EPA | WRKF

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.

As EPA pulls back, schoolchildren could face the steepest risks

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.

Workers install solar panels on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility in Gaithersburg, Md. Funding that had been frozen for Solar for All, a federally funded program to provide rooftop and community solar to low-income residents, has now resumed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. (Photo courtesy of NIST)

Coastal Desk

EPA says it has unfrozen billions in funds for climate-related projects

Mario Alejandro Ariza, Floodlight

The statement by an agency spokesperson comes after two judges ordered the environmental agency to pay contracts signed under Biden.

Hunter’s Field Playground sits beneath the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans on July 18, 2023.

Health

In fight to remove divisive Claiborne Expressway, activists turn to new strategy — an EPA study

Drew Hawkins

The Claiborne Avenue Alliance hopes a study on the health impacts caused by the expressway will support efforts to remediate and potentially remove the highway.

A group of volunteers from Keep Tiger Town Beautiful clean up trash near the I-10 College Drive exit in Baton Rouge.

A look at efforts to clean up the streets and protect the waterways in Louisiana

Karen Henderson

Today on Louisiana Considered, we learn about trash cleanup efforts in Baton Rouge and statewide litter abatement efforts. Plus, we hear why environmental groups are suing the EPA over water contamination.

Residents in the Cherokee Forest neighborhood of Pascagoula, Mississippi, gather for a neighborhood party, December 17, 2022. While it was holiday-themed, the party’s true focus was to share a survey with residents for a community buyout program due to their neighborhood’s air pollution.

Local News

A Mississippi community is ‘grateful’ for more air testing, but skeptical of what comes next

Danny McArthur

A $500,000 EPA grant will make more air testing in Pascagoula’s Cherokee Forest community possible. Residents worry their voices will — again — not be heard.

A bird's eye view of Breton Island, one of several barrier islands off Louisiana's coast that form the Breton National Wilderness area.

Local News

Nearly 40 states are late submitting plans to reduce air pollution. Louisiana is one of them.

Halle Parker

The Sierra Club announced its intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday after the federal agency had failed to act on states who haven’t complied with sending the Regional Haze Plans required by the Clean Air Act.

Oil on a beach on Grand Isle, Louisiana. June 7, 2010.

Local News

Public Health Questions Persist As Pollution Data Lags Following Hurricane Laura

Tegan Wendland

The Environmental Protection Agency said none of the chemical and oil spills in Texas caused by Hurricane Laura are emitting dangerous levels of...

An investigation reveals the Sewerage and Water Board pushed school system officials to allow for more lead in school water.

Local News

Lens Investigation Reveals Sewerage And Water Board Pushed To Allow More Lead In School Water

Jess Clark

The Lens published an investigation in August revealing the Orleans Parish School Board abandoned plans to test school water for lead. Last week, Lens...

A natural gas-fired power plant owned by local power utility Entergy.

Local News

What Does Repealing The Clean Power Plan Mean For Louisiana? Maybe Not Much For Now

Travis Lux

Since taking office, the Trump administration has been looking for ways to repeal the Clean Power Plan — the Obama administration's policy to reduce...