Water quality

Dr. Ralph Abraham testifies in support of a bill that would the ban fluoridation of public water systems.

Politics

Capitol Access Minute: Committee advances bill to ban fluoride in water

The Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced legislation that would ban the fluoridation of public water systems. State Surgeon General Ralph Abraham supports Senate Bill 2, despite opposition from the Louisiana Dental Association.

This map shows an area that was under a precautionary boil water advisory on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

WWNO

Boil water notice for parts of New Orleans East lifted

Athina Morris

Residents can go back to using their tap water without having to boil it first.

Cara Coates with Missouri Stream Team fills up a bottle with stream water prior to testing. The group gathers data on water quality throughout Missouri.

Coastal Desk

Community volunteers play crucial role in studying water quality in Mississippi River basin

Julie Freijat (Flatland)

A new policy brief from the United Nations argues that citizen science is crucial to global water security. In the Midwest, various programs tap community members to test stream water quality and tag migratory butterflies.

Coastal Desk

Study finds lead in water at 88% of homes tested in New Orleans. Check if your pipes are affected

Eva Tesfaye

The Environmental Protection Agency has set a deadline of 2037 for lead line replacement. A new study out from the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans tested the water in nearly 150 homes in New Orleans. It found that 88% tested positive for lead.

Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work on raising a sill in the Mississippi River near Alliance to reduce the flow of saltwater upriver in 2023.

Coastal Desk

Saltwater intrusion on Mississippi River requires another sill to protect drinking water

Elise Plunk (Louisiana Illuminator)

Construction has begun on a saltwater sill near Myrtle Grove to help mitigate the effects of saltwater intrusion up the Mississippi River.

A shipping boat glides up the Mississippi River across from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans District headquarters off of Leake Ave on Sept. 15, 2023.

Coastal Desk

EPA implements new regulations for 'forever chemicals.' What does that mean for Louisiana's water?

Eva Tesfaye

PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” can cause cancer and problems during pregnancy.

Dow Chemical’s industrial complex in Plaquemine, three days after a fire and multiple explosions erupted at the plant on July 14, 2023.

Coastal Desk

Hazardous chemical found in water after Dow plant explosion

Wesley Muller (Louisiana Illuminator)

Water sampling after the recent explosion and fire at the Dow Chemical facility in Plaquemine found elevated levels of the hazardous compound ethylene oxide. But when the same sample was tested at a separate lab, it showed virtually no contamination, according to a preliminary incident report from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

An aerial view of barges and container ships traveling down the Mississippi River in April 2022. Industrial plants line the river banks.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana ranks 4th in the nation for industrial water pollution, new report says

Halle Parker

Louisiana allows more toxic chemicals to enter its waterways than most of the country, landing among the top-five states in a new analysis from three national environmental advocacy groups.

In a settlement, federal and state regulators required Canadian agricultural company PCS Nitrogen to clean up its radioactive stacks of phosphogypsum and ponds of corrosive wastewater accumulated after years of fertilizer production in Geismar, La.

Coastal Desk

Regulators require Louisiana fertilizer plant to pay for $84M cleanup of acidic ponds

Halle Parker

A Canadian fertilizer company will have to treat more than 1 billion pounds of acidic, hazardous wastewater accumulated from its now-defunct plant in Geismar and secure at least $84 million to properly close the facility, according to a settlement with federal and state environmental agencies released Thursday.

Cypress trees line Lake Maurepas on June 26, 2021. Like more than 90% of Louisiana's assessed water bodies, the lake isn't fully supportive of fish and wildlife habitat due to invasive plants and low oxygen levels.

Coastal Desk

Most of Louisiana’s waterways are polluted. Biggest reasons? Fertilizer and sewage

Halle Parker

Land runoff from farms and home sewage systems is the greatest threat to Louisiana’s waterways, according to a new analysis from the Environmental Integrity Project, a national nonpartisan watchdog.