American Rivers Announces Calcasieu River As One of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025

Contact: Hawk Hammer, National Communications and Media Director, Hhammer@americanrivers.org   
Matt Rota, Senior Policy Director, Healthy Gulf, matt@healthygulf.org

4/16/2025 Washington D.C. —  Decades of hazardous waste dumping and continued unregulated dumping of toxic chemicals into the Calcasieu and the threat of even more has landed it as #9 on American Rivers’ list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025.

Flowing 200 miles through Southwest Louisiana, the Calcasieu River and its interconnected bayous and marshes are a vital nursery for fish and wildlife and once sustained a thriving commercial fishing industry. Nearly one-third of all the seafood consumed in the United States comes from Louisiana, though this multi-billion dollar industry is increasingly threatened by plastics and petrochemical pollution.  

“Far from being able to support the vibrant communities and local economies of Louisiana, the Calcasieu itself is on life support,” said Chantel Dominguez, Director of Community Campaigns and Engagement for American Rivers. “With a number of new chemical facilities already planned along the river and its estuary, any further unchecked pollution without current and common-sense safety standards in place threatens to compound the problems beyond repair.”

Toxic pollutants like mercury, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and other carcinogens have already prompted seafood safety advisories for multiple species in the river, including catfish, speckled trout, largemouth bass, and crabs. 

“Today, the wetlands along the Calcasieu are among the most biologically significant yet heavily polluted regions in the country. For over 40 years, toxic emissions and chemical dumping have poisoned the river, harming families, displacing communities, and causing devastating health impacts like cancer.,” said Alyssa Portaro, Founder and Director of Habitat Recovery Project. “It’s time to chart a new course. We must act now to clean what can be cleaned, restore what can be regenerated, and hold polluters accountable. The future of the Calcasieu River — and the livelihoods, cultures, and ecosystems it sustains — depends on our commitment to stop the ongoing assault of deadly dioxins and other toxic chemicals.”

The river has suffered multiple catastrophic pollution events in recent decades. In 1994, over 1.7 million pounds of ethylene dichloride spilled into the west bank of the Calcasieu. In 2006 a refinery spilled millions of gallons of oil into the river, impacting an estimated 150 miles of shoreline. The results of these and other disasters have been massive fish kills, poisoned air, forced evacuations, and countless sickened residents.

“For too long, the Calcasieu has been overlooked and treated as an industrial sewer, instead of the vibrant river it should be,” said Matt Rota, Senior Policy Director of Healthy Gulf. “Current policies are putting polluters over the communities and ecosystems that depend on the health of the Calcasieu. Industry must be held accountable to ensure they are not contributing to the pollution of this amazing resource.”

“The Calcasieu River is sacred to those of us who’ve grown up along its banks — it’s more than water, it’s memory, identity, and home. But for too long, it’s been treated as a dumping ground, sacrificed to unfettered industrial use and expansion with little regard for the people who depend on it. If we don’t enforce real protections now, we risk losing not just an ecosystem, but a living part of our interconnected lives,” said James Hiatt, Director of For a Better Bayou. “Our communities deserve clean water, healthy land, and an economy that nourishes — not destroys — the places we love.”

American Rivers and our partners For a Better Bayou, Habitat Recovery Project, Environmental Integrity Project, Healthy Gulf, and Micah 6:8 Mission are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update outdated federal water standards for the following categories of major Calcasieu polluters and to add limits for toxic pollutants like benzene, dioxins, 1,4 dioxane, PAHs, and heavy metals.  

• Petroleum Refineries, 40 Part 419 (4 refineries discharging to the Calcasieu)
• Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing, 40 CFR Part 415 (10 inorganic chemical plants discharging to the Calcasieu)
• Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fabrics, 40 CFR Part 414 (14 plastic and organic chemical plants discharging to the Calcasieu)

Learn more about America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2025, including other rivers and our selection process.  

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American Rivers is a national conservation organization working to make every river clean and healthy for people and wildlife. We combine evidence-based solutions with enduring partnerships to safeguard the 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams that are essential to our nation’s clean drinking water, extraordinary wildlife, and strength of our communities. For more than 50 years, our staff, supporters, and partners have been driven by a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. AmericanRivers.org

Habitat Recovery Project is a community-focused conservation movement dedicated to restoring, generating, and preserving ecological habitats in existing and proposed contaminated communities, through supporting and benefiting the people and emerging grassroots initiatives that reside within them. Follow @Habitat.Recovery.Project on Instagram, and reach out at team@habitatrecovery.org

Healthy Gulf’s purpose is to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources. healthygulf.org

For a Better Bayou is a community-led organization rooted in Southwest Louisiana, working to transition the region from an extractive economy to one that values people over profit and protects what we love. Founded by a former oil and gas worker, the organization builds power among frontline communities to confront injustice, hold polluters accountable, and chart a path toward a healthier, more equitable economy. Through organizing, advocacy, and deep community engagement, For a Better Bayou is fighting for a future where clean air, safe water, and economic dignity are available for all. Follow us on social media @betterbayou or betterbayou.net

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog  organization that advocates for effective enforcement of environmental laws. Comprised of former EPA enforcement attorneys, public interest lawyers, analysts, investigators, and community organizers, EIP has three goals:

• To illustrate through objective facts and figures how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and harms public health; 
• To hold federal and state agencies, as well as individual corporations, accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and 
• To help local communities obtain the protections of environmental laws.