Louisiana

Guest column: A new geological risk for Louisiana?

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2023

Guest column: A new geological risk for Louisiana?

What are the risks of burying carbon dioxide deep underground? This once-obscure topic has gained attention as debates over carbon capture and sequestration roll across our state. As a geologist who has worked in Louisiana for 15 years, I believe these risks have not yet been well communicated to decision-makers and the public, and I want to take a few minutes of your time to share my concerns.

Carbon capture and sequestration is a tool that has been proposed to address climate change. Climate change, which is driven by the increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, is a concern for Louisiana. It causes hurricanes to strengthen and ocean levels to rise — risks that too many of us know too well. CCS seeks to capture carbon dioxide from the waste stream of an industrial facility, pressurize it, and inject it deep into Earth’s crust where it will hopefully stay for thousands of years.

While some CCS technologies are decades old, few projects have done it on the scale that is being proposed in Louisiana. For example, the Decatur, Illinois project — often considered to be one of the largest, most successful CCS projects to date — stored 1 million metric ton of carbon dioxide over a three-year period. In contrast, Louisiana’s annual output is nearly 200 times greater. The technology is still relatively new, particularly relative to the scale that is now being proposed, and this relative newness raises risks for Louisianans.

Several risks associated with CCS were presented in a 2019 report by the National Petroleum Council, a panel of academics, professionals and technical experts who have been advising the federal government on energy issues since the Truman administration. This report developed a road map to implementing CCS, and pointed out some of risks that could appear along the way.

According to this report, some of the biggest risks come from old oil and gas fields. Old wells act something like straws in the earth — they are easy pathways that carbon dioxide can take to reach the surface. Oil and gas extraction, the report points out, can also alter rocks, cracking them or making them less conducive to CCS. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can further damage rocks, making them more susceptible to leaking carbon dioxide.

Here in Louisiana, we should take note of these risks. There has been oil and gas drilling in this state for over a century, and there have been hundreds of thousands of wells drilled. Today, there are thousands of orphan wells in Louisiana and the nearshore regions of the Gulf of Mexico, some of which are not capped. Risks associated with oil and gas fields, wells, active and abandoned, need to be addressed to minimize the chances of accidents or blowouts.

If carbon dioxide does disperse underground, it could be problematic for our groundwater resources. When dissolved in water, carbon dioxide is a corrosive acid that could cause toxic elements like copper, chromium, arsenic or radium to leach out of the aquifer rocks and into groundwater. These contaminants could be harmful to people who drink well water, or industries that use groundwater in their processes.

Louisiana also needs to consider whether injecting high-pressure carbon dioxide could cause the ground to shift. In Oklahoma, wastewater injection caused a sharp increase in the rate and size of earthquakes — most in places where earthquakes seldom occurred before. While Louisiana’s rocks are less susceptible to earthquakes, the state has many geological faults that could become active and move if injected with fluids like high-pressure carbon dioxide. This could be problematic in Louisiana, where shifting lands contribute to the fragility of our landscape. For reasons that should be obvious, we do not want the ground shifting underneath a levee, road, bridge or home.

There are also risks to Louisiana’s landscape. The build-out of CCS will require an expansion of Louisiana’s pipeline network, and we know that pipeline canals are one cause of land loss in Louisiana. A CCS expansion will also lead to the construction of large facilities in Louisiana’s coastal zone, and our coast is becoming a difficult place to work, as ever-more-intense storms strike this increasingly fragile landscape.

In my professional view, there are risks associated with CCS that we need to take seriously. I call upon my friends and colleagues in Louisiana’s science community to start investigating the challenges associated with CCS, so that we can have a more informed conversation about the potential trade-offs associated with this new activity slated to occur on our landscape.

Alexander S. Kolker is an associate professor at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

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Louisiana

North Louisiana braces for icy roads as DOTD implements winter weather plans

Published

5 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

North Louisiana braces for icy roads as DOTD implements winter weather plans

MONROE, La. (KNOE) – As temperatures drop and wintry weather looms, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is taking proactive measures to ensure safety on Northeast Louisiana roads.

Erin Buchanan, spokesperson for the DOTD, emphasized the importance of caution for travelers during this time:
“Don’t drive unless you have to, like it’s really necessary,” she advised.

With potential ice and snow predicted, particularly in Morehouse and Union Parishes, DOTD crews will begin prepping highways, bridges and overpasses with salt and brine to prevent dangerous ice buildup.

DOTD’s winter weather operations will include deploying 50 trucks and approximately 260 personnel, including scouts who monitor road conditions and report back in real time.

While DOTD focuses on maintaining state highways, Buchanan also shared advice for all drivers who may encounter icy roads:
“If it’s absolutely necessary for you to travel, slow down. Don’t think that you can make it through there. Even if to the naked eye it looks like there’s not much accumulation on the bridge or overpass, there still could be some slick spots, even with the best of our measures.”

Local law enforcement is also on alert. The Morehouse Parish Sheriff’s Office announced it will deploy extra patrols to assist with roadway safety and respond to emergencies during the expected winter weather.

With winter weather on the horizon, DOTD officials urge residents to stay off the roads if possible. If travel is unavoidable, drivers should reduce speed, avoid sudden movements and exercise extreme caution, particularly on bridges and overpasses.

For the latest updates on road conditions, visit the DOTD’s website or follow their social media channels.

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Louisiana

Louisiana mayor arrested in connection with drug trafficking investigation

Published

13 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana mayor arrested in connection with drug trafficking investigation

One of the US’s youngest municipal mayors was arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with a drug trafficking investigation by authorities in his home state of Louisiana.

The charges against Tyrin Truong, who was 23 when he was elected as mayor of the city of Bogalusa in 2022, include engaging in transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses and the illicit solicitation of sex work.

Truong is among seven defendants charged in the investigation conducted by Louisiana state police and the Bogalusa police department.

According to a statement from the state police, investigators allege that Truong and the others collectively used “social media platforms to distribute [drugs illegally] and manage payments” for them, “further expanding their reach and criminal activity”.

“The investigation also determined that profits from drug sales were used to purchase firearms,” the state police’s statement continued. Some of those guns were then funneled to people who could not legally possess those weapons – and others “were linked to violent crimes in the Bogalusa area”, the statement added.

Truong, now 25, faces counts of transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses, unauthorized use of moveable property and soliciting for prostitutes.

Six others from Bogalusa also are charged with transactions involving drug-related proceeds. They are: MacKenzie Lynn Cefalu, 24; De-Saleem Wali Pittman, 24; Dirul S Pittman, 22; Salehal-Dien Malike Pittman, 26; Tonya Renee Stage, 51; and Devan Michael Williams, 28.

De-Saleem Pittman is accused of distributing illegal drugs and that defendant, Cefalu, Stage and Williams are accused of plotting to do so.

Truong, a Democrat, pulled off what was considered an upset victory when he won the mayor’s seat of Bogalusa by defeating the independent incumbent Wendy Perrette. Having graduated from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, with a degree in African American studies, Truong was the youngest mayor in the history of the 111-year-old city, which has a population of about 10,000.

The Black grandson of a Vietnamese immigrant who fought in the Vietnam war, Truong later told the Louisiana Illuminator that his priorities were to decrease crime and corruption in Bogalusa, which in 2008 had made unflattering national headlines after a woman who had just been initiated into a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was shot to death.

Truong encountered troubled political waters in April when he received a letter from Louisiana’s legislative auditor informing him that the city’s government had fallen out of compliance with state audit laws. The municipal government had not turned in its 2022 audited financial statement, which was due about six months after Truong took office in January 2023.

That left Bogalusa – which is about 73 miles north of New Orleans – unable to legally receive state money, grants, or federal dollars that would support infrastructure, recreation and law enforcement services.

In a written response, Truong argued that his predecessor did not facilitate a proper transition.

Truong did not immediately comment on authorities’ allegations against him. He had delivered Bogalusa’s state of the city address just four days before his arrest – and said he was elected at an age when many people are still learning “valuable life lessons”.

“I am not different,” Truong said. “I appreciate the trust in confidence you have placed in me, and I don’t take it lightly. Every day, we aim to get better.

“And I ask that we all extend more grace to one another. Mistakes will be made – as they have been. But I was always taught that you get back up, brush it off and apply the lesson for [the] future.”

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Louisiana

Alabama football adds former Louisiana RB via transfer portal: Reports

Published

21 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

Alabama football adds former Louisiana RB via transfer portal: Reports

Alabama football added a running back through the transfer portal Monday evening, when Dre’Lyn Washington, formerly of Louisiana, opted to join the Crimson Tide, according multiples reports, first from Hayes Fawcett of On3. Washington spent four seasons with the Ragin’ Cajuns before entering the transfer portal.

Washington bolsters an Alabama running backs room that was depleted when Justice Haynes transferred to Michigan following the 2024 regular season. Jam Miller remains with the Crimson Tide, after leading the team in rushing at the position, and Richard Young also figures to play a major role in 2025.

Washington finished the 2024 season with 73 carries for 478 yards, a 6.5-yard average, and five touchdowns. He also contributed six catches for 107 yards and another score.

The 5-foot-9, 224-pound Texas native was a three-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. He took a visit to Alabama before committing to the Crimson Tide.

In addition to Washington, Miller and Young, the Alabama running back room also currently includes Daniel Hill and Kevin Riley. The Crimson Tide also signed Akylin Dear in the 2025 recruiting class.

The transfer portal is officially closed for Alabama players, following a five-day window that began when the Tide lost the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan to end the 2024 season. Players already in the portal are free to sign with any team that will have them.

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