environmental regulations

The Denka plant in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Denka, DuPont among Louisiana chemical plants exempted from new EPA pollution rule

After a proclamation from President Donald Trump, two facilities located in LaPlace, Louisiana will be allowed to ignore federal regulations meant to curb harmful pollutants.

Doug Dietrich (left) and Justin Vittitow (right) of JOIN for Clean Air check on the air monitoring equipment. Vittitow is worried he may be fined for sharing the results with his community under the Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act.

Community groups say new air monitoring law violates their freedom of speech

Eva Tesfaye

Community groups are suing the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality over a new law that could prevent them from publicly sharing their air monitoring data.

Kaitlyn Joshua is a native of the southeast corridor of Louisiana dubbed “Cancer Alley,” and has spent the last few years leading the fight against a hydrogen and ammonia facility being built within 2,000 feet of an elementary school in Ascension Parish. Joshua says she is ‘horrified’ about the recent deregulation measures the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced for the petrochemical industry.

Coastal Desk

As EPA pulls back, schoolchildren could face the steepest risks

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Communities living and learning near petrochemical plants will face more pollution and less federal protection under Trump’s new policies.

FILE - EPA Administrator Michael Regan, left, arrives at the Fifth Ward Elementary School, which is near the Denka plant, with Robert Taylor, second left, founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John's Parish, and Lydia Gerard, third left, a member of the group, in Reserve, La., Nov. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Coastal Desk

Trump administration to drop lawsuit against Louisiana petrochemical plant, AP sources say

The Associated Press

The Trump administration plans to drop a federal lawsuit against a synthetic rubber manufacturer accused of worsening cancer risks for residents near its Louisiana plant, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Voters trickle into a downtown Baton Rouge precinct Saturday, Oct. 13, 2023, for the statewide primary election.

Politics

The most important election in Louisiana that many don’t even know about

Wesley Muller (Louisiana Illuminator)

PSC energy regulators are among the most powerful politicians in state.

Actress Jane Fonda and environmental advocate Roishetta Ozane appear at a rally in New Orleans on Jan. 19, 2024, held by a coalition of environmental groups opposed to the expansion of the liquified natural gas export capacity along the Gulf Coast. Ozane is among the Black women in Louisiana leading environmental justice efforts that have drawn new support from funders and legal advocates — and racked up some unlikely wins.

Coastal Desk

Black women are leading the fight against polluters in Louisiana — and they’re winning

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Philanthropic and government investments in environmental justice are helping nonprofits push back against industrial development.

St. James Parish activists and residents Barbara Washington, Gail Lebouef and Shamyra Lavigne (left to right) hold a fist up after their groups filed a lawsuit against their local government on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 outside of the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana in New Orleans.

Coastal Desk

'Cancer alley' residents ask federal court to revive lawsuit over new chemical plants

Halle Parker

Federal appeals court considers lawsuit aimed at pausing new chemical plants in St. James Parish.

Sediment pours out of a pipeline as part of Louisiana's Caminada Headland restoration project near Port Fourchon.

Coastal Desk

Coastal News Roundup: Looking Ahead To The Big Environment Stories of 2019

Travis Lux

This week on the Coastal News Roundup, WWNO’s Travis Lux talks with columnist Bob Marshall from Nola.com | The Times-Picayune. They reviewed some of the...