Community Atlas

Belle River

Belle River is an unincorporated community in Assumption Parish and sometimes called the gateway to the Atchafalaya Basin. There are approximately 107 households in Belle River, where most residents make their money through fishing (Aljazeera 2015) In the mid 1980s, FAS Environmental Services transfer station began taking in industrial waste from oil drilling and fracking, including “produced water” by truck and barge. The waste is then transferred via barge on the Intracoastal Waterway for deep-well injection (Aljazeera 2015).

In 2015, FAS applied for a permit through the Department of Conservation to build a new facility on land that was not zoned for industrial use. The Department of Conservation approved the permit. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Concerned Citizens of Belle River, Hazel Cavalier, & the Atchafalaya Basin Keeper filed an appeal to the permit. After deliberation, the court vacated the permit in 2017 (Tulane 2017). The original FAS transfer station is still in operation.