Pascagoula is a small city of about 22,000 on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, sitting at the mouth of the Pascagoula River — locally known as the Singing River. It’s also the heart of Mississippi’s petrochemical corridor, with Chevron’s massive refinery, VT Halter Marine’s shipyard, and multiple chemical manufacturing facilities concentrated along the coast.
The city draws its drinking water from the Pascagoula River and local groundwater. When your water source flows through an industrial zone before reaching your intake, the question isn’t whether contaminants are present — it’s which ones, and at what levels.
The Industrial Landscape
Jackson County, where Pascagoula is located, hosts some of the largest industrial operations on the Gulf Coast:
Chevron Pascagoula Refinery — one of the largest refineries in the United States, processing approximately 330,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Refineries produce a range of air and water pollutants, including benzene, toluene, heavy metals, and various petroleum hydrocarbons.
Mississippi Phosphates Corporation — a former phosphate fertilizer plant that operated for decades before closing in 2014. The facility left behind contaminated waste piles and groundwater issues, including elevated levels of fluoride, heavy metals, and radioactive materials associated with phosphate processing.
First Chemical Corporation and other chemical manufacturers in the region produce specialty chemicals, with associated waste streams and potential groundwater impacts.
Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII) — one of the largest military shipbuilders in the country. Shipbuilding operations involve heavy metals, solvents, paints, and other chemicals that can affect soil and groundwater.
Naval Station Pascagoula — like other military installations, the naval station used AFFF firefighting foam containing PFAS.
Drinking Water Sources and Treatment
The City of Pascagoula’s water system draws from both surface water (the Pascagoula River) and groundwater wells. The treatment plant processes water through conventional treatment before distribution.
The Pascagoula River is one of the last unimpounded rivers in the lower 48 states — it flows freely without major dams, which is ecologically significant. But “unimpounded” doesn’t mean “uncontaminated.” The river receives discharge from industrial facilities, agricultural runoff from upstream, and stormwater from the developed coastal areas.
According to the city’s consumer confidence reports and EPA ECHO data, Pascagoula’s finished drinking water has generally met federal MCLs. Some parameters that bear watching:
Trihalomethanes (THMs) — disinfection byproducts formed when chlorine reacts with organic matter. Surface water sources like the Pascagoula River tend to have higher organic content, which can lead to elevated DBP formation.
Total organic carbon — present in the river water and requires careful management during treatment to minimize DBP formation.
Sodium and chloride — can be elevated in coastal groundwater due to saltwater influence, particularly during drought or storm surge events.
PFAS: The Emerging Concern
PFAS contamination along the Gulf Coast is an emerging issue. Sources in the Pascagoula area include:
- Military AFFF use at Naval Station Pascagoula and nearby installations
- Industrial use of PFAS-containing chemicals in manufacturing and firefighting
- Wastewater treatment plant discharge (PFAS passes through conventional treatment)
Mississippi has been slower than some states to address PFAS, with no state-level MCLs established as of early 2026. The state relies on EPA’s federal standards, including the 2024 PFAS drinking water rule.
Testing under the EPA’s fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) has been revealing PFAS detections in water systems across the Gulf Coast. Pascagoula’s results are part of the emerging picture of PFAS prevalence in coastal industrial communities.
Hurricane Vulnerability
Pascagoula was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and has faced multiple hurricane threats since. Severe storms create acute water quality problems:
Storm surge can inundate water treatment facilities, contaminate source water with saltwater and debris, and damage distribution infrastructure.
Flooding mobilizes contaminants from industrial sites, picking up petroleum products, heavy metals, and chemicals from the refinery complex and carrying them across the landscape and into waterways.
Power outages disrupt water treatment and distribution, potentially leaving residents without safe water for days.
Boil-water advisories are common after major storms, as water system operators can’t guarantee treatment and distribution integrity.
The 2005 Katrina experience was a worst-case scenario: the water system was completely disrupted, and industrial contamination from the refinery and chemical plants was spread across residential areas by the storm surge. The recovery took months.
For a coastal city in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane resilience isn’t optional — it’s a water quality issue.
Mississippi Phosphates: A Toxic Legacy
The former Mississippi Phosphates Corporation site in Pascagoula is one of the most significant environmental liabilities in the area. The facility produced diammonium phosphate fertilizer and left behind:
- Phosphogypsum stacks — large waste piles containing naturally occurring radioactive material (radium-226) and heavy metals
- Contaminated groundwater — fluoride, sulfate, and heavy metals in the aquifer beneath the site
- Acidic waste ponds — low-pH water containing dissolved metals
The site has been subject to EPA enforcement actions and is undergoing investigation and cleanup. The potential for contaminated groundwater to migrate toward municipal well fields is a concern that regulators are monitoring.
What Residents Can Do
Pascagoula’s water meets federal standards under normal conditions, but given the industrial setting and coastal vulnerability:
A reverse osmosis system provides the most comprehensive protection for drinking water, removing PFAS, disinfection byproducts, heavy metals, and most dissolved contaminants.
A quality carbon filter reduces chlorine, THMs, and taste/odor issues common with treated surface water.
Keep emergency water supplies on hand. In hurricane country, the ability to go several days without tap water isn’t paranoia — it’s planning. FEMA recommends one gallon per person per day for at least three days; a week is better for Gulf Coast residents.
Don’t eat fish from Pascagoula Harbor or the industrial waterfront area without checking Mississippi’s fish consumption advisories. Industrial discharge and historical contamination can affect fish tissue quality.
If you have a private well, test it regularly. Groundwater in the Pascagoula area may be affected by industrial contamination, saltwater intrusion, or legacy pollution from the phosphate plant.
If you’re concerned about your water quality, a certified water treatment professional can test your water and recommend solutions based on your specific situation and location within the service area.
Living in Refinery Country
Pascagoula’s residents understand the trade-off they live with: the refinery and the shipyard are the economic engines of the community, providing thousands of jobs and sustaining the local tax base. But those same industries create environmental exposure that the community absorbs.
The water system works. The treatment plant does its job. But the margin between “compliant” and “clean” is thinner in a city surrounded by this much industrial activity. And when the next hurricane makes landfall, all those carefully managed systems face a stress test that nature doesn’t schedule in advance.
For Pascagoula, water quality isn’t just a treatment question — it’s an industrial coexistence question, a climate resilience question, and an environmental justice question, all rolled into one.
Sources: EPA ECHO database, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, City of Pascagoula consumer confidence reports, EPA enforcement records (Mississippi Phosphates Corporation), NOAA hurricane impact assessments.