Many LSU students may not realize that there is a pile of slightly radioactive chemical waste about 40 miles away in St. James parish.

The mound is about two hundred feet tall and spans over a hundred acres…. and soon, there will be another one.

The pile of toxic waste is called a gypstack. It’s made of rock-like slightly radioactive material and is in the form of a volcano. In the middle is water full of environmental contaminants.

The current, ever-growing waste pile is a byproduct of the mosaic fertilizer company.

Environmental activists say the mound has chemicals that can cause lung cancer and fear an environmental disaster if it leaks.

Recently, Mosaic was granted a permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to create a second gypstack right next to the first.

Rise St. James is an environmental activist group focused on fighting against toxic by-product made by the many chemical plants surrounding St. James.

Caitlion Hunter, director of research and policy at Rise says that despite reports that the project will create more jobs for St. James residents, Rise believes that it’s only a threat.

“The Mosaic was really just saying, we have an existing trash pile. It’s kind of leaking and we’re running out of room,” Hunter said. “We’d like to build another trash pile right next to it, and so it’s not a project that benefits any St. James resident. It’s only another threat.”