228.9 RBD Cargill Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission Grain Wharf

Cargill Greater Baton Rouge is the first giant grain transfer operation on the Lower Mississippi River, where the freighters meet the barges. Here grain barges meet grain freighters and the bounty of America’s bosom helps feed the world. This is the first, and you will have so many more to come! Dozens at least. If you’ve ever wondered where all of those tows are going with all of that grain, freighters are the other side of the story -- they are carrying all of those goods out of the heart of America across the oceans to the rest of the world! Big grain transfer operations like Cargill shovel raw grains out of the barges and move them to the freighters via conveyor belts, humungous vacuum hoses, and enormous scooping devices. Following the directives of the market, the barge grains either go straight to the freighter, or are dumped in the mountainous elevators nearby. The grain chaff, dust, floating fungus, and pollens can cause sneezing, choking, or gagging depending on your health. Keep a distance, or wear a face mask if you are sensitive. Wind direction might be in your favor or not.

Port Allen/West Baton

Most paddlers stop in Baton Rouge for resupply and sightseeing. Some expeditions end in Baton Rouge, and avoid the nearby entanglement of Chemical Corridor. You could also stop in Port Allen for a quick resupply, but you will have to make a primitive landing and then take a long walk get to any businesses. Or you will have to lock through into the Intracoastal Waterway, and up to a boat ramp within, and then make your walk (shorter from here). Keep reading below for this option.

229 - 228.5 LBD Lower Baton Rouge Anchorage

Frequently-used anchorage East Bank below I-10 bridge serving as a parking place for freighter big industry in the Baton Rouge area. This anchorage is actually mid-channel, but technically its to the east of the line of navigation, making it “left bank descending of the main channel.” Watch for freighters periodically coming and going. Make sure they are stationary before paddling near this anchorage. If you see the presence of tugboats, or if you notice anchors being heaved, or see the tell-tale black smoke puff erupting from the big smokestacks behind pilot house, which is the sign of engines being powered up, give this place wide berth.

228.5 LBD Economy Boat Store Wharf

Economy Boat Store services barges and freighters as they travel up and down the river, but is not set up for paddlers.

228.4 RBD Mouth of ICWW

Best camping and picnicking in the Greater Baton Rouge area, with dry sand on south side up to bank full 30BR.

Sandy picnic or campsites are found on either side of the entrance to the Intracostal Waterway (ICWW), with the tallest and biggest on the south side, and a smaller one good for low water conditions on the north side. This place makes an excellent stop place in the Baton Rouge area, close enough to access the city, but far enough removed for safe unmolested picnicking and camping. Furthermore, this might is the second best view of downtown Baton Rouge from anywhere in the city. (The first being the view from the US90 Bridge and West Bank locations downstream of that bridge).

A giant sloping sandbar is found on the south shore at the entrance to the Intracoastal Waterway which affords good camping or picnicking at all but the highest of water levels. A wetlands behind is populated with beaver, turtles and other critters. Watch for snakes, poison ivy and red ants. You might see pelicans, vultures, and bald eagles in the air, amongst many other birds, and many waders along the shoreline or in the beaver wetlands behind. Dry ground can be found here up to bank full (around flood stage, 35BR). This is the best camping within 5 miles of downtown Baton Rouge. You would have to ferry cross to get to the city. But you could hike over the levee and follow roads behind to reach a grocery store (Walmart), convenience stores and other businesses. Community Coffee headquarters is nearby, and if the wind is blowing right (out of the Northwest) your nose will be tantalized by the aroma of the roasting beans and fresh brew.

228.4 RBD Intracoastal Waterway (Morgan City Port Allen Route)

The Intercostal Waterway cuts through Port Allen and heads southwestward towards Morgan City, and from there points further west along the Louisiana and then Texas coastlines. You have to lock through the levee to get to the canal. There are a number of options from here on down to the Gulf for exiting east and west along other portions of the Intercostal Waterway, and interconnecting canals. Paddlers have been known to paddle down one of these options for destinations off the big river. But be ready for a long flatwater slog down straightline canals with nothing but barges, workboats and other commercial traffic for company, and small boats busy as bees. Your bankside companions will be a long parade of herons, egrets, pelicans, gators and turtles.

The GIWW: The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway connects to the river at mile 228.5 at the Port Allen Lock, RBD. If you prefer to reach the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Atchafalaya River instead of the Mississippi, you missed your best chance days upstream at the Old River Control Structure. But here is another exit from the Chemical Corridor into “Cajun Country.” Lock through and paddle West then South for about a day. If you’re feeling ambitious, the GIWW runs from Mexico to New Jersey. (Mike Beck)

The 84-feet high concrete lock structure is 1,202 feet long. The lock moves ships, large and small, by lowering or lifting crafts up to 45 feet to connecting waterways. Lock operation for navigation consists of equalizing the water level in the lock chamber with either the river or canal stage enabling the vessel to sail up or down the river or canal safely. Contact the Lock & Dam at 2101 Ernest Wilson Drive (PO Box 499) Port Allen, LA 70767, or call (225) 343-3752.

Resupply from Intercostal Waterway Boat Ramp (Under Hwy 1)

Your best resupply on the West bank of the river, from Port Allen, would be the Walmart Supercenter south of the Intercostal Waterway about a half-mile on Louisiana Highway 1. Lock through the Port Allen Lock & Dam, and make landing at the Boat Ramp, on the north bank underneath Hwy 1 just past Lock & Dam. One stop shopping for everything you might need. If you have no desire to see Baton Rouge, and don’t mind locking through twice on this roundtrip errand, this would be a good option.

Walmart Supercenter
255 La Highway 1 South
Port Allen, LA
(225) 749-7455

Note: you could possibly access this Walmart Supercenter from a primitive landing RBD mile 227.3, but you would have to slip in behind fleeted barges, tows and freighters that might be parked within the “Baton Rouge General Harbor” RBD 228-226. At low or medium water find the best place to make landing. It’s a shorter walk than the route above, and no locking necessary. After landing, pull your vessel out of the water and walk up dirt road across batture, and over levee. This dirt road runs straight into paved Hwy 988 (Beaulieu Lane). Walk quarter mile east to Hwy 1. Walmart Supercenter will be prominently visible across the fields to the north. In high water above 30BG you could paddle right up to the levee!

228.4 - 226 RBD Cargo Carriers Port Allen Fleet West Bank Mooring

As you paddle past the Port Allen Lock watch for barge fleeting right bank descending (West Bank) between miles 228.4 and 226. Inspect your 2007 USACE Mississippi River Maps: you can see this fleeting area as a rectangle formed by dashed grey lines. The best line of travel is far from this fleeting area. But this is as good a time as any to learn about fleeting: the hazards it presents for paddlers, and how to best navigate. The Rivergator won’t detail each and every fleeting area downstream, there are so many of them. But it will describe those of particular concern -- as well as those that present special opportunities (such as hidden campsites and picnic sites). This fleeting area is separated from the main channel by the Lower Baton Rouge freighter anchorage area below 227.

What are Fleeted Barges?

As you are leaving the Baton Rouge Industrial reach be wary of the rows of fleeted barges tied up alongside either bank. As you continue downstream towards New Orleans these areas will become larger and more frequent. You will soon have to paddle past miles and miles of fleeted barges. But then below New Orleans they will gradually diminish in size and length, and then entirely disappear altogether below Venice.

What are fleeted barges? When any industrial or agricultural facility are filling or emptying barges, they tie them up along the bank of the river, sometimes one at a time, but more often in longer lines multiple barges deep. Sometimes they're only one barge deep, sometimes they'll tie more than one side-by-side. In chemical corridor down below Baton Rouge they'll sometimes tie as many as a hundred long with ten or twelve deep! Most barges measure 35 x 250 feet but petroleum barges are often longer. The top end of any fleeted barges is an extremely dangerous place. Called the “rake” end, its the slanted side, slanting upwards like the prow of a ship. But here there is no easy escape. The water does not offer any sideways assistance pushing you away from danger, like it does at the prow of a ship. The broad rake end concentrates everything into one point, the point of no return: the water, the air, and you and your canoe or kayak get forced downwards, and then you get trapped below the slant. In this precarious position there is probably nothing that will keep you from being flipped over and sucked under the barges.

This possibility is not mere conjecture. In the early 2000s a couple was paddling downstream into Chemical Corridor after having made it there from the top of the river. So they knew what they were doing. But they had little experience with fleeted barges, because you don’t see many of them above Baton Rouge, and all of those above usually have several alternative lines of travel. Below Baton Rouge everything gets so crowded that you often have no choices. And so you have to paddle very near fleeted barges on windy days because there are tows, tugs, workboats and freighters crowding the rest of the river, and a dredge is set up nearby. The wind picked up as this couple paddled into one such section, into endless fleeted barges and a crowded river. They made a crossing and ended up directly above the upstream rake end of a line of fleeted barges. And then they got trapped. The wind and the fast water forced them inwards below the rake end in a double vector so powerful that even their best stroking did no good. Maybe there were other factors. Maybe one of them broke a paddle. Or had a stroke, or some other medical condition. Maybe they had not slept the night before. There are so many possible factors that could have added weight to the final moment when they went past the point of no return and got sucked under like being pulled into a black hole. We don’t know the whole story because they did not survive this catastrophe.

Always avoid paddling anywhere near the upstream ends of the barges -- the rake end -- where the water is pushing in and underneath their top ends. It might look like you could simply hop aboard in case of emergency, but you won't be able to! This is a trick of perspective on the big river. They are much higher off the water than they look. You will see fleeted barges within the above area in the West Baton Rouge area, and then also West Bank as you enter Missouri Bend, and many, many other places downstream.

Paddling out of the Baton Rouge Industrial Reach

Getting out of Baton Rouge is a good primer to Chemical Corridor: as you head out of the BR Port you will enjoy close-up views of much of the same kinds of industry as you will see for the rest of the journey to the sea, including big grain, big oil, and big chemicals. All of these supported by various barge and freighter service docks and tugboat operations. The only thing in the immediate BR vicinity is a big scrap steel complex -- but not to worry, these will be coming up soon downstream! Many of the below sites are within the nearby Intracoastal Waterway, in case you’re wondering how so many big industrial plants can all sit on one location on the West Bank at 228.2!

228.2 RBD A & Z Marine, Shipyard Wharf

228.2 RBD Thomas Pipe Yard Landing

228.2 RBD South Louisiana Cement Terminal, Baton Rouge Wharf

228.2 RBD Associated Barge Terminal of Baton Rouge Wharf

228.2 RBD Sun Plus Slip, Marine Repair Wharf & LA. Department of Transportation

228.2 RBD International Painting Corp., West Port Landing

228.2 RBD Castrol Baton Rouge Plant Wharf

228.2 RBD Chemical Lime Co., Port Allen Terminal Wharf

228.2 RBD Southern Scrap Xpress Recycling Wharf

228.2 RBD Port Allen Lock Boatyard Wharf

228.2 LBD Elmwood Marine and McKinney Fleet & Barge Serve, Wharf and Baton Rouge Fleets

228 RBD Cargo Carriers, Port Allen Wharf and Fleet.

225.5 John W. Stone Oil Distributors, Baton Rouge Wharf

228 LBD LSU Tigers Stadium

The LSU Tigers Stadium rises above the levee and the tops of the trees East Bank as you head downstream out of Baton Rouge, sure to stir a passion in those who root for the purple & gold!

227.4 LBD LSU

The Louisiana State University (LSU) campus extends to the River here and a large area of the batture is kept mowed into a nice big green space that stays dry until 35 feet on the Baton Rouge Gage. There is a little park on top of the levee with flags that you can see from the river, and paved stairs and ramps down the land side of the levee leading down to River Road and Skip Bertman Drive. The LSU Veterinary School is the big building just on the other side of River Road and a walk down Skip Bertman Drive will take you right to “Death Valley” the LSU football stadium and onto the LSU campus proper. The field here should make a good camping spot when the river is below flood stage 35BR. The banks are solid rip-rap here, and would necessitate lifting your vessel completely out of the water for safety from crashing waves. (Paul Orr)

Highlights of Industry

Some of the highlights of industry as you paddle out of Baton Rouge include ExxonMobil Refining, Anchorage Chemical Terminal, SeaRiver Maritime, Placid Refining LLC., Tanker Wharf, Martin Marietta, Baton Rouge Yard Landing, Luhr Brothers, Baton Rouge Landing, Baton Rouge Harbor Services Wharf, Cargill Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission Grain Wharf, A & Z Marine, Shipyard Wharf, Thomas Pipe Yard Landing, South Louisiana Cement Terminal, Baton Rouge Wharf, Associated Barge Terminal of Baton Rouge Wharf, Sun Plus Slip, Marine Repair Wharf, LA. Department of Transportation, International Painting Corp., West Port Landing, Castrol Baton Rouge Plant Wharf, Chemical Lime Co., Port Allen Terminal Wharf, Southern Scrap Xpress Recycling Wharf, Port Allen Lock Boatyard Wharf, Elmwood Marine and McKinney Fleet & Barge Serve, Wharf and Baton Rouge Fleets, Cargo Carriers, Port Allen Wharf and Fleet, and John W. Stone Oil Distributors, Baton Rouge Wharf.

You will also paddle under a overhead high voltage power transmission line at the Red-Eye Crossing, and many unseen cables and pipelines such as Union Texas Petro, ExxonMobil Pipeline Co, Shell Pipeline Co, Bell South Telephone Co, Union Texas Products Corp, and the Salvay Processing Co. If you think this is amazingly busy, wait ‘til you see what’s coming up downstream: Paddling Chemical Corridor is something like a walk down Wall Street, except each stock market listing is a giant industrial complex! An amazing combination of Blue Chip and other Industries! This paddle down Chemical Corridor will also finish the story of everything you have been paddling along and past upstream, and package it into one 250-mile long summary, here within the combined ports of Baton Rouge, St. James Parish, New Orleans, and St. Bernard Parish.

Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)

As you paddle downstream through Chemical Corridor, the Rivergator will share information about the biggest petrochem plants from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). This will give you a good idea about what’s in the air and water you are traveling through. Under the descriptions of the chemical manufacturing facilities and oil refineries you will see the toxic releases from those facilities. This comes from the Toxic Release Inventory or TRI. Since the passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (and later expanded under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990) any facility that produce more than 25,000 pounds or handles more than 10,000 pounds of specific toxic chemicals must report to the EPA how much of those chemicals it releases into the environment, disposes of onsite, or sends offsite for disposal. The data is all self-reported, that is each facility must keeps track of their own releases (this usually comes from discharge permits given by state environmental agencies) and provide that information to the EPA. These are all legal releases of toxic material. The facilities are legally allowed to discharge certain amounts of toxic material into the environment. This does not include accidental or un-permitted releases. It generally takes two years for the EPA to process all of the TRI submissions and release the data so you will see that all of the TRI data in Rivergator is from the most recently available year at the time of its writing which is 2013. We have only included releases of toxic material into the air and water in Rivergator. Virtually all of the TRI water discharges listed in Rivergator are into the Mississippi River. Information about the specific toxic chemicals released, onsite and offsite disposal, and host of other information is available online.

You can access the TRI data directly from the EPA at: http://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program TRI data can also be accessed via an organization called the Right To Know Network. Their website can access EPA's TRI database in a way that is sometimes easier to use than the EPA site: http://www.rtknet.org/db/tri (Paul Orr)

Chem Corridor Superlatives

The Baton Rouge to Gulf stretch of the river is full of superlatives. Not only is it the biggest Delta on the biggest river in North America, but is also a concentration of some of the biggest works of man this side of the earth has ever seen. For instance, the Domino Sugar Refinery is said to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere and produces 2 billion pounds of sugar annually, or about 7 million pounds a day. (Cora Texas Manufacturing near White Castle grinds around 1,000 tons of cane per hour and often produces about 4 million pounds of raw sugar per day). Nucor Steel near Helvetia/Romeville is the largest producer of steel in the United States, and recently built this direct reduced iron plant making it one of the newest in the industrial corridor. Nucor plans to produce 2,500,000 tons of iron at the plant. Monsanto Luling produces the herbicides glyphosate and dicamba at its Luling plant, including glyphosate based Roundup. Dicamba is a selective herbicide in the chlorophenoxy family of chemicals. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses known to compete with commercial crops. It was discovered to be a herbicide by Monsanto chemist John E. Franz in 1970. Monsanto brought it to market in the 1970s under the trade name “Roundup.”

Thanks to the help of the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper the Rivergator will identify and describe some of the standouts, such as the sprawling 1,400 acre CF Industries Nitrogen Complex which is touted as the largest such nitrogen operation in North America (and released a whopping 6,924,957 pounds of toxins into the air and 1,127,771 pounds into the river in 2013). The trail starts out with a bang. The 1,500-acre integrated manufacturing facility at Dow Chemical 222RBD is one of Louisiana’s largest petrochemical facilities. (Shintech Corp. is the worlds largest producer of PVC). Furhter downstream, Total Petrochemicals and Refining is one of the largest polystyrene facilities in the world and can produce 1.45 billion pounds per year. ZEN-NOH is one of the world's largest importers of animal feeds and agricultural fertilizers. Galata Chemicals is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of additives for the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and associated industries; including plasticizers, lubricants, and foaming agents. The Navy Ships at 83.3 LBD are home port for some of the largest ships in the Navy inventory. Capable of carrying more than 300,000 square feet of oversized, heavy military cargo.

Also, there have been big hurricanes in SoLa (Camille & Katrina for example), but less known and talked about are the big oil spills as result. Hurricane Katrina caused approximately 1,400,000 gallons of crude oil to spill from the Shell Pipeline Pilottown Terminal (2.4LBD). There were six tanks but only three remain today. The single biggest oil spill of the many oil spills caused by hurricane Katrina was at mile 35.2 LBD - Bass Enterprises - where 3,780,000 gallons of crude was let loose into the surrounding marshlands.

High-Tech Materials Used by Paddlers

Of integral interest to paddlers (and supporting our river activities) includes makers of kevlar fiber, neoprene, and epoxy resins -- all of these found within Chemical Corridor! Everything comes from somewhere. Some of the very same materials which allow us exploration to the most beautiful and wild places in the world are formulated right here in one of the the most industrial places in the world. And so we have another example of the yin-yang nature of life on the river. Standouts in this class include DuPont Pontchartrain Works which makes neoprene rubber and Kevlar fiber. Momentive Specialty Chemicals, owned by Hexion, formulates epoxy resins.

What about Terreprene?

What about Terreprene, now used by NRS and others as the “green” alternative to neoprene? "Terreprene" uses acetylene made from limestone (instead of petroleum) to make the chloroprene. Otherwise it is a polychloroprene material identical to neoprene. Perhaps terreprene gets better marks since petroleum is not used as a raw material in its synthesis. Regardless, it will have the same concerns as far as the chloroprene is concerned.

Green Spaces

Whew! Nature lovers -- do not despair! You will see more wild spaces! Another five miles downstream and you will be temporarily leaving most signs of mankind behind. You will enjoy a moment of respite, maybe 15 miles of it, once past Missouri Bend/Red Eye Crossing.

Even though you are paddling into Chemical Corridor, home to over 200 petrochemical plants in 135 miles of river producing 25% of America’s chemicals, the intense industry is broken by pristine sandbars, islands, forests, and other places of great beauty. One of the primary goals of the Rivergator to identify these places and describe them for you to help make your journey as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. These places seem all the more special because of their location within the chaos of the petrochem industry. The largest of these wild refuges we are calling “Green Spaces.” Each will receive lengthy descriptions to help you access and appreciate. And the first of these Green Spaces is just around the corner when you pass Dow Chemical and are rewarded with the wild Manchac Point, and some forests on the opposite side!

Green Spaces are green places interconnected by the river. Green Spaces are modest acreages of wetlands, woods or islands. They might not have great value when isolated by themselves. But connected by the river they create substantially larger spaces of green. Which is of much greater value to the wildlife and the health of the ecosystem. Which ultimately results in a healthier river. We need to recognize and protect these Green Spaces because they help bring better and cleaner drinking water to New Orleans. More Green spaces means better water levels, which means more productive industry, which results in more jobs. These Green Spaces can be clearly seen on Google earth.

The Baton Rouge stretch you are now paddling is just a little taste of some busy-ness before the the big busy-ness to follow. But also pockets of wilderness. Chemical Corridor is a great education and should be looked upon as such. What you see here in microcosm explains the entirety of Louisiana's Chemical Corridor and the vast inland port of Greater New Orleans -- and the river's connection to the world market. This will make a well-rounded tour for the long-distance paddler setting out from Baton Rouge down the Water Trail. You get the opportunity to experience a little industry and a lot of nature. The river is both commerce and wilds. It has always been this way since the Athabaskans first migrated across the Bering Straight and then South out of Canada and began ferrying goods along the plentiful river valleys in hollowed logs. They were of course later followed by their descendants the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Quapaw, Natchez, and many others in dugout canoes, hide-covered canoes and bark canoes. The Mississippi is and has always been this continent's greatest highway for commerce and simultaneously also one of its greatest wildernesses. Can the two co-exist? I firmly believe so and will describe it as so.

The story of the Mississippi and its importance to the heart of America -- and its connections to the rest of the world -- could not be understood without seeing the monuments of mankind. As the river leaves Baton Rouge you can see examples of how it cooperates with the ambitions of modern man's industry & transportation, and then how it seamlessly slips into its mighty realm of wilderness below where nature predominates.

225.3 - 223.9 RBD Western Towing Company West Bank Fleet

This is the 2nd fleeting area you will encounter below Baton Rouge. Although best line of travel is towards East Bank following the Missouri Bend Pointway, and you probably won’t be paddling anywhere near this fleeting area, it’s good to be aware of. If you haven’t already, start paying attention to other fleeting areas downstream as you survey the river, and study the maps for your forward progress towards the Gulf. They are all mostly contained within these specifically designated locations identified on the 2007 USACE maps with dashed grey lines.

225-223 Red Eye Crossing

There is a possible low camp below the 1st dike of the Red Eye Crossing. We camped there one time after leaving Baton Rouge late in the afternoon with a group of East Germans. Had I known about Manchac Point, about 10 miles further downstream, I might have insisted on paddling further. But this steep landing sufficed for camp. Some fishermen walked in from some dead end road nearby and were set up along the bank, but disappeared after sunset and we saw no one else until the next day. The shore has an excellent view towards the western sky for sunset, but you wouldn’t want to be here in any oncoming storms from that direction.

224-221LBD Missouri Bend Pointway

Behind perennial Missouri Island is the Missouri Bend Pointway, a shallow channel which is always available to paddlers who want to cut the corner. This back channel opens up for big tows when the river rises above 20 BR. Even though the water is slower than the outside of the bend, this route is shorter, and you will avoid a close-up with the docks of Dow Chemical.

223-222 LBD Missouri Island

Low island, but no protection. Good picnic place below 10BR.

Missouri Island emerges out of the muddy river like a golden slice of sandy beauty when the river drops below 10BR, sometimes adorned with logs, driftwood, and an array of human trash. Not recommended for camping until 5 BR or lower. Waves from passing work boats, tugs and freighters could wash over any low places, especially within inlets or at the edge of shallows (where the wave heights tend to multiply frighteningly).

RBD 221.8 Dow Chemical Missouri U.S.A., Plaquemine Dock No. 2. Hydrocarbon Wharf

This modest oil docking facility belies the sprawling petrochemical operations it services, indeed one of the largest such facilities found along the Gulf Coast. Keep readin below for more details.

222 and 210 RBD Dow Chemical Company Louisiana Operations, Dexco, and Shintech Addis

With the purchase of four plantations in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes, Dow established it's Louisiana Operations in 1956. Today, the 1,500-acre integrated manufacturing facility is one of Louisiana’s largest petrochemical facilities. It straddles the base of Manchac Point and can be seen from both sides. Louisiana Operations has 23 production units manufacturing more than 50 different intermediate and specialty chemical products, such as chlorine and polyethylene, that are used to produce cosmetics, detergents, solvents, pharmaceuticals, adhesives, plastics for a variety of packaging, automotive parts, electronics components, and more. Dexco Polymers manufactures styrenic block copolymers at a plant within the Dow complex. Formed in 1988 as a 50/50 joint venture of Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil, Dexco was acquired by TSRC corporation of Taiwan on April 1, 2011. Shintech’s Addis plant manufactures PVC right across Hwy. 1 from Dow. These two large facilities produce chlorvinyl chemicals, primarily for the manufacture of PVC. Shintech Corp. is the worlds largest producer of PVC. Along with the Dow Chemical and other Shintech facilities in the area, a large amount of the nations chlorovinyls and PVC are manufactured in this area.

Toxic Releases (TRI) for 2013 in pounds: Dow: Air: 1,863,204; Water: 522,233. Dexco: Air: 442,550. Shintech Addis: Air: 68,742.

Duncan Point/Manchac Point/Plaquemine Island/Sunshine Green Space

Duncan Point, Manchac Point and Plaquemine Island are mostly wooded and wild, and taken together the threesome represents a significant acreage for potential future protection. Thousands of acres of forests, floodplain fields, wetlands and sandbars are created by the giant meanders of the Mississippi around Manchac and Plaquemine Points, and is punctuated by one of the best campsites below Baton Rouge, Plaquemine Island. If you are anywhere near Plaquemine Island at “that time of day” you ought to stop and make camp. (If not, Manchac Point and Bayou Goula Island are also both excellent campsites). The experience from the river is the pleasurable feeling of endless trees and free-flowing river. Of course from space the picture is less picturesque. This tender sliver of green is being invaded from all sides by industry, logging, land removal, and agriculture. But paddler’s can enjoy the “River Illusion” while it lasts as the muddy Mississippi churns between the tall banks and even taller trees, harkening back to a not too long ago era when steamboats ruled the waters, and then not far before that when it was only canoes! You are likely to encounter bald eagles fishing these waters, less visible are the fish they pursue. Maybe you’ll see dead fish washed ashore, or maybe catch a glimpse of a buffalo fish or catfish emerge from the murky depths, or maybe a bowfin (skipjack) make a series of leaps before dark or after sunrise. Typical trees are willows, cottonwoods and sycamores in lower elevations close to the river, and oaks, sweetgums, hackberry, and others typical to the bottomland hardwood forests of the Lower Mississippi River.

LBD 221-220 Duncan Point

Duncan Point stands tall above the main channel with mature willows, and seems to grin like a baleen whale its mouth full of krill. At low water this is a steep sandy bank, at medium water less so, and at high water you can step right out of your canoe or kayak and onto level ground. Best camping between 20 and 25 Baton Rouge gage. Warning: active logging during fall 2015. Also, site for perennial dirt removal. Duncan Point is topped by a thick wall of tall willows. These willows sway in the wind, but open up below into cool protected hallways of willow trunks, vines and scattered willow leaves. A heavenly place if you hit it at the right water levels.

219 RBD Lowlands Opposite Duncan Point

There is a low point in the bank at the outside of Missouri Bend RBD 219 where the water spills over the rip-rap in flood season and has created a dynamic landscape of rolling sandbars and vegetation. After getting flooded the water and sand return back out into the river, creating one of those neat places of ebb and flow. This could be an excellent campsite in certain conditions, but be prepared for noise & noxious smells (from nearby Dow Chemical) and possible 4WD visitation. Has been used in past years as a dirt removal operation.

220 RBD Sardine Point

Paddling around Missouri Bend and past Sardine Point will bring you out of the industry of Baton Rouge and into the relative calm of the Mississippi River you’re used to: long sweeping stretches of flowing muddy water and the sky, with nothing but a long line of trees in between! Watch for deer, beaver, river otters, turtles, snakes and other creatures along the steep muddy banks overflowing with vegetation, and the sky for pelicans, anhingas, cormorants, and songbirds in their season.

220 RBD - 218 LBD Sardine Crossing

Commercial traffic tends to roll off the West Bank around Sardine Light and make a 2-mile crossing over the East Bank in this vicinity. Paddlers, however may continue to stay RBD towards the East Bank to shave off a few miles, especially if intending to make landing at the best sandbars in the area, which are found at Manchac Point. An dredging operation was in service here in Oct, 2015.

219 RBD Comeaux Landing

A small but very protected sand dune is located within an alcove cut into the bankside here. This would make an possible camp in the threat of oncoming south or south-westerly storms, or if you had to make camp in strong south winds. You’ll find sand here up to 20BR, and in emergency maybe a little higher. But use only as last resort in the most dire circumstances. Beware 4WD roads and nearby hunting camp (in woods several hundred feet behind landing). You can see the rustic hunting camp from the woods as you paddle by.

216.5 RBD Australia Landing

216.5 LBD L’Auberge Casino

As you come around Duncan Point, you might have to rub your eyes for the fantastic vision that has entered the scene. Downstream is a gleaming yellow building with mirror glass windows and four tall palm trees growing on top. Like Don Quixote riding his faithful Rozinante, you might be tempted to charge it at full throttle and spear it with your paddle. But as you float downstream you realize this is not a hallucination, it’s a shiny new casino. And it sits in what otherwise used to be one of the most isolated bends in the area. Rising above the willows and the levee, in fact rising above everything else around it, L’Auberge Casino is located just above the outfall of the Baton Rouge Wastewater Treatment Plant.

216.2 LBD Longwood Plantation

Former Landing, now removed from the river by borrow pits. Plantation taken over by Pinnacle Entertainment, who oversees the L’Auberge Casino.

214.5 RBD Manchac Point

Great all-weather campsite or picnic site up to flood stage BR 35. Tight 180 degree bend, watch carefully for freighters, tugs and tows.

Manchac Point is the first of the classic “Blind Corners” that paddlers will encounter after passing south of Baton Rouge. Unlike the gently curving bends you’ve enjoyed above Baton Rouge, for some geologic or hydraulic reason the bends of the river below Baton Rouge often curve around a single crux point, sometimes with a 180 degree swing of direction. The river seems to eddy and sometimes pool with giant boils at these crux points, and the normal flow of water displays strange behavior, from smooth laminar flow to massive boils and swirlings that seem to wander aimlessly about the river face, and can leave paddlers in a bit of confusion. This can be a bit un-nerving to lose all your current at one of these points. But imagine the extra fright when you lose all your current and then simultaneously you are confronted with an oncoming freighter who has suddenly appeared downstream and is furiously headed your way full steam ahead and you seem to be directly in its line of passage!

At Manchac Point the entire river squeezes down to half its width, so you can visualize what happens to water speed, river depth and turbulence. All liquid parameters seem to increase in inverse proportion. Whatever width the river loses it adds to its other factors making for a riverscape full of surprises and transformational beauty. Be ready to for a wild ride on windy days, stormy days, or when a tugboat has passed by. On calm days you will find yourself casually maneuvered by swirly meanderings, and may be amazed by the expressions of boils and whirlpools, the reflections of the sky, the forests, and the clouds stirred into the muddiness of America. When you make landing the view upstream and down is a rich mixture of tall trees with a fantastically taller radio tower rising behind like the beanstalk in Jack’s fable, disappearing into the atmosphere on cloudy days. Freighters parade around Manchac Point making a graceful dance with carefully placed steps. The lower the water the better the view from the sandbar. You can see miles down Medora Crossing with Plaquemine Island peaking like a child playing hide-and-go-seek from around Clara Belle Landing (halfway down Plaquemine Point). At the end of this great causeway rises the crackers and towers and burn-off flares of Dow Chemical, its lower docking facility also visible as a line of bright lights after dark. The distances are so great that even the giant sea-going freighters appear to be toys as they appear and disappear around Plaquemine Island.

If you intend to camp at Manchac Point stay right bank descending along the West Bank and enjoy close encounters with wildlife and a tangled forest falling into the water. A thick sycamore forest gives way eventually to willows. Towards the end of the point giant black willows punctuate the otherwise thin forest. Hidden over the bank a narrow slough choked with trees parallels the main channel. This slough is only accessible when the river is bank full, 30 BR or higher. The best sandbars form below 214.8RBD just beyond the sharpest point of the bend. I guess you could consider them “downstream” of the bend, or maybe you could say in the pooling area below the bend. It seems as if the turbulent waters flush the sediments out of the bottom of the river here and deposit the best sand in high piles past the crux of the bend.

Manchac bursts open with insects like dragonflies, buffalo gnats, cicadas, mayflies, wasps, wild bees, and many moths and butterflies including monarchs (in their season). You might see crawfish chimneys here growing up amongst the elephant ears and sagitaria along the muddy banks. Meanwhile out on the open sand bar red grass and other grasses, vines and weeds take hold where they can. At low water levels 0-12 BR there will be endless choices for landings along the mile-long length of biggest and best bar (from approx 214.5 down to 213.5 RBD), with other smaller bars forming above the point. At low water you will also find a long line of skinny bars descending downstream of 213.5 below the tree line becoming muddier and muddier in composition and bisected by layers of deep squishy black mud with questionable heavy metal content. Beautiful protected inlets form at low water, and are found as the water rises in various shapes and configurations. Look for a particularly protected harbor at base of big dune above the main sandbar between 5 and 10 BR. You can paddle into this protected place, and make landing without having to worry so much about big waves from freighters (and others). A protective ring of shallows forms around this harbor and as result destructive waves are greatly reduced by the shoaling effect. You will find this same protection at various other landings further downstream, such as at the head of some of the smaller passes (notably Baptiste Collette at mile 11 LBD).

At medium water levels 12-22 BR all secondary choices above and below 214.5 disappear, but you will still have acres of high ground to choose from on the high ground atop the main bar at 214.5 RBD. Manchac Beach will accommodate paddling groups of any size at any water level up to bank full. At bank full 30BR you will have to camp in the willows at the edge of the river. There are no protective sandy harbors at this level, but you will be able to pull your vessel up close to camp, and the tent sites will be as good as it gets. Amongst the willows you will find buttonbush, mimosas, pea vine and chamomile growing on the sandy ridges, with blood clot grasses and aromatic flowers. Camping becomes increasingly limited above 30BR, and disappears completely at flood stage.

215 LBD Bayou Manchac

Bayou Manchac: ancient trade route. Possible 119 mile "shortcut" to the Gulf Coast via to Lake Ponchartrain, but requires an 8-mile portage to reach route.

As you round Manchac Point, on the left bank descending you can see a slender row of trees peaking over the levee. These trees, mainly young cypress, mark the historic channel of Bayou Manchac. The first European given name of this bayou appears on early maps as the Iberville River. French Canadian Explorer and founder of French Louisiana, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, along with his brother Bienville (founder of New Orleans and 4 time Governor of the Louisiana Territory) first came across Bayou Manchac on their successful 1699 expedition to locate the mouth of the Mississippi River. After traveling upriver from the Gulf all the way to just north of Baton Rouge, Iberville’s party descended the Mississippi in March of 1699.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, we got down to the stream(Bayou Manchac) that goes to the Bylocchy (Native American tribe with settlement near where Iberville’s fleet is moored, “Biloxi”) and to the bay where the ships are. I have seen no possibility of getting the longboats through it. M. de Sauvole (first Governor of French Louisiana) has gone on in the longboats. I have ordered him to take soundings of the river mouth and the middle pass: and my brother (Bienville) went on in my longboat, in which was the chief of the Bayou Goula (Native American tribe with settlement on west bank of Mississippi River). He gave me a Mougoulascha (Native American tribe) to guide me to the sea by way of this little stream, which I entered about four oclock in the afternoon with the two bark canoes and four of my men and the Mougoulascha. I went 2 leagues (1 league roughly equals 3.25km) down it and there spent the night. This river or creek is no more than 8 or 10 yards wide, being full of uprooted trees, which obstruct it. During low water there are 3 to 4 feet of water: during high water 2 to 3 fathoms (1 fathom = 6 feet). Within these 2 leagues I have made ten portages, some being 10 yards long, others 300 or 400 yards, more or less.

- Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, March 24, 1699

At the direction of the Native Americans, Iberville took Bayou Manchac as a short cut back to the Gulf of Mexico where his fleet was anchored. He traveled in two bark canoes from the afternoon of March 24th until just before noon on the 31st when two of his boats picked him up as he crossed the Mississippi Sound heading towards Ship Island off the coast of present day Gulfport, Mississippi. The first 8 miles of the journey from the head of Bayou Manchac at the Mississippi River to where Alligator Bayou merges into Bayou Manchac is a twisted and shallow, sometimes dry, stretch of bayou choked with trees and brush. The bayou is easily navigable by canoe from Alligator Bayou on. Iberville’s short cut began in Bayou Manchac but meandered some 164 miles to where his ships were anchored. This route began in the fresh waters of the Mississippi River, descended Bayou Manchac and the Amite River through Cypress / Tupelo swamps, crossed large lakes, paddled through salt marsh and set across the open waters of the Mississippi Sound.

Approximate mileage of Iberville’s back route: Head of Bayou Manchac at MS River to Alligator Bayou = 8 miles; Bayou Manchac from Alligator Bayou to Amite River = 10 miles; Amite River to Lake Maurepas = 36 miles; Lake Maurepas crossing = 9.5 miles Pass Manchac from Lake Maurepas to lake Ponchartrain = 6 miles; Lake Ponchartrain crossing = 35 miles; Rigolets = 6 miles; winding eastwardly through Pear River delta to Gulf of Mexico = 10 miles; another 45+ miles up the Gulf Coast and across the Mississippi Sound to the fleet at Ship Island. Total trip = 164 miles approximately.

According to Mary Ann's Along the River Road, "Manchac" is thought to be "rear entrance" in Choctaw. Bayou Manchac offers a unique opportunity to trace the path of the legendary Iberville, winding along the bayou much as the bark canoes must have some 300 years ago. Today, a portion of the bayou beginning in St Gabriel though not navigable by boat is traced by a road that offers a beautiful drive for several miles. If your lucky you can find the oldest tree in sight, feel it’s bark and imagine that the hands of Iberville himself brushed along this same surface as he labored through this clogged stretch of Bayou. Or simply rest in the shade of these ancient trees knowing they would have contributed their breathe to his lungs as they do to yours now. These same trees were documented by famed botanist William Batram when he traveled Bayou Manchac from the Amite River to the Mississippi during his journey in 1775 and were said to have been “…trees of the first order in magnitude and beauty.” Sadly, hardly any old growth timber remains in Louisiana as most was logged by the mid 20th century.

Bayou Manchac has been a dynamic dividing line in the history of Louisiana. Around 1762, the French ceded their territory west of the Mississippi and south of Bayou Manchac to the Spanish and then their territory east of the Mississippi and North of Bayou Manchac to the British. Bayou Manchac served as an international boundary between the British West Florida and the Spanish Isle of Orleans from 1763 - 1783. The English built Fort Bute in 1765 on the northern bank of the bayou near the Mississippi River and established a settlement called Manchac. The Spanish constructed a fortification referred to as Fort St Gabriel. In 1779, the Spanish overtook the British gaining control of both sides of Bayou Manchac until the southern bank was given back to France in 1800. In 1803 the land south of Bayou Manchac was sold in the Louisiana purchase once again making Bayou Manchac an international border, this time between Spanish West Florida and the growing United States. This lasted until the West Florida Rebellion and eventual annexation of this land by the United States.

Though never having a consistently navigable connection to the Mississippi River, Bayou Manchac was temporarily dammed by order of General Andrew Jackson in defense of the City of New Orleans in 1814. The Louisiana Legislature then mandated permanent closure of the bayou in 1826. Much debate continued about the usefulness of Bayou Manchac and the possibilities of its navigation for many decades, this dream being explored as recently as 1977. Never the less, for most alive today, Bayou Manchac is merely a note in the history books or a line on the map dividing parishes. Recent years have seen challenges from development, flooding and an excessive littler problem as the bayou receives an enormous quantity of trash washed out from the sprawling city of Baton Rouge. But much like the Mississippi, Bayou Manchac is ripe for rediscovery by present day explorers. It faces its fair share of challenges and is a far cry from the pristine wilderness that the Native tribes must have thrived in but a journey along its dark and storied waters is well worth the effort. (Michael Orr)

212.8 LBD Small Dune

A small sandy dune is found left bank descending just before the Medora Crossing that would make good protection in southerly storms or winds. Even though this pace is 4WD accessible, it is portected from the land and levee by a long borrow pit that parallels the river, and has formed a wetlands teeming with wildlife.

213 LBD - 211 RBD Medora Crossing

Medora is an easy 2-mile crossing between Manchac and Plaquemine Island, with good visibility uostream and down. Paddlers can follow the main channel through Medora Crossing if intending to make a landing at the City of Plaquemines. Or you can stay left bank descending and go behind Plaquemines Island, or make landing there. Medora Dikes push water away from back channel, and become a nuisance below 5BR.

211.5 RBD - The Medora Site

The Medora Site (16WBR1) is a Native American archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Plaquemine culture period. The name for the culture is taken from the proximity of Medora to the town of Plaquemine, Louisiana. The site is in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, and was inhabited from approximately 1300 to 1600 CE. It consisted of two mounds separated by a plaza. In the winter of 1939-40 excavation of this site was undertaken by the Louisiana State Archaeological Survey, a joint project of Louisiana State University and the Work Projects Administration. It was directed by Dr. James A. Ford, and George I. Quimby. The excavations of the site were instrumental in defining the characteristics of the Plaquemine period and culture.

211 - 209.5 LBD Plaquemine Island

Beautiful camping and picnicking at all water levels and in all types of weather conditions and wind directions. Plaquemine Island is one of the last three islands on the Lower Miss below Baton Rouge.

Plaquemine Island is one of the last three islands on the Lower Mississippi, Bayou (Goula and Bonnet Carre further downstream being the last two). If its that time of day you should stop here for excellent picnicking or camping. Bayou Goula Island is another 15 miles downstream, so if you want to go further you have that one awaiting you (and its bigger and wilder, less surrounding commotion). 10 miles downstream, Point Pleasant is a low or medium water option also. Highest point is in the woods at top end, and stays dry up to flood stage 35 BR, but possible campsites surround island, choose your place according to wind and weather conditions. Noise and light pollution from Dow Chemical on main channel. Shallow wetlands in depression top center of island. Navigable inlets form in low water levels between big sandbar and main island.

Similar in proportion to both Shreve’s Bar and Bayou Goula Island, Plaquemine Island features an extensive shallow sandbar which extends upriver above its forested towhead in lower water levels. This sandbar is the best camping in calm conditions in low/medium water. Best approach is paddling into the protected inlets which form between sandbar and forest ridge on either side of island. Deepest inlet on main channel side. If you paddle directly into the sandy flats you might find yourself bottoming out in shallow waters. This shallow sandy expanse highly sensitive to river rises and falls, so be careful where you set up camp! On windy days, or fast rising river, it would be best to seek the shelter of the forested mainland of the island, a narrow ridge which runs 1750 feet from top to bottom

In higher water levels, find suitable location along forested bulk of the island. There is good camping all around, but because pof the sprawling Dow Chemical opposite island on main channel, it is considerably quieter making camp somewhere along the back channel. The very bottom of the island is preferable in east winds, and feels especially good on cold winter days. There are several layers of sandy flats tucked into the willow woods at bottom end, where you can always find good shelter from winds and storms (up to bank full 30BR). Barges are sometimes anchored along the inside channel of the bottom end, in fact you can see one on Google Earth. Top end is best in strong west winds and stay dry up to flood stage 35BR. Stay main channel in high winds out of the south, and back channel in strong northerly winds.

Plaquemine Island is dominated by willows, but top end features some big cottonwoods and sycamores which bald eagles like to perch on for best fishing view. The island is favored by beavers, river otters, and many species of turtles and snakes.

If you intend to make a landing at the city of Plaquemine go West bank below Plaquemine Island and make landing at 209 RBD on Plaquemine Beach (low water) or the grassy levee incline above (med or high water). This will easy to do if you stay main channel around the island. But if you take the back channel behind Plaquemine Island you will have to look and listen carefully for any apporaching traffic and then make an expedient crossing below the bottom of the island. See Rivergator entry below for more description about the city of Plaquemine.

210.5 RBD Morrisonville

Founded on Manchac Point, a spit of swampy land surrounded by the Mississippi River, by slaves newly freed from plantations near Plaquemine, Louisiana. Following catastrophic flooding on the Mississippi River the residents moved in 1931, a few miles west and just inside the new Federal flood levees, onto land adjacent to the Mayflower Plantation. Dow Chemical Company bought the plantation land next to Morrisonville in 1958 and built a chemical plant to produce vinyl chloride and other chemicals. Dow’s facility encroached on Morrsionville more and more as the facility grew. It was said that the residents could hear announcements over Dow’s loudspeakers in their homes. In the 1980’s extensive vinyl chloride contamination of the groundwater was found under the Dow facility and Morrisonville. Dow bought out the residents, many of whom moved to two new subdivisions named in honor of the old town. (Paul Orr)

210.4 RBD Morrisonville Landing

Primitive gravel and rip-rap landing found off La Hwy 988 where it cuts north around Dow Chemical. Follow Davis Road several hundred feet off Hwy 988 and over levee. Rough place. Good place for a take-out below Baton Rouge. You could make an ideal daytrip putting in at Glass Beach, below the I-10 Bridge, and paddling the approx 25 miles to take out at this landing. But not recommended for camping or overnight parking.

210 RBD - Dow Chemical Company Louisiana Operations

With the purchase of four plantations in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes, Dow established its Louisiana Operations in 1956. Today, the 1,500-acre integrated manufacturing facility near Plaquemine and brine operations in Grand Bayou comprise one of Louisiana’s largest petrochemical facilities. With more than 3,000 employees and contract employees, Louisiana Operations is the largest employer in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes. Louisiana Operations has 23 production units manufacturing more than 50 different intermediate and specialty chemical products, such as chlorine and polyethylene, that are used to produce cosmetics, detergents, solvents, pharmaceuticals, adhesives, plastics for a variety of packaging, automotive parts, electronics components, and more. In 2013 Dow Chemical’s air toxic releases were 1,863,204 pounds, and its water toxic releases were 522,233 pounds. (Paul Orr)

210 RBD Dow Chemical Wastewater Outfall

As you paddle below the bottom end of Plaquemine Island in low water you will see what looks like a Rocky Mountain river bursting into the Mississippi full of whitewater froth. This torrent of water is the Dow Chemical Outfall. It rivals many paddling streams in sheer volume. Keep your distance and avoid contact.

208.5 RBD Dow Chemical Plaquemine Point Shipyard, Cleaning Wharf

Maintain a 100 yard buffer zone when paddling past this docking facility. Monitor VHF Channel 67 and watch for workboats, tugboats, freighters and other traffic.

209 RBD Myrtle Grove Trailer Park

The extensive vinyl chloride contamination under the Dow facility that spurred the Morrisonville buyout also traveled through the groundwater more than a mile south of the facility. In 1997 the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals found vinyl chloride in the drinking water well that supplied water to the Myrtle Grove trailer park. Due to “human error” neither the residents nor any other agencies were notified. After suffering from miscarriages and other health problems the residents finally were notified of the contamination in 2001. The trailer park operator gave each household $2000 for moving expenses and shut down the park. Dow has fought any responsibility for the contamination. The site has since been developed into a nice middle-class subdivision connected to the city of Plaquemine’s water system. (Paul Orr)

208.7 RBD Plaquemine Beach

A perennial beach (that is only present in low or med water conditions) can be found along the riverbank directly below the old Plaquemine Lock & Dam facility. There’s not a lot of sand here, and most of it is angled. But above Plaquemine Beach paddlers could find flat ground to set up a tent in the grassy areas below the levee. Beware: the backside of the levee here has vehicle access and is easily approachable from downtown Plaquemine. Don’t be surprised if you have company. On the other hand, it will most likely be friendly (or at least curious) company. Plaqumeine would be a good place to meet a connection, resupply, or spend a leisurely evening near one of the nicest towns on the river in Louisiana.

City of Plaquemine

Plaquemine is a friendly town with all the amenities paddlers might need including water, food, hardware, post office, library and WIFI. Easy walking to nearby historic and cultural sites, as well as portage over to Bayou Plaquemine.

Plaquemine sits at the crown of the second giant bend below Baton Rouge (Plaquemine Bend), and is one of the best situated and most paddler-friendly river towns on the Lower Mississippi River. Plaquemine has it all: easy access via grassy and sandy landings, good camping on a nearby island, grocery stores for resupply (and other essential services), small town casualness, and interesting cultural sites. The easiest route to town for paddlers is to go West bank below Plaquemine Island and make landing at 209 RBD on Plaquemine Beach (low water) or the grassy levee incline above (med or high water). Secure your vessel and take a walk over the levee, your first stop is the intriguing Lock House of the Bayou Plaquemine Lock & Dam. The Lock House features a “staircase” shaped roofline profile that is visible far over the river, reminiscent of Dutch architecture. Although non-functional the Lock House is run as a State Historic Site and is well-worth the visit. Maps and local information can be found in gift shop. Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, 57730 Main St, Plaquemine, LA 70764, (225) 687-7158.

Bayou Plaquemine Park surrounds the Lock & Dam, and is a peaceful place to stretch your legs and picnic off the river. To the south of the Lock & Dam rises the tall square bell tower of St John the Evangelist Church, which looks like it might have been relocated from Florence. The Plaquemine Post Office and the Plaquemine Depot Market are nearby, as well as a drug store, hardware store, and soul food restaurant. Butcher Boy Grocery features a good selection of fruits, veggies, meats, deli, and local cajun delectables, and is about a mile from the river at Plaquemine Beach, at 58045 Belleview Drive, or LeBlanc Foods a little further up at the Bellview Shopping Center, 58440 Belleview Dr.

The word "Plaquemine" is said to have come from an Indian word that meant "persimmon." The persimmon tree of the South is ordinarily a small to medium sized tree that grows in moist bottomlands, in old fields, and along roadsides. It bears a small orange-colored fruit that is edible when fully ripe. Indians in the Mississippi Valley were very fond of the persimmon fruit, and often served it to visiting missionaries and explorers. The trees were said to be very abundant in the Plaquemine area, along the small bayou that was one of the Mississippi's distributaries. Early settlers in Louisiana removed the timber and debris that obstructed the Bayou Plaquemine, so that the waterway could serve as a path to the interior, but they found that they had created some serious problems for themselves. With the head of the bayou open, it began to enlarge rapidly. By 1865, local residents found it necessary to close the head of the bayou again. A small settlement sprang up at the head of the bayou around 1800 and adopted the name of the troublesome waterway. It was incorporated in 1838. Most of the citizens of Plaquemine were of French descent. In 1900 the Army Corps of Engineers was authorized to construct a navigation lock in the Bayou Plaquemine. Work was delayed by extreme heat and an outbreak of yellow fever in 1905, but in 1909 the new lock was finally opened for navigation. It had been designed by Colonel George W. Goethals of the Corps, who would later be the chief engineer on the Panama Canal project and who would serve as the Panama Canal Zone's first governor. The old navigation lock, now obsolete, is no longer in use. The interesting little town has preserved many of its early buildings and its French flavor. It is the trade center of a rural area where some of the large sugar plantations of Louisiana are located. One of these is St. Louis plantation, just below Plaquemine. The house at St. Louis was built in 1857, and is still occupied by descendants of the original owner. (Bragg’s: Historic Names & Places)

Bayou Plaquemine: Alternate Route to Gulf via Atchafalaya Basin

A paddler seeking an alternate exit to the Gulf of Mexico via the Atchafalaya Basin could portage over the levee and into Bayou Plaquemine. Less than ten miles would bring you to the Port Allen Gulf Intracostal Waterway. Ten miles more of flatwater paddling would bring you to Bayou Sorrel, where you could lock over and into the flowing waters of the greater Atchafalaya River (although the routes are very limited in low water). There are no sandbars and very limited camping opportunities within the Bayou Plaquemine, but unlimited choices once over the levee into the Atchafalaya drainage. 45-65 miles of paddling further to Morgan City (depending on route chosen) and from there another 20-30 miles to GUlf waters (again depending on route). Total distance from Mississippi to Gulf of Mexico via Bayou Plaquemine would be 85-100 miles depending on route, and could be more of course if you made more explorations of the Atchafalaya along the way. In high waters you could potentially paddle up Bayou Sorrel and drop down into the labyrinth of possible bayous and lakes including the spectacular cypress lined wetlands around Lower Grand Lake, Duck Lake, American Pass and Flat Lake. Imagine stately cypress standing tall and making long reflections across the muddy waters, spanish moss swaying in the breeze, nutria-thick water hyacinth, crawfish and gators. These are some of the most beautiful bayous anywhere in Louisiana, and you could find these if you choose this route down Bayou Plaquemine. Go to the Rivergator section on the Atchafalaya River for more description of possible routes and more details.

209 LBD Plaquemine Point

Paddlers will find high dry bluffs of sand at Plaquemine Point, dry up to bank full 30 BR. Unfortunately a nearby dirt removal operation just downstream of the point ruins the wild effect. You might be considered trespassers stopping here. The City of Plaquemine is directly across the river, and Plaquemine Island one mile upstream. Your best bet for camping is Plaquemine Island, or if stopping in the City of Plaquemine, go for the landing at the mouth of Bayou Plaquemine, on river side, directly over the levee from the old Lock & Dam.

208.4 LBD Plaquemine Point Shipyard, Repair Wharf

208.0 LBD Banta Mile 208 Fleet

208.5 RBD Plaquemine Boat Ramp

Steep Concrete Ramp leading into river at downstream angle. Good ramp at all water levels. Questionable overnight parking. Access over levee from Court Street. Round trip access from here to reach Plaquemine Island. Best camping near town would be several hundred yards upstream at Plaquemine Beach.

208 RBD - 207.5 LBD Plaquemine Ferry

Watch for Plaquemine Ferry going back and forth across the main channel after as you come around Plaquemine Bend. Crosses from the eastern side of Iberville Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish for vehicles and pedestrians, and used by both workers getting to their jobs and tourists. The Plaquemine Ferry is operated by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Ferry Location: End of La. Hwy 75 (Belleview Drive) and Mississippi River intersection in Plaquemine (29 miles from I-10-Mississippi River Bridge). Ferry Schedule: Monday-Friday: 4:00 am to 8:45 pm; Saturday-Sunday: 5:00 am - 8:45 pm - 7 days a week (subject to closure during inclement weather). Leaves every hour and half hour from the west bank side; no toll fee when entering on the west bank side. Ferry Hotline Number: 1-888-613-3779.

Ferry Landing is closest access to grocery stores in Plaquemine: 1) Butcher Boy Grocery at 58045 Belleview Drive, or 2) LeBlanc Foods a little further up at the Bellview Shopping Center, 58440 Belleview Dr.

206 RBD - Reveilletown

An accident at the Georgia Gulf PVC plant filled the air of the surrounding area with toxic fumes. Plumes of vinyl chloride seeped into the residential community of Reveilletown, which was located less than 1,000 feet from the plant. Residents filed suit against Georgia Gulf after traces of vinyl chloride were found in local children's blood. Georgia Gulf settled with the residents of Reveilletown, who either received a cash payment for their homes or were moved to a small suburban cul-de-sac several miles upriver. (Paul Orr)

205.5 LBD Axiall (formerly Georgia Gulf)

204.8 LBD Shintec Louisiana Plaquemine PVC Plant

These two large facilities produce chlorvinyl chemicals, primarily for the manufacture of PVC, with Shintech Corp having the dubious distinction of being the world’s largest producer of PVC. Along with the Dow Chemical and other Shintech facilities in the area, a large amount of the nation’s chlorovinyls and PVC are manufactured in this area. Together these PVC powerhouses boasted toxic air releases of 528,129 pounds in 2013, while Axial alone sent 144,402 pounds of toxic gunk into the water towards the freshwater intakes of every community downstream. (Paul Orr)

205.2 RBD Small Dune

There is a small dune located West Bank in between the Georgia Gulf and Ashland Chemical docking facilities. Possible emergency camp in lower water levels, but best for a low/med water picnic site. Too noisy and busy for campsite. Nearby Shintech Corp is one of the world’s largest producer of PVC, and features a tall cone-shaped pile of raw sulphur that seems to glow with a blazing Day-Glo green. If possible, keep going downstream to Point Pleasant or Bayou Goula Island.

206-204 RBD Sunshine Wetlands

There is a two-mile long wetlands a half mile wide found along the East bank main channel between 206 and 204 LBD with medium high sandy shelves topped with thick willow forests. Behind the willow thickets is a vibrant wetlands composed of ridges, channels, lowlands, marshes, borrow pits and other forms of wetlands. Campsites and picnic sites could be found any number of places along this stretch of river, but there is a dirt removal operation towards the bottom end, around mile 206.

206 RBD - 203 LBD Granada Crossing

Freighters and all big commercial traffic make a channel crossing here from West Bank to East Bank. Smaller vessels can go just about anywhere during medium or higher river levels, but at low water most will follow this traditional route for making a safe crossign to deep water. Paddlers can continue on whatever routes suits you best. To avoid traffic stay bank right (West Bank) and make a close turn around Point Pleasant. If you stray into the channel for faster waters stay vigilant for oncoming fast-moving freighters. If you have a VHF marine radio monitor channel 67.

204.8 RBD Ashland Chemical Co., Plaquemine Plant Wharf.

203.8 RBD LBC PetroUnited Terminals, Sunshine Terminal Wharf

203.8 LBD - LBC Sunshine Terminal

LBC Sunshine terminal is a bulk liquid terminal with 40 tanks, a storage capacity of 118,020,000 gallons, and handles chemicals, petroleum products, and oils.

203.3 RBD SNF Flopam

SNF Flopam manufactures acrylamide monomer and polyacrylamide powders packaged in bags or supersacks within the Dow complex. SNF Flopam Toxic Releases (TRI) for 2013 in pounds: Air: 317,435.

201.6 LBD Willow Glen Power Plant

Entergy’s Willow Glen Power Plant is a natural gas and fuel oil fired power plant used to provide variable levels of energy and/or capacity to the area when needed. Unfortunately located in this otherwise wild stretch of river, Willow Glen is the first power plant that you will encounter on this stretch of your paddle. (Paul Orr)

201 - 199 RBD Point Pleasant

Good low/med water camping or picnicking up to 25BR.

Low/medium water camping and picnicking up to 20BR can be found at one particular sandbar along Point Pleasant, at 199.5 RBD. Here a series of dunes undulate in and out of the riverbank in leaps and bounds, each one creating its own unique picnic or campsite, and each with its own harbor or inlet below. A higher ridge of willow and undergrowth lines the bank above and could afford dry landings up to 25 BR. Wetlands are found behind Point Pleasant, giving it some buffer from the business and agriculture of south Louisiana.

Point Pleasant was once the parish seat of Iberville Parish, but the seat of the local government was moved to Plaquemine in 1842. In 1973, there was a flood crisis at Point Pleasant when the river bank in front of the levee began to cave and crumble. Materials and men were rushed to the area, and the Army Corps of Engineers constructed a setback levee that averted the threatened disaster. (Braggs: Historic Name & Places)

200 LBD - 197 RBD Bayou Goula Crossing

Downstream freighters and big tows all follow the line of this crossing, from deep within St. Gabriel Bend, staying with the swift waters down along the East Bank and then gradually crossing over above the shallows of Bayou Goula Island to West Bank and dropping again into deeper and swifter waters beyond around Bayou Goula Bend. paddlers: be aware that upstream freighters and tows will stay in the slow water West Bank below Point Pleasant, as long and as far as they can find enough depth, and then jump out around Point Pleasant at the last possible minute to plow through the faster waters beyond. This is a typical pattern for all commercial traffic, especially bigger vessels. If you are approaching Point Pleasant from above be extra cautious about the possible approach of big upstream vessels coming around these blind corners.

200.1 LBD Industrial Complex including Taminco Inc., Syngenta, and Olin Chlor Alkali

The largest facility in the complex is Syngenta Crop Protection LLC which produces atrazine, herbicides, some insecticides, and seed safeners which are shipped to agricultural operations in 90 countries. Many of the trucks leaving the facility bring containers of finished products to the Port of New Orleans for loading onto container ships which bring the products to Latin American countries.

On the downriver side of Syngenta is Olin Chlor Alkali Products (formerly Pioneer Americas) which produces chlorine, caustic soda, sulfuric acid, and hydrogen for area industry. 2013 Toxic Releases (TRI) in pounds: Syngenta: Air: 282,563 and Water: 1,210,060. Taminco: Air: 19,042 and Water: 426,813. Mexichem Fluor: Air: 25,382 and Water: 27. Olin Chlor Alkali: Air: 158 and Water: 7. (Paul Orr)

Point Pleasant/Bayou Goula Island/Point Claire Green Space

The Point Pleasant/Bayou Goula Island/Point Claire Green Space is a very narrow slice of wildness in an otherwise overwhelming sea of agriculture (primarily sugar cane) and some industry (St. Gabriel & White Castle). Nevertheless, the Rivergator is reporting on all wild places along this stretch of river as precious places that must be recognized and to whatever degree possible protected. For paddlers on this stretch of river, approaching and making a landing on Bayou Goula Island feels as wild as any other part of the Mississippi you’ve been on because of the skinny protection of the trees lining the bank, here solidly reinforcing the “river illusion.”

199.9 LBD Pioneer Americas, St. Gabriel Wharf

198.2 LBD Kinder Morgan, Terminal Wharf

195.6 RBD Bayou Goula Landing

Primitive Landing, accessible by gravel road off levee several hundred yards northeast of the town of Bayou Goula (La Hwy 405). Rough place. Not recommended for camping or overnight parking.

The Bayou Goula Indians occupied this point on the Lower Mississippi when Iberville and his party went up the river in 1699. They are considered part of the Muskogean people, and their name translates as “The Bayou People” -- a fitting name for South Louisiana. When the French colony was established on the lower reaches of the river, the land at Bayou Goula Point was granted to colonists who attempted to raise tobacco and indigo. The two crops were not entirely successful in the area, but the introduction of sugar cane culture in 1795 gave the planters a new economic base for the development of plantations that would later bring them great wealth.

In 1851 a steamboat collision in Bayou Goula Bend attracted wide attention. Both of the boats involved were well-known steamers. The accident occurred when the steamer Autocrat, northbound in the bend, met the steamer Magnolia, southbound at Bayou Goula. The rules for passing were perfectly clear, and when steamboat pilots followed them scrupulously, boats could pass even in a fog without danger. On this February morning in 1851, there was no fog. The pilots exchanged signals, and the two boats came together with a resounding crash. On board the Magnolia, which had suffered no great damage from the collision,ladies screamed and ran about the decks in panic. On board the Autocrat, which was sinking rapidly, the passengers were too busy to cry out. Forty or fifty men jumped overboard. The ladies scrambled to the highest part of the sinking boat and waited nervously for rescue. The wind was high, and when the Magnolia came alongside the sinking vessel to offer assistance, the wind caught the two boats and banged them together again. The crew of the Magnolia persisted, and all the people who had stayed on board the damaged Autocrat were saved. About 15 of the people who had jumped overboard were picked up, but it was estimated that 30 had drowned. Several days after the accident, one of the passengers favored a newspaper with an eyewitness account of the disaster, and ended with the generous remark that the accident had been "entirely unavoidable." This aroused indignation on both sides. The master of the Autocrat said bitterly that it was obvious that his boat would not have sunk if the Magnolia had not crashed into her without warning. The master of the Magnolia retorted that no one could possibly hold him responsible for what had happened. His boat, he said, was simply proceeding upstream in a perfectly normal way when the Autocrat had rushed across her bow. The unlucky boat had gone to the bottom as a result of her own pilot's stupidity and inept handling, he declared.

Bayou Goula Bend claimed other victims in later years. In 1882, the steamboat City of Greenville collided with the Laura Lee in the bend and sent it down to join the Autocrat at the bottom of the river. In 1908, the H. M. Carter, a sternwheel packet boat, had an old-fashioned boiler explosion at Bayou Goula and sank with the loss of ten lives. (Braggs)

196 - 194.5 LBD Bayou Goula Island

Mile-Long Bayou Goula Island is the biggest of the last three islands on the Lower Mississippi River and also the best birding and tracking, and best all-season, all- weather camping and picnicking in this stretch of river.

Bayou Goula Island is a classic Mississippi River Island: long and skinny, with forests, wetlands, sandy ridges and muddy banks. It grows an enormous sandbar over its top end in low water, and has some sand even at medium water, found mostly along a skinny ridge with willows extending from the forested towhead at its northern point. At high water the sandy places are only found in the forests. At high water the island is seal shaped, plump in the middle and narrowing towards the ends, smooth all the way around. But as the water drops its shape becomes complicated by striking sand patterns that undulate in and out in fluid rhythms, and create unusual water conditions and harbors of safety for paddlers, fish and animals. One of these is a deep inlet that forms inside the back channel in between the sandbar and the steep bank along the forests edge. This inlet remains open down to around 5 BR (on the Baton Rouge Gage). It remains hidden at low water. From the distance you see nothing but sand reaching to the woods. You won’t find it until you paddle several hundred yards down the back channel and then look back. Even though the sand is piled high above in an extensive plateau at high water, this inlet remains wide enough and deep enough for a big voyageur canoe to enter and make landing for the perfect campsite. You will have everything you need here: protection from the trees, firewood, good views all around, and you don’t have to worry about waves smashing your vessel at night. The only times you wouldn’t want to camp here would be in strong northerly or northeasterly winds, or in a fast falling river. The long shallow approach into this inlet might result in a long muddy portage back to deeper water if the river drops a foot or more overnight!

Bayou Goula Island features dependable all weather all water level camping: In high water (22-35BR) look for the highest elevation on the forests at top end; in medium water (12-22BR) top or bottom; in low water (0-12BR) good camp sites can be found top end, bottom end, or anywhere along the extensive sandbars on the main channel side. In north winds, look for shelter on the south side of the island. In south winds stay top end. A willow is found at top end with many grasses and flowering weeds surrounding, and some cocklebur patches. The willows favor this sandy medium high ground, which might be formed below an old pile of rip-rap found its northern end, much degenerated over the years, and hardly noticeable except for some partially sand-submerged rocks and gravel around them. Beyond the rip-rap the sandbar extends smooth and undulating with a very shallow low angle drop to the water’s edge. Red ants are nesting in various locations. They sometimes build their homes in pieces of driftwood, so carefully inspect any logs before lifting and moving. In East winds stay main channel. In west winds you might have to hunker down top end or bottom end, because there are very few choices for back channel camping (because of its tall steep muddy banks), except in high water when you can paddle right to the forest’s edge.

Mile-Long Bayou Goula Island is the biggest of the last three islands on the Lower Mississippi River with the best camping in the quietest and most remote location. You may not see many animals, but you know they’re with you on the island by all of the tracks you see in the sand. You will find river otter and beaver tracks in the bars closest to the river’s edge, and also raccoon, and the common shore birds egrets, cormorants, blue herons and Kingfishers. White Pelican might make landing on the top end at low or medium water, and bald eagles perch in the exposed branches of the highest trees awaiting their chance to descend and make a catch from the surrounding waters. Deer, coyote, and possibly bobcat range over the entire island, and their tracks prove it.

Bayou Goula

The Bayogoula were a Native American tribe from Mississippi and Louisiana. Their name translates as “bayou people.” They were a part of the Muskugeon people. The Houma people attacked them around 1699-1700. They lived in with another tribe, the Mougoulacha in 1700. In the early 18th-century the Bayagoula killed many Mougoulacha, almost wiping out the entire tribe. This was triggered from a fight between the two tribes chiefs. The Tonica tribe moved into the community soon thereafter. In 1706 the Tonica ambushed the Bayagoula and almost killed all of them. By 1721, the rest of the tribe had suffered considerable deaths from smallpox. The remaining Bayogoula are believed to have moved to the area of the present day Ascension Parish of Louisiana, possibly melding into the community of the Houma and Acolapissa who lived there. (Wiki)

In the 1940's an archeological excavation was conducted at the site of two mounds and a roughly 600ft earthen plaza near the present day community of Bayou Goula. A plethora of artifacts were unearthed in what was a relatively small excavation including dwellings, pottery, tools, burial remains and jewelry. Bayou Goula does not look like much these days but was once the site of a Native American settlement inhabited as early as the Plaquemine Period. French Canadian explorer Iberville documented two temples and 107 cabins enclosed within a palisade. The tribal people living here, some four to five hundred in 1700, were called the Bayougoula meaning "bayou people."

In 1699 the Bayougoula lived here with the Mugulasha but in 1700 the Bayougoula attacked the Mugulasha, killing many and driving off the others. Soon the Acolapissa and Tiou replaced the Mugulasha in the Bayougoula village. In 1706 the Taensa come to the village and subsequently attacked the Bayougoula, along with the Acolapissa and Tiou inhabitants. The survivors fled south and settled near the Mississippi below New Orleans. The Taensa are thought to have retained control of the Bayougoula site for roughly 10 years. This feuding and fleeing amongst tribes ultimately led to fusion of the Bayougoulas, Acolapissa, and Houma into a single group by 1739.

The tradition of unrest in this area continued as the Bayou Goula site was the land where the French organized before marching on the Natchez in 1730 and later saw skirmishes during the Civil War. By 1860, Bayou Goula had become an important port and steamboat landing with two elegant hotels. But in 1929 the old town was mostly erased by the relocation of the Mississippi River levees some 700 feet inland in an effort to control the Mighty Mississippi and its devastating flood waters. The small community of Bayou Goula bears little reminder of its ancient Native American or thriving river town history. (Michael Orr)

194.8 RBD Nottaway Plantation

Nottaway is the largest and most grandiose of all the Louisiana Plantations, and might make a good excuse for a stop to stretch your legs. Rocky landing in low water, but excellent views of the river and Bayou Goula Island from the levee. Looking inland a sea of sugar cane surrounds the bony white plantation. Morning glories crowd the grasses on levee (also a bright red morning glory-like flower called cypress vine) and elephant ears populate the wetlands below. You might be able to refill waterbottles here. Paddlers can access Nottaway Plantation via the gravel and rock steamboat landing on the river just above the base of Bayou Goula Island on the West bank at 194.8 RBD. Accommodations are offered at Nottoway, and would make a striking counterpoint to the rustic camping you have been doing to date down the river. Be ready to spend upwards of $200/night for the luxury. Nottoway Plantation & Resort, 31025 LA-1, White Castle, LA 70788. www.nottoway.com. 225-545-2730.

194 LBD Point Clair

Sandbars wrap completely around Point Clair, another 180 degree bend of the river. Point Clair is similar in shape and proportion to Manchac Point, but its sandbars aren’t as high nor as extensive. The first possible camp you’ll encounter is across the back channel form the the bottom of Bayou Goula Point, where an elegant swath of sand forms below 20BR, with a sea of willows. Just around the corner (194LBD), however is a very active dirt and sand operation, which greedily consumes all of the sediment that fetches here in higher water levels. If you are needing a place to land, and the water is low or medium, keep going to the bottom end of Point Claire. The last of the Point Clair sandbars are found a mile further, past the last point at 193LBD, and offer good sand below 20BR. From there and further downstream the sandbars descend in height, and disappear as the water rises below 10BR.

193.5 RBD White Castle

There is no public access at White Castle, and no easy place to make landing (except at flood stage). In emergency paddlers could pull out over rip-rap (in low water) or through the woods (med or high water). At flood stage 35BR White Castle could be easily accessed from the levee. If you need to stop, use old ferry landing (downstream 2 miles) or cross over to Carville. If you need resupply in this area, stop at Plaquemine. Best resupply place downstream would be Donaldsonville.

192.7 RBD Cane Sugar Refinery (Cora Texas Manufacturing Co)

In low water you will pass a whitewater explosion West Bank near 192.7, where a pipe stabilized with giant concrete blocks lets loose a torrent of steaming water into the river. In a south wind you will detect a distinct toasted carmel aroma in the air, or maybe “hot dog” smells, or maybe something else. This is where the raw sugar cane is brought in from surrounding fields, and are mashed and then cooked, the sugar juices strengthened through evaporation until crystallization. Blackstrap molasses is one of the by-products. This Cora Texas Manufacturing alone grinds more than 16,000 tons of cane per day and often produces more than 4,000,000 pounds of raw sugar per day!The history of Cora Plantation and its sugar mill date back to 1817. Many of the first experiments in the manufacturing of sugar occurred on Cora Plantation and Cora factory. Cora Texas Manufacturing is the second largest sugar factory in Louisiana.

191.5 RBD - 191 LBD White Castle-Carville Ferry

Not in operation Fall 2015

Carville

Carville is the location of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, in the old U. S. Public Health Service, which for a hundred years treated leprosy (now called Hansen's Disease) patients. The hospital has been closed, but several of the buildings remain. Paddlers will be interested to hear of Carville’s history, which was the setting for the 2010 Book In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, by Neil White. From Publishers Weekly: Following conviction for bank fraud, White spent a year in a minimum-security prison in Carville, La., housed in the last leper colony in mainland America. His fascinating memoir reflects on the sizable group of lepers living alongside the prisoners, social outcasts among the motley inmate crew of drug dealers, mob types and killers. Narrating in colorful, entertaining snapshots, White introduces the reader to an excellent supporting cast in his imprisonment: Father Reynolds, the peerless spiritual monk; Mr. Flowers, the no-nonsense case manager; Anne, the sorrowful mother with leprosy whose baby was taken from her arms; and Ella the Earth Mother, with wisdom to spare. Brisk, ironic and perceptive, White's introspective memoir puts a magnifying glass to a flawed life, revealing that all of life is to be savored and respected. (Publishers Weekly)

On the last day of November, 1894, a boat left the New Orleans dock pushing a barge with an unusual cargo. On the barge were seven very ill people, several doctors, and some newspaper reporters. The seven passengers were suffering from the dreaded disease that was then known as leprosy, and they were being moved from an abominable "pest house" in New Orleans to a plantation about 25 miles below Baton Rouge, called Indian Camp plantation. The State of Louisiana hoped to give them better care and more humane treatment than they had ever known before. From this uncertain beginning in 1894, there eventually developed a U. S. Public Health Service Hospital at Carville, Louisiana, where patients suffering from the ancient disease that has recently been renamed "Hansen's disease," are treated and often discharged to lead normal lives in their home communities. When the U. S. Public Health Service acquired the State facility at Carville in 1921, the old hospital at Indian Camp plantation was gradually converted into a modern treatment and research center. New drugs and better methods of treatment in recent years have made it possible for most of Carville's patients to be discharged in a very short time. For patients who must undergo long periods of hospitalization, the U. S. Public Health Service offers a rehabilitation program that is designed to help them to become contributing members of society when they return to their homes. Full-time teachers give elementary and high school courses at the hospital, arrangements are often made for vocational training or college work, and every effort is made to encourage the patient to upgrade the level of his educational achievements. A swimming pool, tennis courts, golf course, and a lake where patients can enjoy fishing and boating are located on the hospital grounds at Carville. Many social and recreational activities are sponsored, and a bimonthly magazine, The Star, is staffed with patients. A recent breakthrough in laboratory research at Carville offers some hope for progress toward the development for a cure for Hansen's disease. In the meantime, seminars and workshops keep doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, and medical missionaries informed about the most effective drugs and the best methods for treating the disease and caring for the patients. Admission to the hospital at Carville is voluntary, and patients are free to leave at any time they desire to do so. They are, of course, encouraged to stay until discharge can be recommended by the medical staff. At present the hospital has about 300 patients, with perhaps 100 out on passes and leading relatively normal lives elsewhere with the disease under control. Visitors over the age of 16 are welcomed at the hospital. Carville's cheerful atmosphere is a far cry from the old "pest house" of the past that was maintained for the purpose of confining involuntarily persons whose only crime was that they had become the victims of a serious disease for which no cure was known. (Braggs)

191 LBD Carville Landing

You could access the East Bank here at the old Ferry Landing, near Carville, or at a primitive Boat Ramp several hundred miles downstream.

190.8 LBD Carville Boat Ramp

Primitive Boat Ramp with one small slab of concrete. Unmarked location with access off levee near town of Carville.

191 - 190 LBD White Castle Anchorage

Frequently used anchorage to the right bank descending of the main channel about three miles below White Castle. Watch for freighters periodically coming and going. Make sure they are stationary before paddling near this anchorage. If you see the presence of tugboats, or you notice anchors being heaved, or see the tell-tale black smoke of engines being powered up, give this place wide berth.

Geismar Industrial Reach

The Geismar Reach is the first real busy industrial stretch below Baton Rouge. Notables include two giant refineries, Borden Chemical and Shell, and the megalithic L&L Dry Bulk Transfer, which offers a close up look at how the global grain market works. You will also paddle over underwater pipelines, including Shell Pipelines, Southern Natural Gas Co, The Polaris Corp, Entergy, Louisiana Resources Pipeline Co., Air Liquids, Faustina Pipeline Co., Bridgeline Holdings L.P., Varibus Corp., and Sabine Gas Transmission Corp.

188-184 RBD Claiborne Island

Claiborne Island has joined the mainland of the West Bank of the river, but still houses a narrow slice of wetlands in the batture protected between the river and the levee. Unfortunately this wild place has no safe landings, and as result is not easily accessible. William Charles Cole Claiborne was born in Virginia, in the portentous year of 1775. At the age of 20, the young man went to Tennessee, where the following year he helped frame a constitution for the new State. When Claiborne was 26 years old, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him to serve as governor of the Mississippi Territory. In 1803, Governor Claiborne and General James Wilkinson were appointed commissioners to receive possession of the vast territory known as the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson then named Claiborne as the temporary governor of the Orleans Territory and later appointed him its permanent governor. In September, 1811, Louisiana was getting ready to elect its first State governor, and William Caliborne wrote to his friend Julien Poydras that he had purchased a plantation and planned to become "a plain simple Planter." Claiborne was a candidate for governor of the new State, but he thought his chances of election very slim. He was mistaken; he won the office by a large majority. In 1817 Governor Claiborne was elected to serve in the V .S. Senate, but he died within a year. He was 42 years old at the time of his death. Claiborne's plantation was on the west bank of the Mississippi, and the old steamboat landing and the V.S. Coast Guard navigation light in the area still bear his name. (Braggs)

187.9 LBD ATOFINA Cos-Mar Plant Wharf

Nurdles: What Are Nurdles?

Below Baton Rouge you might have noticed the beach strewn with tiny clearish white plastic blobs about the size of a tear drop. Maybe you saw them during your walks along the shoreline; they are especially noticeable at water’s edge with other micro-detritus like bits of leaves, small twigs, decomposed coal and large grains of sand. These transluscent globular “pills” are the basic currency of the plastic industry. Composed of high-density polyethylene they are mostly inert (considered non-toxic) Nevertheless they have been known to vent phthalates in the oceans, and can cause digestive problems for living creatures. You probably haven’t seen them before now because they are not made above Baton Rouge. But below Baton Rouge, they are manufactured by the billions -- a major product of some of the industries found within Chem Corridor -- and of course are accidentally spilled during cargo transfer.

Nurdles or "nerdles" are mistakenly consumed as fish eggs, and have been found in the guts of fish and other creatures. Not only can they cause physical disruptions to respiration and/or digestion (in some cases blockage or suffocation), but they can emit toxins and simultaneously absorb toxins like PCBs out of the water. If you haven’t noticed nurdles, start looking, and then maybe remove them the beach and add to your trash bag before some fish or turtle inadvertently eats one. The dozen you pick up are insignificant to the quadrillions of nurdles that are manufactured every year, but as the saying goes “every little bit helps.”

Wikipedia offers a one line definition for nurdle: “A pre-production microplastic pellet about the size of a pea” Going to “microplastic,” Wiki continues: A large portion of marine debris consists of plastic particles, including nurdles, pre-production microplastic resin pellets typically under 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter found outside of the typical plastic manufacturing stream and an intermediate good used to produce plastic final products; microbeads from cosmetics; and the breakdown products of plastic litter. Plastic particle water pollution is also referred to as mermaids' tears. Approximately 60 billion pounds (27 million tonnes of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States. One pound of pelletized high-density polyethylene (HDPE) contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20 mg per nurdle). (Wikipedia)

Nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris. During a three-month study of Orange County beaches researchers found them to be the most common beach contaminant. Nurdles comprised roughly 98% of the beach debris collected in a 2001 Orange County study. Waterborne nurdles may either be a raw material of plastic production, or from larger chunks of plastics. A major concentration of plastic may be the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a growing collection of marine debris known for its high concentrations of plastic litter. Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach plastic pollution. Marine life is severely threatened by these small pieces of plastic: the creatures that make up the base of the marine food chain, such as krill, are prematurely dying by choking on nurdles. Nurdles have frequently been found in the digestive tracts of various marine creatures, causing physiological damage by leaching plasticizers such as phthaltates. Nurdles can carry two types of micropollutants in the marine environment: native plastic additives and hydrophobic pollutants absorbed from seawater. For example, concentrations of PCBs and DDE on nurdles collected from Japanese coastal waters were found to be up to 1 million times higher than the levels detected in surrounding seawater. (Wikipedia)

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio, HDPE is used in the production of plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping geomembranes, and plastic lumber. HDPE is commonly recycled, and has the number "2" as its resin identification code (formerly known as recycling symbol). (Wikipedia)

187.9 LBD Total Petrochemicals and Refining and Caravelle Energy Center

Total Petrochemicals operates a polystyrene production complex which produces styrene monomer from ethylbenzene and then polystyrene from styrene monomer. Total Petrochemical’s styrene’s complex is one of the largest polystyrene facilities in the world and can produce 1.45 billion pounds per year. Behind Total Petrochemical is a small natural gas fired power plant called Caravelle Energy Center. For all its activity, Total Petrochemicals and Refining made exponentially lower releases than other Chemical Corridor heavyweights, in 2013 22,196 pounds of toxins were released into the SoLa air, and only 7 pounds into the river. (Paul Orr)

187 LBD General Electric Co. Geismar Wharf

186.8 LBD Industrial Complex including PCS Nitrogen, Honeywell, and Williams Olefins

What is that long white mesa you see over the levee, something you might expect to see in Arizona or New Mexico? This chemical complex here is dominated by PCS Nitrogen which is owned by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (hence PCS). PCS Nitrogen annually makes 0.50 million tonnes of ammonia, 2.4 million tonnes of nitrogen solutions, nitric acid, and ammonium nitrate and 0.2 million tonnes of phosphoric acid primarily for use in fertilizer manufacturing. PCS Nitrogen produces phosphoric acid by processing phosphate ore with sulfuric acid. This process results in a huge amount of phosphogypsum waste. This phosphogypsum is slightly radioactive because of the uranium and thorium that occurs in phosphate ore. Because of this the phosphogypsum waste is piled up into huge piles behind the facility. PCS Nitrogen has a permit to pile the phosphogypsum up to 200 feet tall. The pile is already approaching 150 feet and you may be able to see it looming up from the horizon from the river, looking something like a long white mesa, like a plateau you might encounter in the Four Corners area. On windy days long plumes of dust can be seen blowing wildly in the gusts. Honeywell International has a chemical facility on the downriver side of PCS Nitrogen that produces hydrofluoric acid, fluorocarbon refrigerants and AlconTM Resin. Williams Olefins has a chemical facility between PCS Nitrogen and the big phosphogypsum pile. The plant produces 40,000 tons of propylene and 650,000 tons of ethylene every year, for use in the plastics industry, through steam cracking of ethane and propane. On June 13, 2013 an explosion occurred in the plant killing two workers and injuring 114. Toxic Releases (TRI) for 2013 in pounds: PCS Nitrogen: Air: 983,744, Water: 1,058,406; Honeywell International: Air: 293,263, Water: 4,972; Williams Olefins: Air: 230,578, Water: 11. (Paul Orr)

186.0 LBD El Paso Field Services, Riverside Plant Wharf

185.3 LBD Methanex

One of Louisiana’s newest chemical plants. Methanex relocated two methanol production plants from Punta Arenas, Chile to this location between 2013 and 2015.

185 LBD Industrial Complex including Borden Chemicals, Westlake Chemicals, and Momentive Specialty Chemicals

Borden Chemicals originally operated a chemical facility here producing vinyl chloride monomer, ammonia, and PVC. After an explosion and chemical release brought attention from Federal regulators in 1997 the U.S. Government filed a civil action against Borden for the unpermitted dumping of hazardous chemicals (which contaminated the groundwater), the illegal shipment of hundreds of thousands of pounds of hazardous waste to South Africa, and the operation of unpermitted hazardous waste facilities. Westlake Chemicals later took over the vinyl portion of the facility and currently produces PVC resin, 1,2-Dichloroethane (EDC), and vinyl chloride monomer. In July 2010 there was an accidental release of ,more than 900 pounds of vinyl chloride monomer (a known human carcinogen) as well as other chemicals. In March 2012 there was a serious explosion and fire at the facility which released 2,645 pounds of hydrochloric acid, 632 pounds of chlorine, 239 pounds of vinyl chloride monomer, and around 40 pounds of other chemicals into the area. Residents were told to shelter in place and a 45 mile stretch of the Mississippi River was shut down. In June 2014 there was a fairly large fire in a refrigeration unit at the facility. In September 2015 a fiberglass pipe caught fire and was extinguished within 30 minutes. Westlake Chemicals added 193,616 pounds of toxins into the air in 2013 and 193 pounds into the river. Momentive Specialty Chemicals: Air: 64,080 and River: 10. (Paul Orr)

185 LBD Geismar

Once surrounded by agriculture fields, the predominantly African-American community of Geismar in Ascension Parish is now surrounded by over 20 industrial facilities including Borden Chemical. BASF, PCS Nitrogen, and Shell Chemical. When EPA’s TRI first came out in 1987 Ascension Parish had the highest toxic releases in the state. 157,704,217 pounds of those toxic releases were in the Geismar area. (Paul Orr)

Between 1718 and 1722, a large number of German settlers were recruited by John Law for the Louisiana colony. Law was a flamboyant adventurer and financier who had won the confidence of the French people and their King, and he headed a company that promised to create a new paradise on earth in the New World. The German farmers, like people elsewhere, believed Law's relentless propaganda and agreed to go to Law's own concession on the Arkansas, where they would help develop his own personal empire. Law dazzled the German farmers with promises, but when his "Mississippi Bubble" burst, he abandoned them without a backward glance. Most of them went back down the river, hoping to find passage back to Europe. Bienville, the harassed young governor of the colony, persuaded them to settle on the river above the city. "The German Coast," as it was called, became widely known for its neat and prosperous little farms. The industry and energy of the Germans had accomplished what the French settlers had been unable to do, and the Germans helped bring a measure of stability to the hard-pressed colony which had proved so expensive and useless to the French government. Swiss, Spanish, and American planters eventually joined the German communities, but it was the French influence that prevailed. Absorbed culturally and linguistically by the French, the German communities kept their German names.

184.7 LBD OSCA Calcium Chloride Plant Wharf

184.6 LBD Rubicon and Lion Copolymer

The Rubicon plant in Geismar produces Methylene Diphenyl Isocyanate (MDI), Maleic Anhydride, Hydrochloric Acid (HCI), Polyols, Nitrobenzene, Aniline, Diphenylamine (DPA) used for the manufacture of Polyurethane Insulation, Furniture and Bedding, Adhesives, Coatings and Elastomers, Composite Wood Products, Footwear, Molded Plastics, and Pharmaceuticals. In September 2014 6 workers at the plant were exposed to Nitrobenzene (a toxin and possible human carcinogen), 3 required hospitalization. Lion Copolymer is located on the other side of Rubicon and produces ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) synthetic rubber. Lion Copolymer: released 802,976 pounds of toxins into South Louisnana atmosphere in 2013, and 6,845 pounds into the river. Rubicon respectively released 324,039 pounds and 110 pounds. (Paul Orr)

183.9 LBD IMTT Geismar Wharf

183.9 IMTT Geismar and BASF

International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT) has a relatively small bulk liquid product storage and handling terminal just over the levee. More than half a mile behind IMTT and connected to Rubicon is a large BASF facility that dates back to 1958. BASF produces ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, toluene diisocyanate, methylene dipheylisocyanate, polyether polyols, butanediol, gamma-butyrolactone, n-Methyl pyrrolidone, tetrahydrofuran, 2-pyrrolidone, n-vinylpyrrolidone, polyvinylpyrrolidone, glyoxal, specialty amines, aniline, acetylene, alkylethanolamines, surfactants, polytetrahydrofuran, andmethyl amines.

BASF toxic releases in 2013 were 396,037 pounds into the air and 616,894 into the river. (Paul Orr)