Dyno Nobel leaks over 1,000 gallons of sulfuric acid | Jefferson Parish

More than a thousand gallons of sulfuric acid leaked from a railroad car at the Cornerstone Chemical Plant in Waggaman last week, according to a Coast Guard report.

A railroad car from a Dyno-Nobel plant in Missouri was being pushed into the yard of Cornerstone Energy Park in Waggaman at about 6:20 p.m. on August 7 when workers discovered a bottleneck with denitrated sulfuric acid spraying from the roof of the car.

The leak released about 1,100 gallons of sulfuric acid, according to a report to the U.S. Coast Guard's National Response Center.

According to the report, the leak appeared to be caused by a faulty weld.

Cornerstone Vice President Roland Frank said in a statement that the leak had no impact on the facility or caused any injuries and that local and state authorities had been notified.

The affected area will be “remediated” and sampled by an independent laboratory, the company wrote.

Cornerstone had already come under fire last year when Dyno Nobel built a $26 million natural gas-fired boiler on the property without proper permits. Cornerstone claimed they had no knowledge of the violation, and the Jefferson Township Council later granted the permit without penalties.

In 2022, Cornerstone was reprimanded by the EPA for reporting emissions rates that exceeded the amount allowed in its permits and for failing to properly report its emissions in 2019, resulting in an administrative order requiring compliance with the consent.