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ELECTION 2026
Redrawing U.S. House map could begin this week STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE
Bags of recycled oyster shells are unloaded from a boat and placed along the shoreline during a Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana event at Morgan Harbor Pass in St. Bernard Parish on April 17. The shells are used to help build a living shoreline to reduce erosion and create habitat.
ä See EARTHQUAKES, page 4A
ä See MAP, page 8A
BY JOSIE ABUGOV
Staff writer
Birds gather and take flight from recycled oyster shells placed along the shoreline at Morgan Harbor Pass in St. Bernard Parish.
Rash of earthquakes rattling north La. Researchers monitoring oil, gas operations as potential cause
the northern half of the state, including one tremor that matched the largest in state history. In a letter last month, the Environmental Protection Agency told state regulators to more closely watch how oil and gas companies inject brine into the BY SAM KARLIN and DAVID MITCHELL ground. Both regulators and scientists Staff writers are homing in on such wastewater wells Federal regulators are asking Louisi- as a potential culprit for the earthquakes. The 11 earthquakes recorded in the ana to step up oversight of oil and gas operations after a rash of earthquakes in region over the past month warrant “a
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closer examination to ensure the safety of underground sources of drinking water,” the EPA told Louisiana’s Department of Conservation and Energy. Now, researchers are installing seismometers and aftershock monitors across northwest Louisiana and the state’s Department of Conservation and Energy is investigating saltwater disposal wells in a bid to find the cause.
Pair of coastal projects create solutions on the edge of the marsh using oyster shells, mangroves, concrete breakwater
ä See SHORELINE, page 10A
BY TYLER BRIDGES The process of redrawing Louisiana’s congressional districts could begin as soon as Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the voting map and Gov. Jeff Landry put the brakes on that looming vote. State senators say they have been holding feverish talks behind the scenes to devise a plan to address the ruling last week that Louisiana’s House congressional map is unconstitutional because it relied too heavily on race when it was drawn. On Thursday, saying he would not allow Louisiana to vote on an illegal map, Landry declared an emergency that canceled the May 16 primary for the six U.S. House elections. A key person in what hap- Landry pens next is state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen. He is both the chair of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee — which is where the redistricting bills will likely start — and sponsor of one of those bills. “I’m sure we’re going to Kleinpeter have fireworks somewhere,” Kleinpeter said. On Friday, Kleinpeter said he hopes his committee will take public testimony and pass a redistricting bill on Wednesday, but he acknowledged that that plan may be too ambitious. Lawmakers would face a tighter timetable if the committee has to wait a week but would likely still have enough time since the regular legislative session doesn’t end until June 1. The decisions have thrown Louisiana’s elections into disarray after absentee voting had already begun for the May 16 primary and just before a week of early voting began on Saturday. These developments will mean new districts for Louisiana’s congressional delegation — which currently has four Republicans and two Democrats — unless one of several lawsuits that have just been filed gum up those plans. Together, these events have also spawned confusion and lots of questions. Here are the best answers we have so far.
‘LIVING SHORELINE’
On the far reaches of the Louisiana marsh, a few dozen volunteers were engaged in a weightlifting workout with unconventional equipment: 30-pound bags of recycled oyster shells. The volunteers for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana passed the oyster bags in a line of people toward a muddy shoreline along the eastern edge of the Biloxi Marsh, the last piece of land before the Chandeleur Islands. “We are protecting a small but mighty sliver of the marsh,” said Fiona Lightbody, CRCL’s program manager for oyster recycling. They were building what is called a “living shoreline,” a growing tool for coastal protection across Louisiana,
Redistricting bills already filed for regular session of La. Legislature
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