Three new proposed chemical plants could more than quadruple ammonia production in the Donaldsonville area, leaving Ascension residents to face more toxic air pollution and possible chemical disasters, according to a new report from Rural Roots and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
Tiny air pollutants appear to cause molecular changes in expectant mothers' blood that can impact fetal development and cause stress in the mother, which could be behind early labor and health problems for babies.
New research shows that typically, less than 10% of land-building alluvium reaches the Bird’s Foot Delta region, the southernmost reach of the river, where it meets the Gulf.
As the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion flounders amid politics, some scientists say that doubts about its effectiveness can be addressed by Neptune Pass, which branched off the Mississippi on its own and is creating the largest new delta in North America.
The shrimp stopped coming up the Calcasieu River after Venture Global built its Liquified Natural Gas terminal. The river’s ongoing pollution, on top of decades of hazardous waste dumping, earned the Calcasieu the #9 slot on American Rivers’ 2025 list of most endangered rivers.
During a visit to Venture Global’s liquified natural gas plant in Port Sulphur, Gov. Jeff Landry and two members of President Trump’s cabinet told workers that securing U.S. energy dominance would build prosperity and world peace. Critics say that LNG is heading toward a glut, which will prompt prices to drop, leaving communities with little but the pollution left behind.
The head of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the president of St. John Parish said the West Bank is “now open for business.”
A jury found that the defendants didn’t violate Joy Banner’s right to free speech or the Louisiana Open Meetings Law. But testimony revealed a hatred the Parish President harbors against the co-founders of The Descendants Project.
Joy Banner of The Descendants Project brought the lawsuit after the Parish Council chairman threatened her with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a 2023 meeting.
Louisiana secured the bill’s largest project authorization, for St. Tammany Flood Risk Management. New Orleans scored authorization for a study about salt water in the river.
