. >>> for years the louisiana bayou has been disappearing.started when they tried to protect new orleans from hurricanes. also it is time to put on your thinking cap. and yes, that is exactly what that is. >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines at that hour. 20 students were injured after a classmate went on a stabbing rampage. it happened at a high school in the suburbs of pittsburgh. several students were seriously wounded. prorussian forces in eastern ukraine seizing key buildings in three cities. and kharkiv the situation is over. and president obama will attend a memorial today for the victims of the fort hood shootings >>> since the 1930s, almost 3,000 miles of the louisiana coastline has disappeared. the loss has become so significant that maps have had to be redrawn. >> reporter: for more than two decades, ross has been fishing what is known as the louisiana bayou. as a boy he remembers searching these coastal wetlands along the gulf of mexico, in search of crab, shrimp, and fish. it's a way

kimberly helkut, al jazeera on the louisiana bayou. >> the green army, environmental groups taking onil and gas companies suing over the damage done to the louisiana environment. we go again to kimberly halket >> reporter: for more than 30 years, retired lieutenant general russell honore served in the united states army but he is fighting a new battle to save his state's environment. >> because of the impact of the oil extraction companies that have come here and e basically had their way in the state of louisiana, they have hung their flag over the state capitol. >> honoree says he has washed for deck it's a as state politicians have turned a blind eye to pollution he says was caused by the oil and gas industries in the gulf of mexico. in the air, honoree says it's easy to spot the abandoned wells and uncapped pipelines. >> it took nature thousands of years to build thewetlands. much has disappeared, turned into open water. >> environmentalist complain the state's government allows the industry to self regulate. >> that's why the green army has filed a lawsuit asking nearly 100 oil c

kimberly halkett, al jazeera america on the louisiana bayou. >> coming up on al jazeera america, a campaign to prevent a lesbian from being deported to uganda where new strict anti-gay laws are in effect. >> a lesbian asylum seeker in england is on a plane deported back to uganda just a couple of hours ago. supporters lost trying to stop that deportation because uganda passed a controversial anti-gay law in february which imposes strict penalties for homosexuality. and there is widespread domestic support for it. supporters of the woman seeking asylum said that her life will be at risk if she returns. we were talking about this earlier. there was really an attempt to stop the plane, right? >> there was, tony. let me give you a little bit of the back store. she's 45 years old. she has been held up at an immigration center in england for the past four months. her supporters launched a campaign on social media called save ann. they also launched a facebook page where people like jay wrote, britain has a responsibility to save lgbt refugees from certain persecution and probably death in uganda.

. >> reporter: for more than two decades ross has been fishing what is known as the louisiana bayou. as oh, boas a boy remembers sear crab, shrimp and fish, a way of life he's not sure will last. >> within five years i've seen places i used to fish completely gone. it's crazy. >> reporter: the city of new orleans along with the rest of the region is built on a delta created over centuries by sentiment deposits from the mouth of the mississippi river into the gulf. but it's vulnerable to hurricanes which has more than once devastated the area. in the 19 30's engineers built a system of levies triggering the demise of the state's wetlands. ten years ago all of this water behind me was once marsh land. but now it's gone. and in its place the bamboo poles mark where the wetlands used to be. from the air you can see the erosion made worse by the state's oil and gas industry. the marsh lands have been carved into straight edge canals. this allowed seawater to flood the delta's fragile estuaries. from the air they document the damage. >> the erosion brings in saltwater intrusion. it's like

kimberly halkett, al jazeera, on the louisiana bayou. >> sports is coming up.anny pacquiao with its controversial title against timly bradley stay with pup ups. . >> hello, everyone, this is al jazeera america, i'm tony harris. it was a week ago that a gunman open fired killing three soldiers before turning his weapon on himself. the services being held at the base. president obama is there, and let's listen to the chief of the army now, general ray. >> show compassion for our soldiers and their families, distinguished members of congress, thank you for coming down here today. deputy secretary defense, secretary of the army, great leader of our army. lieutenant governor and other distinguished state leaders, thank you for your support, thank you for your contributions to fort hood. most importantly i want to thank the soldiers, the families, and civilians of fort hood in the surrounding community. i want to thank lieutenanful toh dedicated experienced leaders to guide us through these difficult days. our job as leaders is to prepare soldiers for the chaos of wa

. >> reporter: for more than two decades, ross has been fishing what is known as the louisiana bayou.embers searching these coastal wetlands along the gulf of mexico. it's a way of life he's not sure will last. >> within five years i have seen places that i used to fish completely gone. it's -- it's -- it's crazy. >> reporter: the city of new orleans, along with the rest of the region is built on a delta, created over centuries by sediment, but it is vulnerable to hurricanes which have more than once devastated the area. so in the 1930s engineers built a system of levies to protect the city. ten years ago all of this water behind me was once marshland but now it's gone. and these bamboo stakes mark where it used to be. from the air you can see the erosion. sea water is flooding the fragile estuaries. from the air jonathan documents the damage. >> it brings in a lot of salt water intrusion. that salt water is like poison for that marsh. >> reporter: permit agreements are supposed to require oil and gas companies to restore the wetlands once work is complete. but it's legislation which

aljazeera on the louisiana bayou. >> in part two of our series, battling for the environment on aljazeeramerica, we'll look at general leading what is called louisiana's green army, fighting big oil trying to protect endangered lands. >> one thing you can't see in that story is the pollen, nicole mitchell just got back from that area and says it is really, really bad. >> it is. i have the traveling for reserve duty last weekend between mississippi and texas and i heard sniffles and sneeze's pretty much everywhere i want. rain helps clean the pollen out and reduce allergy levels, so watch for that. that region 40's to 60's, but through the rest of the day, more temperatures in the 70's helps all those beautiful flowers go and gets the pollen going, as well. a lot of 70's and 60'sual the coastline. hot spot in phoenix at 96. minneapolis at 67 degrees, certainly above average for april. a lot of people like the warm would like to not have the sneezing to go with it. back to you. >> good morning, nicole, thank you very much. >> 16-year-old alex hribal is accused of a stabbing free at his high

why some say they are fighting over the future of the louisiana bayou. a crack in a dam in eastern washington state is hurting that area's water supply. engineers were forced to lower the dam's water level to deal with the problem. as alan shoveler reports, it's having an impact on people who rely on that water. >> i will never live to see this thing go this low again. how many times. >> where billy nelson draws water, the river hasn't been this low in half a century. since the dam's built to grow apples and appear cots in this dry country, he pumps water 24 hours a day six months a year because of unprecedented problem with the dam, he has had to install temporary piping to reach the dropping river. >> it's like a lot of extra work and money. >> it is but you've got to have water. you know, there is no getting around about that. but anyway, it makes -- i mean, i've got water going up to my farm and that's what counts, you know. >> it's not just growers affected. docs are high and dry. marinas, parks and boat ramps closed, public access limited along 80