hundreds of thousands of dead fish, and sweating workers bent to scoop the carcasses from the water.

A rotten stench hung over a 60-mile stretch of Louisiana's Pearl River as boats
trawled through thick layers of hundreds of thousands of dead fish, and sweating
workers bent to scoop the carcasses from the water.
The fish, including federally protected Gulf sturgeon as well as catfish and
flounder, died after a paper mill in Bogalusa, Louisiana, released a high
concentration of waste material into the river on August 9.
"This is really sickening," said St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis,
unable to hide his disgust at the view from Crawford Landing, 40 miles northeast
of New Orleans.
The liquid material, which mill owner Temple-Inland Inc. refers to as "black
liquor," effectively sucked the oxygen from a large section of the river,
killing every breathing organism within its reach, including the fish. Davis put
the number of fish killed at hundreds of thousands.
More than 400 people worked from boats and the river banks over the weekend
to clean up the river in 90-degree heat. By Monday, the water was nearly clear
of carcasses, but a ban on fishing and swimming remained in place pending water
testing.
Preliminary test results show water quality in the river had "improved
dramatically" in the last few days, and there was no evidence toxins were
released into the water, a state Department of Environmental Quality spokesman
said on Friday.
"This was a biological problem, and not a chemical or toxic problem, which is
encouraging," the department's environmental scientist Jeff Dauzat said, adding
workers were still tallying the toll on fish and other river life.
But the wildlife damage was severe from a situation made worse by recent
drought conditions. In addition to Gulf sturgeon, ringed sawback turtles and
heelsplitter mussels were among the dead.
The department said in a statement that Temple-Inland could face fines for
violations including failure to notify officials of the spill in a timely
manner. It also asked the company to submit a plan for changes to prevent a
recurrence.
Slidell lawyer Tom Thornhill has filed a class action lawsuit in state court
against Temple-Inland on behalf of owners of land and businesses affected by the
discharge.