separate LDEQ document noted it as a bobcat kitten but offered no more details.

Four eastern river cooter turtles also died after being secured. Two of the turtles died while in care, and the other two were euthanized at LSU Small Animal Hospital in Baton Rouge, according to the report.

The WRS team also found an alligator, a mouse and a raccoon already dead in the area impacted by the Smitty’s Supply disaster. The report indicates the contractors collected and disposed of the carcasses.

When reached by phone Friday, Wildlife Response Services owner Rhonda Murgatroyd said she wasn’t allowed to discuss her work without permission from the Department of Environmental Quality or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. On Monday, LDEQ spokeswoman Meagan Molter said the agency isn’t aware of any state policies that would restrict Murgatroyd’s free speech rights.

Reeves, with the Center for Biological Diversity, said there are likely many more affected animals the company wasn’t able to find. 

“After the spill, the Tangipahoa River looked like motor oil, so I suspect that the impacts to wildlife, especially aquatic species, are probably more significant and will be longer term than we see in this report,” Reeves said.

While reptiles, birds and mammals have been found injured or dead, no fish kills in the Tangipahoa River have been reported in connection with the disaster, LDEQ spokesman Greg Langley said. Much of the river, which runs directly adjacent to the Smitty’s Supply plant, was closed to the public for over two months. 

Animals of particular concern in the contractor’s report include the alligator snapping turtles, a threatened species that has been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act, Reeves said. The team recovered 12 alligator snapping turtles, one of which required more advanced veterinary care from LSU Small Animal Hospital, according to the report.

Other imperiled species that live within the footprint of the spill but haven’t been reported as affected by the disaster are manatees and freshwater mussels, Reeves said. 

“One of the things that’s been keeping me up at night is there are manatees in the Tangipahoa River,” she said. “There’s actually a lot of protected species that live in the Tangipahoa. It’s really a special place.”

Wild animals have borne the brunt of the oil spill, but pets and livestock have also been impacted, according to several Tangipahoa residents. 

A cattle farmer, Ronnie Polezcek, who lives 3 miles from Smitty’s Supply said fallout from the disaster contaminated hay he planned to feed his herd. He also reported the delivery of a stillborn calf immediately after the explosion, according to his lawsuit against the company.

Candy Cardwell, who lives near the Smitty’s Supply facility and saw her house covered in soot and oily residue during the fire, said in an email Friday that her dog, Rusty, is still suffering from bouts of illness since the fire. A veterinarian couldn’t give her a definitive diagnosis or attribute the symptoms to certain environmental toxins, she added. 

“At one point, I thought I was going to lose him,” Cardwell said of Rusty. 

Cardwell said she’s not surprised by the amount of wildlife injured in the disaster because the animals that once frequented her garden have mostly disappeared. 

“I can tell you, I don’t have frogs, lizards or rabbits anymore,” she said. “I’ve only seen one squirrel. Things like that for a good ecosystem are gone.”