Oil Spill
With trial pending, BP asks judge to cull experts
AP
By CAIN BURDEAU
With a trial over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill looming, BP PLC is asking a
federal judge to block two plaintiffs' experts from testifying about an
alleged disregard for safety throughout the energy company that those
experts say led to the nation's largest offshore oil spill.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/30/v-print/3719860/with-trial-pending-bp-asks-judge.html
State News
MDEQ nixes ground water amendments
AP
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has decided against
enforcing proposed amendments to state ground water regulations.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/31/v-print/3720415/mdeq-nixes-ground-water-amendments.html
New aeration system at Hattiesburg South Lagoon complete
WDAM
Work on a new aeration system at the Hattiesburg South Lagoon is now
complete.
http://www.wdam.com/story/16635025/new-aeration-system-at-hattiesburg-south-lagoon-complete
Lagoon upgrade aims to deal with odor
'There's a light at the end of the tunnel'
Hattiesburg American
It will probably be another year or so before the City of Hattiesburg is
completely free of the menacing "downtown stench."
But city officials seem confident the three-prong upgrade to the city's
south lagoon will finally treat the source of the odor for good.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120131/NEWS01/201310313/Lagoon-upgrade-aims-deal-odor?odyssey=tab|
topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Project delay on Jefferson Street
WLBT
Work has completely stopped on the huge Jefferson Street water pipeline
project while engineers and other experts from the Department of
Environmental Quality try to figure out where diesel fuel is coming from.
http://www.wlbt.com/story/16635820/project-delay-on-jefferson-street
Landfill relief: Electronic recycling helps DeSoto County, environment
Commercial Appeal
By Henry Bailey
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Hearing the clattering crash, county electronic-waste trailer driver Jack
Pyles jokingly asked Ray Laughter, "OK, did you break it?"
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jan/31/landfill-relief/?print=1
Mississippi Supreme Court will hear arguments in Asbestos Case
AP
Jackson, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Supreme Court will hear arguments
Monday from Conoco Phillips Corp., which has appealed a $15.2 million jury
award to an oil well drilling worker who alleged he got lung disease from
exposure to asbestos.
http://www.fox40tv.com/news/local/story/Mississippi-Supreme-Court-will-hear-arguments-in/U4TZvkEzYUmvAHLmpK7onQ.cspx
Flood maps change in Saltillo
WTVA
SALTILLO, Miss. (WTVA) --Imagine buying a home only to learn later, it's
going to cost you more to keep it. That's what happened to many homeowners
in Saltillo when the flood maps changed a couple years ago.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Flood-maps-change-in-Saltillo/ijzB-Nt8e0aYZZn5dY471g.cspx
Davis will not resign despite state, federal investigation into spending
by Associated Press
Published: January 31,2012
SOUTHAVEN — Fourth-term Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said yesterday he plans
to remain on the job amid continuing state and federal scrutiny of his
spending of city money.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/01/davis-will-not-resign-despite-state-federal-investigation-into-spending/
National News
Experts: United States ill-prepared for oil spill off Cuba
Published: Monday, January 30, 2012, 10:04 PM Updated: Monday, January
30, 2012, 10:59 PM
By The Associated Press
MIAMI — The U.S. is not ready to handle an oil spill if drilling off the
Cuban coast should go awry but can be better prepared with monitoring
systems and other basic steps, experts told government officials Monday.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/01/experts_united_states_ill-prep.html
Salazar: Interior closing in on gas 'fracking' rules
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 01/30/12 07:30 PM ET
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is getting closer to unveiling long-planned
draft rules to impose new requirements on the natural gas drilling method
called hydraulic fracturing, a proposal that President Obama highlighted in
his State of the Union speech.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/207533-salazar-interior-closing-in-on-gas-fracking-rules
Mississippi gopher frog could hop into St. Tammany
Published: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 7:00 AM Updated: Monday, November
21, 2011, 11:56 AM
By Christine Harvey, The Times-Picayune
Edward Poitevent just doesn't get it. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
proposing to designate a considerable chunk of land his family owns in
eastern St. Tammany Parish as critical habitat for the Mississippi gopher
frog, an endangered species of which only 100 adult frogs remain.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/11/mississippi_gopher_frog_could.html
Obama green jobs program faces further investigation
USA Today
WASHINGTON – House Republicans are expanding their probe into the Obama
administration's energy programs, investigating $500 million in green job
training grants that placed just 10% of trainees in jobs, according to a
government report.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-01-30/obama-green-jobs-program-failure/52895630/1
American Farm Bureau seeks summary judgment in suit challenging EPA's
Chesapeake Bay strategy
AP
BALTIMORE — The American Farm Bureau Federation is asking a federal judge
to toss out the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay
restoration strategy before its suit challenging the effort goes to trial.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/0343ce80bc67412f98d30525946ca7ee/MD--Bay-Restoration/
Fla. congressman filing water pollution bill
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland says he will file a bill
in Congress that would put pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency
to adopt state rather than federal water pollution rules for Florida.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/30/2615915/fla-congressman-filing-water-pollution.html
In Florida Everglades, pythons and anacondas dominate food chain
Washington Post
By Darryl Fears, Published: January 30
Every child learns this sad and basic truth about nature: The snake eats
the rabbit.
But in the southernmost part of the Florida Everglades, things have taken a
really wild turn. Pythons and anacondas are eating everything. The most
common animals in Everglades National Park — rabbits, raccoons, opposums
and bobcats — are almost gone, according to a study released Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/in-florida-everglades-pythons-and-anacondas-dominate-food-chain/2012/01/30/gIQAULTVdQ_print.html
Press Releases
Governor Bryant Proclaims Earthquake Awareness Week
PEARL – Governor Phil Bryant declares Jan. 30-Feb. 3 as Mississippi's
Earthquake Awareness Week. History has shown us that our state is
vulnerable to earthquakes. The greatest risk is in the northwest corner of
the state which sits on the edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This zone
is most famous for a series of earthquakes between 1811 and 1812 which
caused more than 2,000 aftershocks. Five of those earthquakes were a
magnitude 8 or greater.
"We may not be able to prevent a natural disaster but we can work to ensure
our loved ones and communities are better prepared," said Gov. Bryant.
"Families must have a plan for all potential disasters including the threat
of an earthquake."
The New Madrid seismic zone stretches 40 miles wide and 200 miles long and
affects parts of Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Mississippi and Arkansas. The zone consists of a series of complex faults
that cross the Mississippi River in three places and the Ohio River in two
places.
"Our greatest concern, as with any emergency, is saving lives which begins
with individual and family preparedness," said Mississippi Emergency
Management Agency Director Robert Latham. "For earthquakes personal
preparedness starts with citizens learning to 'drop, cover and hold on' as
well as having a family plan so you know where everyone is once it's over."
The strongest recorded earthquake in Mississippi happened in 1931 with a
magnitude of 4.6 centered on Tallahatchie County. The earthquake damaged
buildings and toppled chimneys. Smaller quakes are felt and registered in
Mississippi every year.
MEMA will provide information and preparedness tips throughout Earthquake
Awareness Week. For more information, contact MEMA External Affairs at
866-920-MEMA (6362), contact your local emergency management agency or
visit us online at www.msema.org.
###
