By Wes Muller | Staff Reporter
The Illuminator continues its coverage of waste containment issues and other infractions at the Atalco alumna refinery in Gramercy, a facility officials have deemed as critical to the U.S. supply chain.
The Atalco bauxite refinery in Gramercy. (Wes Muller/LAI)
By Wes Muller
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality remains engaged in confidential settlement negotiations with Atalco over waste leaks and other violations at its alumina refinery in Gramercy. Meanwhile, a federal judge has kept a lawsuit against the company sidelined, and state inspectors recently found more waste from the facility leaking into ditches that drain to a swamp that connects to Lake Maurepas.
The Big Four Bridge over the Ohio River. (Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
By Jacob Fischler
The stopgap spending bill supported by an overwhelming majority of U.S. senators does not address tens of billions in expiring transportation funding, leaving Louisiana and other states facing a massive effective budget cut starting Oct. 1.
Rows of solar panels generate electricity at the University of Louisiana–Lafayette’s solar research lab, Oct. 10, 2025. (Wes Muller/LAI)
By Delaney Nolan | The Lens
Misinformation has become one of the primary hurdles for utility-scale solar projects like one that the Iberia Parish Council voted down last year. Similar campaigns have targeted solar development in other states, and they have been linked to a network of “AI slop machine” accounts. Many of the accounts are anonymously run, based in Bangladesh and appear to be rapidly producing a volume of “emotionally resonant, locally targeted content … to manufacture the appearance of organic, grassroots consensus.”
By Alex Brown
As millions of acres burn across the western United States, some wildland fire veterans are fearful that aggressive fire suppression tactics ordered by the Trump administration — coupled with extreme, fast-moving blazes — could put firefighters in danger as conditions escalate this month.
COMMENTARY
By Rochelle Wilcox
On June 30, care providers in Louisiana received notice about children at their facilities who would no longer be part of the state’s early childcare program. State funding was pulled, but the children were not. Their parents still have jobs and obligations that depend on our doors staying open.
D.C. DIGEST
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Michigan’s US Senate Democratic primary too close to call | Michigan Advance
Statewide vote on redistricting maps blocked, drawing lawsuit | Missouri Independent
Data centers could soon have to cover more power line costs | Virginia Mercury
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