NEW ORLEANS (AP) — When a south Louisiana flood board and a few coastal parishes took oil and gas companies to court over coastal wetland loss it looked like a new chapter might be opening in Louisiana: government agencies taking political risks to hold a major industry accountable for environmental damage. Fans of old fashioned Louisiana politics can take heart, ...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Far offshore and a mile deep in the dark world below the Gulf of Mexico’s gleaming surface, the catastrophic BP oil spill of 2010 did untold damage on the ocean floor. But scientists are unsure they can do much to heal places in the deep that were hurt the most as they undertake what’s being called ...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Justice Department is urging a federal court to let industry regulators decide if a New Orleans company has done enough to end a decade-old oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that could last another century. Taylor Energy Company sued the federal government in January to recover more than $400 million that it set ...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out some criminal charges filed against companies and employees following a 2012 oil platform fire that killed three people off Louisiana’s coast. But serious charges remain for some in connection to the fire, which broke out on a platform owned by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC. Criminal charges involving safety ...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry moved Tuesday to take over lawsuits filed by three parishes that claim oil and gas activities have damaged coastal wetlands. Landry’s office says it filed motions to intervene in 39 state court lawsuits filed by Cameron, Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes against numerous oil and gas companies. The documents say Landry, as ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proposal to redirect Gulf oil spill recovery money to rebalance this year’s budget appears to conflict with a legal settlement the state struck two years ago, aimed at ending a lawsuit over Louisiana’s “rainy day” fund. Edwards wants to steer $200 million Louisiana is receiving this year from BP PLC, compensation for ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council has approved $52 million in Deepwater Horizon project money for coastal restoration projects. News outlets report that the federal-state Restore Act council approved the funds Wednesday for six coastal-restoration projects and a study of the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana. The money comes from Clean Water Act fines paid by ...

NEW ORLEANS — The next governor will play a crucial role in Louisiana’s coastal crisis — either by aggressively working to save the coast or missing a prime opportunity to stop the state from slipping further into the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana is poised to receive about $8.7 billion in settlement money over damages caused by BP’s catastrophic 2010 Gulf ...

NEW ORLEANS — Dozens of Louisiana shrimpers — ranging from Vietnamese-Americans to Cajun fishermen — rallied Wednesday in downtown New Orleans to bewail low prices, farm-raised shrimp imports and other woes in their industry. Shrimpers spoke out at a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, a body of industry and government representatives that regulates fishing in the ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — A new reports finds the ability of coastal wetlands to absorb, and retain, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could be a means to help restore parts of Louisiana’s disappearing coastline. Sarah Mack, one of the report’s authors and president and CEO of Tierra Resources, tells The Advocate she doesn’t see carbon fully funding a coastal ...