Coastal Desk

Coastal News Roundup: Small Dead Zone Explained

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Mark Schleifstein

Published August 3, 2018 at 4:41 PM CDT

This year's dead zone was 2,720 square miles. That's much smaller than last year's 8,776 square miles -- but still bigger than the state and federal goal.

This week on the Coastal News Roundup: An update on parish lawsuits against oil and gas companies over damages to wetlands, plus, why the Gulf of Mexico dead zone was so much smaller this year.

WWNO’s Travis Lux sat down with Mark Schleifstein from Nola.com/The Times-Picayune to talk about the week in coastal news.

Catch the Coastal News Roundup every Friday at 7:44am and 4:44pm on 89.9 FM.

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

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Travis Lux

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.

See stories by Travis Lux

Coastal News Roundup: Small Dead Zone Explained

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