Truthout
Louisiana
![A woman holds a small stop sign with "STOP FERMOSA" written on it](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/01/0-400x300.jpg)
The Corporate Assault on Cancer Alley Created an Environmental Justice Warrior
Sharon Lavigne is sick of being told by politicians that chemical plants are welcome in historically Black communities.
![Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at New York's Grand Central Station on August 29, 2019, to denounce the Trump administration's immigrant detention and deportation policies.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/01/2020_0109-asylum-protest-400x300.jpg)
After 68 Days, Hunger Strikers in ICE Custody Are on the Brink of Death
Hunger strikes have erupted at immigration jails nationwide in recent years.
![A chemical plant](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/12/2019_1209-chemical-plant-400x300.jpg)
Chemical Companies Are Building Their Plants Overseas and Shipping Them Back In
Louisiana attracts chemical companies with one of the country’s most generous tax exemptions.
![The entrance to the Temporary Detention Center at the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Built in the decade after Hurricane Katrina, this “temporary” row of squat, metal-sided structures were supposed to shut down in 2017.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/12/Jail-entrance-400x300.jpg)
New Orleans Activists Clash With Sheriff Over Jail Expansion
New Orleans will jail people living with mental illness in post-Katrina structures that were slated to close years ago.
![A screen shot from a drone video from the site of a fracked gas well blowout, at wells operated by GEP Haynesville, LLC, in Red River Parish, Louisiana, on October 1, 2019.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/10/gas-blowout-fire-haynesville-Oct1_credit-Phin-Percy-Jr-400x300.jpg)
Fracked Gas Blowout in Louisiana Could Burn for Two More Months
The flare has gone out at times, resulting in fluid from the well spreading a mist into the sky over a mile away.
![Members of a community sit in a church](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/08/602A9647-Edit-400x300.jpg)
Opponents Delay $1.25 Billion Plastics Factory in Louisiana
If built, the 250-acre complex would release some 300 tons of toxic air emissions per year.
!["Heartbeat bills" aren't the only effort that legislatures are taking to restrict access to reproductive health care.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/07/GettyImages-1145542951-400x300.jpg)
Southern States Funnel Public Money to Fake Abortion Clinics
"Heartbeat bills" aren't the only effort that legislatures are taking to restrict access to reproductive health care.
![Dozens of anti-pipeline protesters post for a photo with their signs](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/05/2019_0524-pipeline-protest-400x300.jpg)
Pipeline Activists Challenge Louisiana Law That Criminalizes Protest
A new lawsuit could set an important precedent for activists fighting fossil fuels nationwide.
![](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/05/RCC_yard-400x300.jpg)
Asylum Seekers Are Being “Disappeared” in Private Louisiana Jails
Migrants are increasingly hard to track down amid a tangled web of private contractors and misinformation.
![Capt. George Ricks in the Breton Sound next to a dead dolphin, one of three he found on May 7, 2019.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2019/05/9B3A9445-Edit-400x300.jpg)
As More Diverted Floodwaters Head Their Way, Dolphins Keep Dying in Louisiana
The historic opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway is happening during an ongoing and mysterious dolphin die-off.