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 […]
Environmental
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 […]
Oil sludge recycling facility Thermaldyne opens near Port Allen despite court challenges
The Thermaldyne industrial recycling facility near Port Allen has opened for business despite several ongoing legal challenges. The company began advertising job openings in The Advocate over the weekend and told the paper it began operations last week and will start processing sludge in the coming week. Environmentalists and another recycling company have filed for […]
Colonial Landfill operators agree to more testing for gas emissions, odors in suit settlement
The operators of the Colonial Landfill near Sorrento have agreed to increased air monitoring for two years under a settlement ending litigation over a permit allowing expanded dumping at the decades-old waste pile. BFI Waste Systems of Louisiana, a subsidiary of Republic Services, has agreed to hire a third-party company to test for methane and, […]
Judge: Louisiana officials must look anew at Port Allen industrial recycling plant application
A judge has paused — at least for the time being — construction of an industrial recycling facility in Port Allen where residents have raised concerns about toxic chemicals. The company Thermaldyne provided a “deficiency” of information when it applied for a permit with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality last year, 19th Judicial District Judge […]
Public Input Matters
On August 16, 2018, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDW&F) quietly approved and executed an agreement with the Grand Isle Levee District to construct, operate and manage a new airport located on a narrow strip of land near Grande Isle. The airport plan, to be constructed on the Elmer’s Island property owned by […]
Hilcorp Energy settles suit with oystermen over unauthorized dredging through wetlands
The Louisiana Oystermen Association and Hilcorp Energy Company filed a consent judgment that, if approved by the court, will settle the association’s lawsuit against Hicorp for dredging in the coastal zone without a permit, according to a news release. The Texas-based oil and gas exploration company has agreed to pay $920,000 toward development of an […]
Hilcorp seeks dredging permit a year after dragging drilling barge through shallow water
Dozens of oystermen and coastal residents spoke out at a public hearing Thursday night, arguing that the state shouldn’t grant an oil and gas company a permit to dredge wetlands around a drilling site near Port Sulfur. But they can’t stop Hilcorp Energy Co. of Houston from dredging. The company already cut the channel back […]