www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-20 15:19:00
The Trump administration has selected McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as the first National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Safety. This center, established under the 2020 PIPES Act, will focus on LNG safety, research, training, and regulatory coordination. Louisiana’s strategic role in LNG production and export, particularly in Lake Charles, was emphasized by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The center will enhance workforce development, industry collaboration, and LNG safety solutions. Louisiana, a key LNG hub, benefits from major LNG export projects, including one involving the largest foreign investment in the state’s history.
(The Center Square) – Louisiana is critical to the Trump administration’s energy plans, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
The Trump administration selected McNeese State University as the site for a new center of excellence.
The Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has selected the Lake Charles-based university as its first National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Safety. It’s the first undergraduate institution in the U.S. to offer a certificate program in LNG Business. The university already offers its own LNG Center of Excellence.
“Producing and exporting LNG is one of the most powerful ways we can unleash American energy, and the Lake Charles region is a critical hub of LNG activity in the U.S.,” Duffy said. “The sheer volume of product supplied by the state of Louisiana is unparalleled and growing, and there is no better place to locate our Center of Excellence.”
The designation came after U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA, established the PHMSA National Center of Excellence for LNG five years ago in the 2020 PIPES Act under the first Trump administration. Included in the law was a provision Kennedy added to create “the first-ever National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety, but I didn’t stop there,” Kennedy said. “I made sure in that bill that the newly created Center was required to be in Louisiana.”
Under Trump’s second term, the center was chosen to be headquartered at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, an oil and natural gas powerhouse in Calcasieu Parish along the Gulf of America.
The PIPES Act, which improves pipeline safety and infrastructure, created the PHMSA center to “enhance the United States as the leader and foremost expert in LNG operations by furthering the expertise of the Federal Government in the operations, management, and regulatory practices of LNG facilities; acting as a repository of information on best practices for the operation of LNG facilities; and facilitating collaboration among LNG sector stakeholders.”
The center will facilitate research and development, training, and regulatory coordination to develop “LNG safety solutions to real-world challenges through global and domestic collaboration among LNG stakeholders.”
“The Center will advance LNG safety by promoting collaboration among government agencies, industry, academia, and other safety partners,” PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman said. “Consolidating such remarkable levels of expertise will benefit the LNG sector for many generations to come.”
Being located at McNeese “will be a game-changer for our region in terms of workforce development and groundbreaking research,” McNeese State University President Dr. Wade Rousse said. “We are excited to be on the forefront of helping ensure safety and sustainability in the energy sector and look forward to working with PHMSA to develop a world-class facility to house their staff.”
The U.S. is the top LNG exporter in the world, with the U.S. oil and natural gas industry and Louisiana and Texas ports propelling it to its number one status, The Center Square reported.
Lake Charles also found itself at the center of a Biden administration LNG export ban. Applications for exports had been frozen until a federal judge reversed the Biden policy last year. Under the second Trump administration, LNG exports projects are expanding in Louisiana.
Major projects underway in Calcasieu Parish include an Energy Transfer subsidiary Lake Charles Exports LNG export project approved under the first Trump administration in late 2019 for a five-year extension. Building the facility is projected to create up to 4,000 construction jobs and 200 fulltime jobs once fully operational.
Another LNG project announced last month is being spearheaded by a west Australian company that’s making the largest foreign investment in state history to build an LNG production and export terminal in Calcasieu Parish, The Center Square reported.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article primarily reports on developments related to LNG energy initiatives, highlighting the Trump administration’s and Republican Senator John Kennedy’s roles in establishing a National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety in Louisiana. The tone is largely positive about these efforts and frames the Trump administration’s energy plans and policies as effective and beneficial. The inclusion of references to the Biden administration’s LNG export freeze, described as an “export ban,” and the subsequent federal judge reversal adds a subtle critique of the current administration’s approach. The language and framing emphasize the pro-energy, pro-industry perspective often associated with conservative and center-right viewpoints, without explicitly attacking opposing views or presenting a broader political debate. Overall, while largely factual, the article leans toward a center-right bias by favorably portraying Republican-led policies and initiatives and framing them as drivers of economic growth and energy leadership.
SUMMARY: After 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish jail, Louisiana lawmakers are pushing for a change in prison break notification laws. A proposed amendment would require jails to report escapes within 10 minutes, addressing concerns raised by victims’ families, like that of Derrick Groves, whose loved ones were never informed of his escape. House Criminal Justice Committee chair Debbie Villo and state Senator Pat Connick are advocating for the amendment, with Connick criticizing the previous law for only requiring notifications for juvenile escapes. The new amendment is part of a broader push to ensure better public safety protocols.
SUMMARY: Governor Landry and District Attorney Jason Williams are at odds over the recent jailbreak involving seven dangerous inmates. Landry blames Williams for mismanagement and a backlog of cases, which he says contributed to the escape. Williams, defending himself, points to the challenges of a halted court system due to the pandemic and crime lab delays, as well as a lack of evidence from the sheriff’s office to prosecute certain cases. He shared correspondence with Sheriff Hudson, asking for necessary evidence to move forward with charges. Both leaders continue to point fingers as the escapees remain at large.
Sunday, Governor Landry criticized D.A. Jason Williams but as Alyssa Curtis reports Williams came with receipts on Monday.
Kirk Curole of Bayside Oysters in Grand Isle harvests off-bottom oysters cultivated in floating cages, an alternative to traditional seafloor beds. Marketed as “Grand Isle Jewels,” these boutique oysters offer potential resilience against threats like hurricanes, climate change, and sediment diversions from restoration projects like the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. While on-bottom oyster farming is vulnerable to environmental impacts and habitat loss, off-bottom cultivation offers mobility to mitigate storm damage. However, challenges include regulatory hurdles, high costs, and reliance on state subsidies. Experts view off-bottom farming as a supplemental strategy to support—rather than replace—the traditional oyster industry amid environmental uncertainties.
GRAND ISLE – Not all jewels have the deep green features of emeralds or sparkle of diamonds. Some tumble from algae-coated cages in a rush of rock and shell, briny water splashing alongside them onto the deck of a boat.
These fine commodities are oysters, grown and harvested just off Louisiana’s coastline in a different way than the traditional seafloor beds that have been farmed for generations.
Cultivated in a string of floating cages instead of on the water’s bottom, Grand Isle Jewels, the umbrella brand for all off-bottom oysters in the barrier island community, are marketed as precious gems of the Gulf Coast.
“You create this craze for a certain item, and everybody’s jumping on it,” said Kirk Curole, owner of Bayside Oysters in Grand Isle.
After retiring from a career in oil and gas, Curole began harvesting off-bottom oysters as a hobby that turned into a small business. He now spends his days on the water, clad in rubber waders and toughened gloves as he pulls his crop from the floating cages.
“It’s the ‘bougie’ oyster. It’s the boutique oyster,” he said. “Everybody wants to try it.”
Louisiana is exploring Grand Isle Jewels as more than just a marketing strategy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists the state’s strong interest in off-bottom oyster cultivation as a way to help build resiliency into an industry under threat from sediment diversions in its final environmental impact statement for the controversial Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project.
Whether this technique can beat back worsening hurricanes, climate change and the impact of sediment diversions is still undetermined.
Curole, owner of Bayside Oysters in Grand Isle, describes his day running a small off-bottom oyster business in Grand Isle, Louisiana. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Curole waits for his oysters to pass through his homemade, solar-powered washing machine. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
The mobility of off-bottom, floating cages can, in theory, be helpful during storm prep and in response to low salinity events. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Curole bags oysters to sell in Grand Isle. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Crabs, snails and other sea creatures can hide in off-bottom oyster cages. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Curole swings over the side of his boat in waders to get to his floating oyster cages. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Curole has a transportable cooler for keeping oysters chilled. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
On-bottom culture, where oysters attach to reefs or substrate on the water’s bottom, is and has been the most popular method of oyster harvesting in Louisiana’s waters, fed for centuries by the wealth of nutrients carried down the Mississippi River and into the delta region.
“Oysters here are probably in the best location in this regard because they show very high growth,” said Romain Lavaud, an oyster scientist and researcher at LSU. “They can be harvested within a year, whereas in other parts of their distribution range it can take two to three years.”
But Louisiana’s environment can also be an oyster harvester’s worst enemy. Hurricanes inflict huge damage to oyster reefs, and heavy rains can dilute the salt content of the water, killing oyster crops.
“You’re kind of, like in any agriculture production, at the mercy of environmental conditions,” Lauvaud said.
Farming oysters has always been a gamble, said Peter Vujnovich, a third-generation on-bottom harvester based in Port Sulphur. Oyster farmers can lose big after a storm, he said.
“Mostly you try to protect your house, your boats and the equipment and stuff like that, and the rest is really up to God,” Vujnovich said. “Make the sign of the cross, just hope you don’t get a direct hit.”
Port Sulphur saw large losses to its oyster reefs in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina, which eliminated seeding ground for traditional farmers.
Then, there are sediment diversions, a coastal restoration approach that mimics the natural process of building a delta with silty water from the Mississippi River. There are multiple planned diversions in Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan to rebuild wetlands that have been diminished through hurricanes, natural subsidence and countless man-made canals.
The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project is one of the more controversial ones because of its likelihood of “major, permanent, adverse impacts” to oyster populations, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental impact statement. It would alter or eliminate vast swaths of habitat in the Barataria basin, with the goal of returning the area to what it looked like before the effects of sea level rise, erosion and subsidence changed it.
But on-bottom harvesters need reefs, and diversions would likely permanently eliminate vast swaths of oyster habitat. The Corps of Engineers’ study for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion suggests the most productive oyster grounds in its basin, Hackberry Bay, “would experience the highest losses,” potentially experiencing “total loss” of habitat.
Gov. Jeff Landry has called for a pause on the nearly $3 billion project, citing in part its impact on the oyster industry.
This map from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental impact statement for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project shows where oyster habitat gets better and worse over time, with the top row representing no sediment diversion and the bottom showing a future with fresh water from the sediment diversion. (Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
Seeding off-bottom solutions
The Corps of Engineers has identified off-bottom oyster cultivation as a potential way for the industry to adapt to the threat of sediment diversions. The federal agency has oversight of all coastal restoration projects and acts as a gatekeeper for what’s proposed in Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan.
Off-bottom farming could “help diversify the oyster industry and add a level of sustainability as the industry adjusts to a changing coast,” specifically in response to the diversion’s impact on salinity, the corps study said.
Off-bottom culture can help with protection against predators and offer a way to harvest in areas without abundant reefs, left stripped after storms. But the key advantage the Army Corps and the state’s Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority cites centers around mobility.
Floating cages could, in theory, be moved in response to a low salinity event such as the opening of a diversion. But harvesters need permission from regulators to store their gear and oysters in different bodies of water from where they’re harvested, and that can take up to 18 months to obtain. Also, the Louisiana Department of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not allow oysters to be out of the water for more than 24 hours.
Mobility could also help mitigate hurricane damage even if the oysters have to be jettisoned so the cages could be moved on shore temporarily during a storm.
Curole said even if he loses his crop, it’s worth it to save his expensive equipment and harvest off-bottom again after the storm.
“If a storm is coming, I’m just going to go pick up my equipment, even if I have to dump my oysters out,” he said. “I can oyster next year, or I can oyster in two or three months.”
This works for Curole, whose trailer can haul up to 350 oyster cages, but his business is relatively small. At the scale industry would need, there might not be enough time to relocate all the cages they would use, and the loss could spell doom for a business’ bottom line.
“It has not been demonstrated that gear can be sunk and retrieved cost-effectively or relocated in time to avoid damage and loss of both gear and crop,” Daniel Petrolia, a University of Mississippi agro-ecomomics professor, wrote in a 2023 report on the economic challenges to off-bottom harvesting in Louisiana.
Time is in short supply as hurricanes approach, especially with storms developing and intensifying more rapidly in recent years. Off-bottom oyster operations are already expensive, according to the Petrolia report. He concludes the loss of harvesting gear to a storm could sink an off-bottom oyster harvester’s livelihood indefinitely.
Curole lays two oysters side by side on his boat’s sorting table. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
Reliant on subsidies
Petrolia’s report also found that the success of off-bottom oysters in Louisiana relies entirely on state subsidies.
Louisiana began to offer grants for off-bottom harvesters in 2022, starting with $3 million to address the high startup costs
“Although the … grant program can indeed provide a hand up to existing growers, it does distort market signals and may give the impression that economic conditions are better than they actually are,” the report reads. “The eventual disappearance of the [subsidy] program will likely have consequences.”
The report also doesn’t expect “the average small-scale operation” to be profitable, even with funding support from the state. Curole did not receive a grant from the state and said his business is currently profitable, but he represents a smaller set of growers that operate more for supplemental income. True profitability becomes more possible, according to the report, with larger businesses.
Off-bottom cultivation was never pitched as a silver bullet solution for the oyster industry’s future. Louisiana SeaGrant, a federal government-LSU partnership, is responsible for the majority of the off-bottom funding and hatchery support. It paid for Petrolia’s report and stands by the idea that off-bottom culture is meant to supplement rather than replace traditional techniques.
Different off-bottom initiatives continue to support the oyster industry, such as the expansion of hatchery operations that farmers rely on for seed. Further research, such as how to sink and secure cages during hurricanes, and grant money to support it are also needed.
To harvesters like Vujnovich, the survival of the industry doesn’t hinge on a choice between off-bottom or on-bottom cultivation. It’s whether or not these tools will help his industry stand on its own again.
“They’ll always have a few hardcore like me,” he said. “The question is not if it’ll survive; it’s if it’ll flourish again.”
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Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content leans center-left as it focuses on environmental and economic challenges faced by the oyster industry, emphasizing climate change, hurricane impacts, and the consequences of large-scale coastal restoration projects. It highlights concerns about sediment diversions and their potential adverse effects on oyster habitats, while also discussing state subsidies as necessary support for off-bottom cultivation methods. The article reflects an interest in sustainable practices and government intervention to support vulnerable industries, common themes in center-left discourse, but it does so in a balanced, fact-driven manner without overtly partisan language or ideological framing.
