Congressman Troy Carter is upset the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality as granted Denka Performance Elastomer, a chemical plant in St. John Parish, a two-year extension to reduce emissions. Sean Richardson has more.
Cut 1 (31) …I’m Sean Richardson.”
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Louisiana State Police Crime Lab has launched a statewide sexual assault kit tracking program. Mel Bridges has the details.
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Mel Bridges.”
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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has cited six fishermen for illegally catching 120 red snapper of which 97 were undersized in Plaquemines Parish. The men face thousands of dollars in fines. LDWF Captain Tim Fox says 33-year-old Encarnacion Lopez of Chalmette and five illegal immigrants were issued citations.
Cut 3 (12) “…fishing that day.”
Fox says Red snapper fishing is tightly regulated to ensure sustainable populations, and each angler is allowed to only catch four a day and must be over 16 inches.
The LDWF emphasizes the importance of following fishing rules to protect marine ecosystems and ensure the long-term viability of fish species.
The agents seized the fish and donated them to Second Harvest Food Bank on behalf of the Hunters for the Hungry Louisiana.
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Congressman Troy Carter is upset the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has granted Denka Performance Elastomer, a chemical plant in St. John Parish, a two-year extension to reduce emissions. Carter says the extension undermines efforts to protect the health of nearby communities, who have been exposed to harmful emissions from the plant.
Denka has criticized the new regulations as politically motivated and based on flawed science.
The EPA gave Denka until October 15th to cut 98-percent of its chloroprene emissions. But Denka says it’s an unrealistic timeline and will result in the plant closing. Carter says the health of the area residents should be the top priority…
Cut 7 (10) “…anti-violator move..”
He reaffirmed his commitment to working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and community advocates to ensure strong environmental oversight and improve air quality in affected areas
Denka says the plant does not pose a public health threat and they’ve already spent 35-million dollars on emission controls.
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The Louisiana State Police Crime Lab has launched a statewide sexual assault kit tracking program as a result of a law approved in 2023. Captain Chad Guidry with the crime lab says this will make the tracking process more transparent for survivors.
Cut 9 (12) “…prosecution time.”
Louisiana law now requires law enforcement to take a kit within 72 hours of collection at a medical facility, and submit the reported kit to crime labs within 30 days. Guidry says the program is helpful not only for survivors, as it ensures they know where their kit is in that process, but for law enforcement too.
For survivors, the program looks like a portal on the LSP website they can put their kit number into and see where it is. For law enforcement, the portal shows where the kit is and which departments have already handled it. What the portal does not show, Guidry says, is personal information.
Cut 11 (12) ” …survivor’s side.”
The Tracking System and Survivor Portal can be found under the Services tab at LSP.org.
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Most of the state is under an excessive heat warning today, but LSU climatologist Barry Keim says this dome of high pressure that’s helping to bake Louisiana is also keeping Hurricane Beryl from making a turn towards the Gulf Coast…
Beryl is a Category Four hurricane that’s expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica tomorrow. A landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is expected Friday and Keim says Beryl is expected to re-emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm over the weekend…
Keim says most of the model runs have Beryl making a final landfall near the Texas-Mexico border…