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Coastal News Roundup: Refinery Flare Edition

Roy Luck
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Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Refineries often get rid of excess refining byproducts by burning them off. Those burning events are known as flares.

Last weekend, New Orleanians noticed a big fireball coming from the Chalmette Refining refinery. Some worried there had been an explosion, but it turns out it was a really big flare — a fiery plume that burns off excess stuff created during the oil refining process.

 

This week on the Coastal News Roundup, we take a closer look at flares. Mark Schleifstein from Nola.com|The Times-Picayune breaks it down for WWNO's Travis Lux.

 

 

Support for the Coastal Desk comes from the Walton Family Foundtion, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Foundation for Louisiana, and local listeners.

 

As Coastal Reporter, Travis Lux covers flood protection, coastal restoration, infrastructure, the energy and seafood industries, and the environment. In this role he's reported on everything from pipeline protests in the Atchafalaya swamp, to how shrimpers cope with low prices. He had a big hand in producing the series, New Orleans: Ready Or Not?, which examined how prepared New Orleans is for a future with more extreme weather. In 2017, Travis co-produced two episodes of TriPod: New Orleans at 300 examining New Orleans' historic efforts at flood protection. One episode, NOLA vs Nature: The Other Biggest Flood in New Orleans History, was recognized with awards from the Public Radio News Directors and the New Orleans Press Club. His stories often find a wider audience on national programs, too, like NPR's Morning Edition, WBUR's Here and Now, and WHYY's The Pulse.

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