Environmental impacts of accidental black liquor dischargeinto the Pearl River, Louisiana: A geospatial evaluation

An accidental discharge of black liquor on 9^th of August, 2011by Temple-Inland paper millinto the Pearl River in Bogalusa, Louisiana, USA, resulted in the death of more than 38,000 fishes. The river water turned black and the effects were seen for over 100km downstream. There was a drastic drop in the dissolved oxygencontent, whichled tothe fish kill. Following the incident, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality investigated the accident scene and collected water quality parameters, which included dissolved oxygencontent, salinity, temperature, and pH at different location mainly downstream to the discharge point. This study aims to understand the route and concentration of pollutants over a period of time along the river with the help of GIS using the technique of interpolation. The generated maps showed the level of dissolved oxygen with respect to the fish kill locations from 13^th of August 2011 to 25^th of August 2011 after the accidental discharge. The results showed a virtual aspect of the chronology in dissolved oxygen level and improved water quality after an upstream reservoir was opened, which flushed the black liquor to the Gulf of Mexico.