Federal and state regulators are suing Smitty’s Supply Inc., the Tangipahoa Parish oil and lubricant plant, over an Aug. 22 explosion that sent a plume of black smoke towering over Roseland and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents, as well as numerous previous alleged environmental violations.

The 65-page lawsuit , filed Wednesday in federal court in New Orleans, calls the explosion “catastrophic” and accuses Smitty’s of “repeatedly failing” to follow pollution-control laws and maintaining “insufficient” spill-prevention plans long before the August explosion. Cleanup from the explosion is ongoing, the lawsuit states, and months later there is still a risk of additional pollution from the site of the explosion.

“Plaintiffs ask this Court to hold Defendant accountable for un

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