coastal desk

As the Mississippi River drops to one of its lowest levels in recent history, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said salt water from the Gulf of Mexico could threaten drinking water as far north as New Orleans’ French Quarter if no action is taken.

It’s not easy to picture what’s in the air we breathe in Louisiana and Mississippi. But earlier this month, a researcher debuted a new tool that could help. It maps pollution in the region, and some environmental groups are already using it.

Three weeks after a state judge struck down a controversial zoning law, St. John the Baptist Parish Council is considering reinstating the same law to allow the construction of a $479 million grain elevator.

After more than 2,000 permit deviations, state officials have ordered Louisiana’s newest natural gas export facility to come into compliance and could impose steep fines on the company that operates it.

Limited details have been released following a series of explosions and a fire at one of Louisiana’s largest petrochemical complexes on Friday. Dow Chemical Company has yet to provide an explanation as of Monday, upsetting environmental advocates, after the incident rocked homes in Iberville Parish and Baton Rouge.

After long-awaited updates to Louisiana’s building code, the Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the state will receive more than $1.6 million to implement them and build more energy-efficient houses that will be more equipped to survive hurricanes.

Less than two weeks into the official start of summer, record-breaking heat has already swamped Louisiana and much of the South. And forecasters say the dangerous heat will likely continue.

Residents from across the state flocked to Baton Rouge this week to weigh in on Louisiana’s attempt to gain authority for regulating a new class of injection wells that are used to bury carbon beneath the ground.

The Environmental Protection Agency kicked off a three-day public hearing in Baton Rouge on Wednesday as they consider granting the state control over permitting wells used to inject carbon underground.

Lake Charles residents say the Biden administration has given them an opportunity to remedy those needs as trillions of dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act funnel into disadvantaged communities like Lake Charles.But they also believe federal agencies need to ensure that money goes to the area’s most vulnerable residents, who say they haven’t seen the same level of local investments.