Louisiana’s St. Tammany Parish Comes One Step Closer to Fracking
The Department of Louisiana Natural Resources (DNR) has approved a unit permit for Helis Oil & Gas Company for a site in St. Tammany Parish that the company plans to…
Julie Dermansky
Nine Years After Katrina, Coastal Restoration Plans Remain Distant Dream for New Orleans
The scars of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans that remain nine years later are a reminder of the city’s vulnerability to rising tides and storm surges. Both Katrina and Rita,…
General Honoré, Enviro Groups Call for Strengthening EPA’s Proposed Refinery Pollution Standards
Millions of people living near refineries will be directly affected by a long awaited updates to regulations the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for oil refineries. Their new proposed rule…
Breaking: Denton City Council Rejects Fracking Ban: Referendum Will Be on November Ballot
The failure of the Denton city council to pass a fracking ban in Denton, Texas, after a meeting that went on for over eight hours last night, was no surprise…
Breaking: Triumph For Citizens in Florida As Hughes Oil Company Drops Fracking Project
On Friday morning, Dan A. Hughes Oil Company and the Collier Resources Company agreed to terminate their lease agreement, with the exception of the Collier Hogan 20-3H well, next to…
A Forgotten Community in New Orleans: Life on a Superfund Site
Shannon Rainey lives in a house that was built on top of a Superfund site in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. “I bought my house when I was…
Breaking: TransCanada Shuts Down Southern Leg of Keystone XL Pipeline, Raising “Suspicions”
TransCanada shut down the southern leg of the Keystone XL (now called the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project) on June 2 for “routine work,” according to Reuters. “Pipelines aren’t normally shut…
Questions Raised About Integrity of Keystone XL’s Southern Route After Conditions Added for Northern Leg
The Keystone XL pipeline’s southern route passes under Eleanor Fairchild’s Texas property, so she got angry when she learned that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has added…
The Florida Everglades: A New Frontline for Fracking?
Pamela and Jamie Duran of Naples, Fla., had not spent much time worrying about fracking. Like most Floridians, they’d been repeatedly told it couldn’t happen there. Until it did. Texas-based…
Photos of Superstorms and Extreme Events, Inspired by Years of Living Dangerously
The release of Showtime’s “Years of Living Dangerously” series about climate change inspired me to edit a collection of my climate change related photographs. They include the aftermath of extreme…
Bayou Corne Residents Still Evacuated Nearly Two Years After Salt Mine Collapse Caused Sinkhole
It’s been almost two years since a salt mine collapsed in Bayou Corne, 77 miles from New Orleans, causing a sinkhole to open up and natural gas to spread under…
Residents Deliver Petition to Ban Fracking to City Hall in Denton, Texas
A petition to ban hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in Denton, Texas, is being submitted to City Hall today, paving the way for Denton to become the first city in Texas…
Louisiana Residents Gear Up For Fracking Fight Just Outside New Orleans
In mid-April, word started spreading like wildfire among Louisiana residents: Helis Oil & Gas LLC wants to drill a well in search of oil and gas on a 960-acre tract…
Barnett Shale Fracking Victims Win First Round in Court Battle with Gas Industry
Legal tremors are reverberating in the Barnett Shale region in Texas after yesterday’s $2.925 million dollar verdict in favor of the plaintiffs Bob and Lisa Parr, who sued Aruba Petroleum…
In Celebration of Earth Day: Photos Capture the Beauty of Southeastern Louisiana’s Wetlands
Louisiana’s wetlands are threatened by coastal erosion, climate change and the oil and gas industry. The Green Army, a group representing environmental and social justice organizations led by retired Lt.…
Four Years After the BP Oil Disaster, A Look Back in Photographs
Just prior to the four-year anniversary of the BP oil spill, BP and the Coast Guard issued press releases. BP announced the “active cleanup” in Louisiana is over, while the…
Insect Population Dwindling in Louisiana Marshlands Four Years After BP Blowout
Louisiana State University entomologist Linda Hooper-Bui has been studying the impact of the BP oil spill on insects and spiders for almost four years. She started her study shortly after…
Eight Members of Congress Call for EPA to Reopen Contaminated Water Studies Near Fracking Fields
Eight members of Congress, led by Democratic Representative Matt Cartwright (PA), have written to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking it to “investigate and address” water contamination…
Imperiled Migratory Birds in Path of Galveston Oil Spill on Anniversary of Exxon Valdez Disaster
Heavy fuel oil that spilled from a Kirby Inland Marine oil barge after it collided with a cargo ship on March 22, began washing up on Galveston Bay’s shoreline on…
Green Army Prepares to Battle Louisiana Legislators To Protect Water From Oil Industry Threats
The Green Army, a group representing environmental and social justice organizations led by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, met on the steps of the state capitol for a rally preceding…