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. […]
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Forum on Bonnet Carre Spillway
https://www.wxxv25.com/2019/12/11/ms-la-officials-holding-forum-bonnet-carre-spillway-usm-gulf-park-campus/
‘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 […]
WWG Summer Intern: Daniel Schwank
Waltzer Wiygul has two offices in New Orleans and one on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The firm handles environmental law cases for public interest organizations and private parties that include Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and NEPA litigation. Although I have worked for them for two summers, this past summer I mostly wrote memorandum […]
LEAN starts campaign for groundwater reductions; industry, commission question severity of problem at present
An environmental group that has questioned the management of Baton Rouge’s drinking water aquifer has launched a campaign to encourage major industries to end their use of the region’s groundwater while demanding that Baton Rouge Water Co. detail its plans for a sustainable future. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network has unveiled its “Save Our Water” […]
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 […]
Louisiana tribe protects historic sites with oyster shells
A wall of oyster shells has been erected near Montegut to protect historical Native American mounds threatened by erosion and sea level rise. The partially-submerged wall was completed this month by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe and more than 100 volunteers. They spent weeks hauling and placing about 200 tons of shells gathered from […]