KENTWOOD – Nearly two months after the Smitty’s Supply explosion in Roseland, cleanup and testing are still underway.

The Environmental Protection Agency says crews are making steady progress, but an independent environmental tester is warning that toxic chemicals are still showing up downstream.

At First Baptist Church in Kentwood, nearly 100 residents gathered Saturday for the third community meeting with independent environmental tester Scott Smith, who shared his latest round of findings. His team collected new samples from the Tangipahoa River in September, samples he says show contamination continues to spread from the Smitty’s Supply site.

“We provided the community with the most recent results of what’s spreading down the Tangipahoa River, what we’re finding in ponds and its mixtures of very dangerous cancer-causing chemicals,” Smith said.

The EPA, which is leading the official cleanup, reports it has recovered more than 10 million gallons of waste so far. Crews have also installed containment booms and earthen dams to prevent runoff and continue to test air, soil, and water around Roseland. Officials say current results indicate contamination is being contained, though cleanup efforts are expected to take months.

Smith’s findings, however, paint a different picture.

“It’s a mixture of not just the oil compounds, but the antifreeze compounds too,” he said. “I have a team of toxicologists and other experts around me, and they’re very concerned about the antifreeze and the mixtures of these.”

Residents shared similar concerns during the meeting, saying wildlife in the area has disappeared since the explosion.

“They don’t hear frogs. They don’t see frogs anymore, ever since then,” Smith said. “And also, with the beekeeper I met, the bees died instantly from the plume.”

Smith says continued testing will be key to tracking how far contamination has spread and guiding full remediation.

He says his team plans to keep collecting samples and follow the contamination trail down toward Lake Pontchartrain.

Meanwhile, the EPA says its own testing and cleanup operations will continue to expand in the coming weeks.