In this aerial photo, sediment and mixed river water is seen as a tanker ship moves upriver in Plaquemines Parish, La., Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. A salt water wedge slowly moving upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, due to the unusually low water level in the river, may threaten municipal water supplies, potentially even New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
By Sara Cline
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that federal disaster assistance is available for Louisiana, which is working to slow a mass inflow of salt water creeping up the Mississippi River and threatening drinking water supplies in the southern part of the state.
Biden's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts, according to a news release from the White House. Additionally, the declaration will allow for more equipment, resources and federal money to address the saltwater intrusion.
“I’m grateful to the Biden administration for making this request a priority and responding quickly to help the people of South Louisiana,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a news release Wednesday.
For the second year in a row, salt water from the Gulf of Mexico has moved further up the Mississippi, threatening drinking water in communities that rely on the river for fresh water. Typically, the river’s mighty flow keeps mass amounts of salt water from reaching too far inland, but hot and dry conditions across the country this summer triggered drought that slowed the Mississippi’s flow and lowered its water levels.
In parts of Plaquemines Parish, the southeast corner of Louisiana encompasses the final stretch of the Mississippi River before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, residents have relied on bottled water for cooking and drinking since June.
Drinking water advisories have been issued for some communities in the parish, warning people the water is unsafe to drink, especially for people with kidney disease, high blood pressure, those on a low-sodium diet, infants and pregnant women.
Now the salt water is moving further upriver and will likely reach Orleans, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes by mid-to-late October, officials say.
Edwards wrote to Biden earlier this week to ask for federal help. In his letter, Edwards said that the issue “is of such severity and magnitude” that state and local authorities can no longer manage it on their own. Federal assistance is “necessary to save lives and to protect property, public health and safety or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster,” the governor wrote.
While officials say they are praying for rain to help increase the velocity of the drought-stricken river they are also taking matters into their own hands — raising the height of an underwater levee used to block or slow the salt water and bringing in 15 million gallons of fresh water to treatment facilities in impacted areas.
Schools across the country are determined to keep class in session, despite the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant. While many parents prefer in-person learning, they also worry whether the current public health guidelines will be enough to protect their kids. Erin Richards, national education reporter for USA Today, joined Cheddar to discuss how are schools are preparing for the surge to avoid another round of remote learning.
With the annual CES convention underway amid COVID, HP unveiled rolled out a number of new products virtually this year, including new gaming PCs and 4K display monitors. But as industries look toward a greener future, HP is working with the climate crisis in mind. James McCall, chief sustainability officer at HP, joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to discuss the company's climate goals, which includes reducing its carbon footprint to net-zero by 2040. He admitted that reaching the ambitious goal will be difficult because much of the company's emissions totals come from third parties. "A large part of our footprint is outside of HP's direct control. A lot of it comes either from our incoming supply chain, the materials, our manufacturing process, or about 30 to 40 percent of it comes from our consumer-use base," McCall told Cheddar.
Pfizer and BioNTech are working to develop an mRNA-based shingles vaccine following the success of the COVID-19 shot. This latest collaboration will mark the third time the pharmaceutical companies have worked together on a vaccine.
The potential collapse of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica has been deemed a potential "doomsday event" — researchers and scientists say its melting and collapse could raise global sea levels by at least two feet, enough to destroy coastal communities around the world. One team of scientists is traveling to the Thwaites glacier to drill below in order to gauge current ocean temperatures and attempt to model possible outcomes. David Holland, professor at NYU and Principal Investigator for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss the glacier's potential collapse, his team's research plan, and more.
As winter break wraps up and COVID-19 cases hit record levels, the majority of school districts are returning to in-person classes. While some public schools in large cities have shifted to remote learning for the beginning of the year, the schools that are reopening campuses are determined to avoid the academic, social, and logistical challenges that come with a virtual classroom. Cheddar News is joined by Keith Powers, NYC Council Member, to discuss.
With a rising number of COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, the FDA is making big moves. First, Pfizer's COVID-19 booster has been authorized for those ages 12 to 15. The agency also reduced the amount of time to wait between receiving a second vaccine dose and booster from six months to five. Finally, a third primary series dose of Pfizer's shot is approved for immunocompromised children five to 11 years old. Professor Peter Pitts joins Cheddar News to discuss.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Deborah Brosnan, President of Deborah Brosnan & Associates, joins Cheddar Climate, where she explains why global warming brought about 'a year of reckoning' in 2021 and why previously unprecedented weather events could become the norm going forward.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Dr. Anita Gupta, Adjunct assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shares her forecast for the healthcare industry in 2022; Waseem Asghar, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, breaks down the latest progress, trends, and innovations in wearable health tech; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Hacking our Biome.'
Dr. Anita Gupta, Adjunct assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, joins Cheddar Reveals to share her forecast for the healthcare industry in 2022.
