In New Sarpy, the bucket results were used to force the first ever meeting between the CEO of Orion Refining and the New Sarpy Concerned Citizens (NSCC). Air samples exposed the company’s violation of the Louisiana state standards; videotapes of flares exposed Orion’s false statements to the press and to the community; research of state records exposed the company’s high accident rate: 40 accidents in 26 weeks. All of this information was immediately sent to state Department of Environmental Quality and EPA enforcement. A DEQ / EPA investigation took place in February 2001. The community outcry with supporting documentation — the videotape, the accident records — is the reason for the investigation. In July of 2002 the EPA issued a Notice of Violation.
In the spring of 2003 Orion went bankrupt, which came as no surprise to the residents of New Sarpy who had lived through the company’s calamitous operations. Vallero Refining now operates Orion, calling it the St. Charles Refinery.