epa | WWNO

Coastal Desk

EPA takes over hazardous material cleanup after Tangipahoa industrial fire

Wesley Muller (Louisiana Illuminator)

Gov. Landry says residents should wait to clean property until toxicity tests are complete.

The Denka plant in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Coastal Desk

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

Greg LaRose (Louisiana Illuminator)

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.

Louisiana obtained a grant to replace lead pipes for schools and childcare facilities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Public Health

Louisiana set to receive $412,000 from EPA to address lead pipes in schools, childcare facilities

Elise Plunk (Louisiana Illuminator)

Louisiana will get $412,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove lead pipes for schools and childcare facilities across the state.

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.

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

‘Solar for Y’all’ faces hazy future in Louisiana

Elise Plunk (Louisiana Illuminator)

The future of millions of dollars in funding to help low-income Louisiana residents access solar energy has grown increasingly uncertain as the Trump administration attempts to slash grant programs awarded under its predecessor.

Heather McTeer Toney, executive director of Beyond Petrochemicals, takes a boat tour of Corpus Christi Bay in Texas with local members of the Coastal Watch Association who are fighting against several proposed petrochemical facilities in the area. Toney says President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on climate groups and environmental justice “feels scary.”

Coastal Desk

Criminal targeting of environmental groups ‘scary,’ advocates say

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Groups now worry about FBI probes as they struggle to rebound from federal spending freeze enacted under President Donald Trump.

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.

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.

Runoff creates a visible line in the Appomattox River, a major tributary of the James River, which flows into southern Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Credit: Kenny Fletcher, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Coastal Desk

Could the Mississippi River benefit from Chesapeake Bay’s strategy to improve water quality?

Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch

Sluggish progress on reducing nutrient runoff into the Bay marks an inconvenient truth, but offers lessons for others seeking to clean their watersheds.

ECOS President Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks instructs Fifth Ward Elementary School students as they make their own room sprays to take home during a workshop on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

Coastal Desk

In heart of Louisiana’s chemical corridor, elementary students learn about ‘green chemistry’

Halle Parker

Community groups in St. John the Baptist Parish partnered with an eco-friendly business to encourage students to pursue environmentally sustainable careers.