NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) – A watchdog group and members of the community are asking why a major New Orleans employer is asking for a tax exemption on years-old additions made to their facilities. The watchdog group Together New Orleans says Folgers Coffee Company, with two locations in New Orleans East, should owe the city […]
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Appellate ruling forcing Thermaldyne to disclose discharges into water upheld
A company that reclaims oil refinery waste may be required to identify the pollutants it wants to dump into the Intracoastal Waterway in West Baton Rouge Parish after the Supreme Court declined this week to hear an appeal from a lower court. The Intracoastal supplies drinking water to 10,000 people in nearby Iberville Parish and […]
Trump ends some protections for wetlands and waterways
The Trump administration on Thursday ended federal protection for many of the nation’s millions of miles of streams, arroyos and wetlands, a sweeping environmental rollback that could leave the waterways more vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms. The policy change, signed by the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps […]
Court rules DEQ must force Thermaldyne to identify pollutants headed for Intracoastal Waterway
State environmental regulators must require an oil refinery waste reclamation company in Port Allen to identify the pollutants it wants to dump into the Intracoastal Waterway in West Baton Rouge Parish, a state appeals court ruled. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal upheld a lower-court ruling that regulators must […]
Federal lawsuit filed against Army Corps of Engineers
2019 was a historic year for the Bonnet Carre Spillway as it remained open for a record 118 days. The extended opening proved to have adverse effects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Now, some officials on the Coast are taking action. IMMS President Dr. Moby Solangi said, “It is a catastrophic event that has happened. […]
‘Colossal bait-and-switch’: Port Allen plant’s air permit modification attacked in court
Calling a Port Allen industrial recycling plant’s modified air permit a “colossal bait-and-switch,” a lawyer for environmentalists asked a Baton Rouge judge Wednesday to vacate the permit and send it back to a state regulatory agency for more study. Louisiana Environmental Action Network attorney Clay Garside argued to state District Judge Trudy White that Thermaldyne’s […]
The Mississippi River is Under Control – For Now
By May 9, 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been in a flood fight in Louisiana for nearly 200 days. Officials gathered every morning in a conference room in New Orleans that was—perhaps thankfully—windowless, keeping their opponent out of view: just below the office snarled the overladen Mississippi River, more than 8 million […]
Algae Blooms and Midge Swarm Update in Louisiana
Liz Reinhardt Delsa was driving home from the airport on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway on June 16 when she heard what she thought was heavy rain hitting her windshield. But instead of sliding off as water droplets normally do, the rain seemed to stick. That’s when she realized: “It was bugs,” she said. A swarm […]
Fishermen pull up dead and dying oysters
Ryan Guerra drags an oyster dredge along a lease 40 miles east of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in St. Bernard Parish. He finds the vast majority of his oysters are dead. The few that’s alive right now, they’re dying in the shell,” said the 43-year-old Guerra, who has been fishing these waters for a quarter […]
Debate Continues on Lousiana House Bill 615
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – In April, Cornerstone Chemical Company on the West Bank reported a spill of 3,600 gallons of sulfuric acid. The spill left one employee injured, and the company worked to neutralize the spill. However, environmentalists fear House Bill 615 would allow companies to handle incidents like these outside the public eye. Attorney […]
