Before a Louisiana warehouse held nursing home evacuees, it was a chemical packaging plant – Daily Advertiser

Before a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish held more than 800 nursing home evacuees during Hurricane Ida, the site was used as a funeral home and a chemical packaging facility.

The Waterbury facility in Independence, Louisiana, has come under scrutiny after residents from seven southeast Louisiana nursing homes were evacuated to the warehouse. While there, evacuees have alleged in lawsuits that it was overcrowded and understaffed. 

At least 14 people who were evacuated to the warehouse have died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. At least five of those deaths were storm-related. 

Several lawsuits have been filed against the nursing homes’ owner, Bob Dean Jr. Dean has denied any wrongdoing. The department of health has since revoked Dean’s nursing home licenses.  

A class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of the families of five residents who were placed in the warehouse, alleged the warehouse was a toxic waste site.

More: As conditions at Louisiana warehouse worsened during Ida, staff made toilets from buckets

What has the warehouse been used for in the past? 

Nursing home staff was told the warehouse was previously used as a Fruit-of-the-Loom site, according to the class-action lawsuit. DEQ records, however, show that wasn’t the case. 

During the 1950s and the 1960s, a funeral home was located where the facility currently stands, at 129 Calhoun Street. From 1970 to 1975, the site was used for mobile home manufacturing by an unknown owner, according to DEQ documents.

Following that, the building was owned by PEDS, a garment manufacturer, from 1975 to 1982. When the facility was owned by PEDS, the original building was expanded. There were tanks and dyes in the area that were later used for the aerosol line and compound room when the warehouse was owned by the Waterbury Company.

In 1982, Cline-Buckner bought the facility and used it for chemical specialty formulator/packaging operations until 1985.

In 1985, Talley purchased the site and operated as Waterbury Companies, a Division of Talley. 

In 1988, Waterbury Companies bought the site from Talley and continued to use the site for chemical operations. Waterbury Companies formulated and packaged air fresheners, cleaners and insecticides, according to DEQ documents. They were produced as aerosols, non-aerosols and powdered products.

Waterbury Companies ceased operation and sold the facility to Windsor Investment Group, LLC, according to the class-action lawsuit. An entity owned by Dean bought the property in June 2015.

What chemicals have been found at the site? 

Beginning in 1985, the DEQ began monitoring the groundwater at the Tangipahoa Parish facility for methyl chloride, also called TCA or 1,1,1-trichloroethane. Methyl chloride is a solvent used as a degreaser and in making other chemicals. Methyl chloride at one time was used as a refrigerant, but it has been discontinued. 

In 2003, groundwater assessment results showed that 1,1-dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride were found in some areas. As recently as 2015, the chemicals were still detected in groundwater samples but a January reading of samples showed levels were within the allowable range. 

‘I still cry about it’: Family members heartbroken over nursing home evacuation

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1,1-dichloroethylene, also called DCE, can cause acute effects like depression, convulsions, spasms, unconsciousness and respiratory impacts. The EPA also says that the chemical can cause long-term effects on the kidneys, liver, central nervous system and lungs at high levels of exposure for long periods of time.

Lawsuits filed over possible chemical contamination from the warehouse

A lawsuit was filed against Waterbury Companies in 2004 in Tangipahoa Parish. A couple who lived in a home near the warehouse claimed their property was devalued because of potential contamination and “public perception of the chemical contamination,” according to court documents. 

The couple claimed “the actions resulting in their damages and expenses were caused solely and only by the conduct of the defendant, Waterbury Companies, Inc. in that Waterbury negligently allowed the chlorinated hydrocarbon be spilled onto the ground, all in contravention of accepted, safe business practices.”

Waterbury Companies denied any environmental contamination. 

The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2011. 

A similar lawsuit was filed in 2008 by another property owner who lived near the facility. It also was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2011. 

Checks and balances for emergency plans

Residents who were placed in the warehouse were not told about the potential exposure, the class-action lawsuit alleged. It also alleged that family members and caretakers weren’t told where residents were being taken when their nursing home facilities were evacuated. 

But family members, caretakers and residents should have been told, argued Brian Lee, an elder care advocate who leads the Texas-based Families for Better Care group.

“You should be able to ask about anything related to the care and safety of your loved one in a facility,” he said. “They should ask and the family should know how the facility is going to be able to respond to care safely for their loved ones in that facility.”

More: Who’s responsible for Louisiana’s nursing home evacuation plans? Officials won’t say.

Ideally, facilities should be hardened to withstand natural disasters and have generators that can withstand them, whether it’s hurricanes or hard winter freezes, Lee said. There should be checks and balances when it comes to emergency preparedness and plans that are reviewed by state and local officials. 

“There need to be eyes on the plans, then follow through and drilling of the plans,” he said. “State officials should be reviewing it just like they do fire drills.”

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi. Contact William Taylor Potter at wpotter@theadvertiser.com.