Oil Spill
Mississippi Gulf Coast meetings scheduled to discuss restoration from Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Published: Friday, January 13, 2012, 6:18 AM
By Harlan Kirgan, Mississippi Press
GAUTIER, Mississippi -- Eight projects proposed along the Gulf Coast impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which are to be discussed in public meetings next week, represent a milestone in the restoration process, according to a BP official.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/01/mississippi_gulf_coast_meeting.html
Public meetings set for NRDA plan
Sun Herald
By NICOLE DOW
A series of three public meetings will be held on the Coast next week for residents to get information and provide input on the draft of BP’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment’s Phase One Early Restoration Plan.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/12/v-print/3683927/public-meetings-set-for-nrda-plan.html
State News
Sewage consult contract gets OK
City Council takes step toward starting $5M-$7M project
Clarion Ledger
Some 26,000 dump trucks worth of solid waste must be removed from lagoons used to store excess sewage at a Jackson wastewater treatment plant.
The Jackson City Council has approved a $1 million consulting contract that will kick start the monumental cleanup at the Savannah Street wastewater treatment plant.
The cleanup is per an order the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued in September 2010. The agency already has fined the city $240,000 for this and other violations it found at the plant.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120113/NEWS/201130344/Sewage-consult-contract-gets-OK?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
Grant to bring water treatment plant to east Jackson County
Published: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 8:04 AM
By April M. Havens, The Mississippi Press
The Board of Supervisors is partnering with the Jackson County Utility Authority to bring a water treatment plant to the east side of the county, an area lacking quality water.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/01/grant_to_bring_water_treatment.html
Mississippi Gulf Coast Advances Sustainability Plan
BioCycle January 2012, Vol. 53, No. 1, p. 52
Integrating food systems into Gulf Coast sustainability plan was a novel idea because food was not a topic high up in the minds of the region’s leaders.
http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_free/002519.html
Steps asks HUD to halt expansion
Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE
GULFPORT -- A coalition of community groups large and small is asking the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to demand repayment of federal funds already spent on state port expansion.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/12/v-print/3683926/steps-asks-hud-to-halt-expansion.html
National News
Bold plan proposed to save coastal Louisiana
AP
By CAIN BURDEAU
A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aspires to stop coastal land loss in Louisiana, build new levee systems to protect cities and even begin to slowly reverse the trend of eroding marsh that has turned the entire southern portion of the state into one of the nation's most vulnerable regions to sea level rise.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/12/v-print/3683426/bold-plan-proposed-to-save-coastal.html
Online Map Shows Biggest Greenhouse Gas Emitters
NY Times
By JOHN M. BRODER
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency for the first time is making available detailed information on sources of greenhouse gas emissions, from the Mount Sinai Hospital heating plant in Manhattan to the nation’s largest coal-burning power plant in Georgia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/science/earth/epa-unveils-map-of-major-greenhouse-gas-producers.html?_r=1&ref=earth&pagewanted=print
Administration unveils sweeping plan to protect the country's oceans
The Hill
By Andrew Restuccia - 01/12/12 12:58 PM ET
The Obama administration unveiled on Thursday a federal strategy for protecting the country’s oceans that calls for improving oil-spill response capabilities in the Arctic and managing the effects of climate change.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/203859-administration-unveils-sweeping-plan-to-protect-the-countrys-oceans
Judge Urges Progress on Everglades Pollution Fixes
By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer
MIAMI January 12, 2012 (AP)
A federal judge on Thursday urged federal and state environmental officials to take real, concrete steps toward reducing pollution in the Florida Everglades and move away from the endless court battles that have stalled progress for more than two decades.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-urges-progress-everglades-pollution-fixes-15348563#.TxA-CIE58Xg
