The combination of fog and thick smoke may return this weekend, as a peat fire in remote New Orleans East swamp burns underground. Unlike the fire in Lafitte, which is actively being battled by firefighting crews, the Orleans blaze is largely unchecked. But it's now watered by two pumps from the Sewerage & Water Board pouring the equivalent of two Olympic-size pools a day into the marsh.
OJJ pays $75 per hour to staffing company for guards. Critics say that contractor seems to be “enriching themselves on the backs of Louisiana's teenagers and taxpayers’
As the Clean Water Act turns 51 today, environmental advocates scramble to understand a new judicial interpretation that leaves more than half of the country’s 118 million acres of wetlands unprotected, including the swamps of Acadiana and key waterfowl habitat.
Several historic sites would suffer “adverse effects” from construction of gigantic Greenfield Grain Terminal, says review of rural St. John the Baptist Parish – which was recently placed at the top spot of a nationwide list of places vulnerable to climate risks.
While the move was largely made to bring down the jail’s population, placing pre-trial defendants in a state prison is “really problematic on a human-being level,” said public defender Alexis Chernow. The move also worries victims, who fear cases could stall if defendants not prepped for court and transported.
West Bank residents fighting the gigantic Greenfield Grain Terminal are heartened by news from the National Park Service, which will spend the next year considering a largely rural, 14-mile stretch of Great River Road for a prestigious historical designation.
Calvin Cains III was killed in early June by a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies who said they used lethal force to prevent Cains from running them over. But two key witnesses dispute that account, saying that Cains had just gotten into the car and may had not have even turned the key.
Noxious refinery fire deals another blow to Garyville neighbors, weary of fighting harmful emissions. Across the river, the blaze strengthens neighbors' commitment to block the introduction of industry there.
Also, advocacy group VOTE sues the city for quietly shuffling city funds totaling $32 million to the Phase III “special needs” jail.
Every month for past four months, a decade-long malfunction has returned, covering nearby blocks with dime-sized drops of oil.
