Louisiana officials have known for decades that the lakes near the Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge contain toxic chemicals. Now, the EPA has gotten involved in the cleanup efforts. 

Mark Schleifstein is an environmental reporter who has been covering the story for The Advocate in Baton Rouge. He joins us for more on the companies the EPA has deemed responsible for decontaminating the lakes – and what will happen if they don’t comply.

Jeff Landry may have won the governorship outright, but there are still plenty of races left for Louisianans to decide in the general election. 

Between now and the November 18th election, we'll bring you conversations with the candidates running for office in the state’s executive branch. Today, we hear from the candidates running for state treasurer: Republican John Fleming and Democrat Dustin Granger.

Fleming is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who most recently served as deputy chief of staff under President Donald Trump, while Graner is a small business owner and financial adviser. They both discuss their careers before politics, their economic priorities and Louisiana’s dependence on oil and gas.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12 and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.