Nearly 4 times as much sea life in Alabama, Mississippi coastal waters
since 2010 Gulf oil spill
By Ben Raines, Press-Register
MOBILE, Alabama -- There were nearly four times as many fish, shrimp and
crabs in Alabama waters in the fall of 2011 as there were before the BP's
Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to scientific data collected by the
Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
If funding could be found, he said, the Sea Lab could resume its research
right away.
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/05/nearly_four_times_as_much_sea.html
BP Probed on Leak Estimates
Wall Street Journal
By TOM FOWLER
Federal investigators are exploring whether BP BP.LN +1.16% PLC
representatives lied to Congress about how much oil was leaking after the
Deepwater Horizon accident two years ago, a development that could lead to
additional criminal charges against current and former company employees.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303395604577432303209861044.html
While Gulf States Wait, $20 Billion BP Fine Treads Water in D.C.
Sunshine State News
By: KENRIC WARD | Posted: May 26, 2012 3:55 AM
Nearly two years after 4 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf,
Washington, D.C., policy-makers are still wrangling over how to handle a
projected $20 billion fine.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/while-gulf-states-wait-20-billion-bp-fine-treads-water-dc
Two years after BP oil spill, tourists back in U.S. Gulf
Reuters
Sun, May 27 2012
By Kathy Finn
NEW ORLEANS, May 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Gulf Coast is a hot destination
again two years after the massive BP Plc oil spill made the region a
tourist dead zone, with the petroleum giant pumping more than $150 million
into promotions to help the region recover.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/27/usa-bpspill-tourism-idUSL1E8GP15X20120527
State News
Mississippi Outdoors: May 27, 2012
Commercial Appeal
Fish kill update: MDWFP biologists recently responded to fish kill reports
at Sardis Lake. Several shoreline areas were examined around the lake. The
kill was more than 97 percent white bass. An estimated 73,510 white bass
died. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was
alerted by MDWFP.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/27/mississippi-outdoors/
EPA approves grant to restore brownfields
WTVA
ATLANTA, Ga. (WTVA) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the
city of Columbus two brownfield assessment grants.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/EPA-approves-grant-to-restore-brownfields/io8WWfchaEaHeYwXftX1yg.cspx
Water Quality Officials Tell Mississippians to Pick it Up
MPB
PUBLISHED BY DANIEL CHERRY ON 28 MAY 2012 04:28PM
The Memorial Day holiday brought out thousands of Mississippians to the
state's lakes and rivers. Many left behind tons of trash. MPB's Daniel
Cherry reports how conservation officials and advocates are telling
Mississippians to clean it up.
http://mpbonline.org/News/article/512water_quality_officials_tell_mississippians_to_pick_it_up
Mississippi shrimpers not hopeful about upcoming season
WLOX
Next week, a time honored tradition will unfold in the waters of the
Mississippi Sound with the opening of shrimp season. But if you talk to
shrimpers, the future of this tradition is in doubt.
http://www.wlox.com/story/18625266/mississippi-shrimpers-not-hopeful-about-upcoming-season
Warmer water than usual prompts opening of shrimp season Wednesday
Published: Monday, May 28, 2012, 10:04 AM Updated: Monday, May 28,
2012, 10:16 AM
By Jeff Dute, Press-Register
Warmer water than usual for this time of year and lots of small brown
shrimp moving into coastal estuaries have prompted Alabama and Mississippi
marine resources officials to open shrimping season Wednesday morning.
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/05/warmer_water_than_usual_prompt.html
Track your seafood purchase using a new computer tool
WLOX
Wally Gollott checks his computer these days just as much as he checks the
seafood conveyor belts at Gulf Pride Seafood. The new Gulf Seafood Trace
program shows him where everything in his plant comes from.
http://www.wlox.com/story/18640073/track-you-seafood-using-a-new-computer-tool
Grants available to help increase seafood in the Gulf
WLOX
Mississippians are being encouraged to compete for grants aimed at
increasing fish, crab, and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA is offering
up to $100,000 for projects to improve the freshwater and saltwater
exchange from Florida to Texas. Officials are hoping at least some of the
money will benefit the Magnolia state.
http://www.wlox.com/story/18628887/grants-available-to-help-increase-seafood-in-the-gulf
Charter Boat business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is improving
WLOX
Barry Deschamp is captain of 9 Ball Fishing Charters docked at Long Beach
Harbor. He hit the high seas at 6am Monday morning and returned at high
noon.
http://www.wlox.com/story/18640583/charter-boat-business-on-the-mississippi-gulf-coast-is-improving
FEMA trailer litigation nears end
Published: Monday, May 28, 2012, 9:55 PM Updated: Monday, May 28, 2012,
10:08 PM
By The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — A class-action settlement agreement has been reached to
resolve nearly all the remaining court claims over allegations that
government-issued trailers exposed Gulf Coast residents to hazardous fumes
after Hurricane Katrina, a lead plaintiffs' attorney said Monday.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/05/fema_trailer_litigation_nears.html
Topazi retiring as COO of Southern Company
by MBJ Staff
Published: May 25,2012
ATLANTA — Southern Company chairman, president and CEO Thomas A. Fanning
has made public a number of changes within the company's management team,
effective July 1, including the replacement for Anthony Topazi.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/05/topazi-retiring-as-coo-of-southern-company/
National News
Drilling boom spurring clean up push
Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON — The oil and gas drilling boom that has sent thousands of
workers and rigs into North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Texas now is
spurring another gold rush, as companies jockey to clean up the briny,
metal-laden water that pours out of wells nationwide.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/05/29/drilling-boom-spurring-clean-up-push/
Carbon dioxide emissions reach record high
By NEELA BANERJEE — Tribune Washington Bureau
Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide reached an all-time high last
year, further reducing the chances that the world could avoid a dangerous
rise in global average temperature by 2020, according to the International
Energy Agency, the energy analysis group for the world's most
industrialized states.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/25/3970576/carbon-dioxide-emissions-reach.html
Sequoia National Park is home to giant redwoods _ and the worst air quality
in US park system
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2:42 AM
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — On a clear day, the view from Beetle Rock
in Sequoia National Park extends west for 105 miles across the patchwork of
crops in California's agricultural heartland to the Coast Mountains and the
Pacific Ocean beyond.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/sequoia-national-park-is-home-to-giant-redwoods-_-and-the-worst-air-quality-in-us-park-system/2012/05/29/gJQAG90DyU_print.html
List of US national parks with most smog, number of days that violated
environment regulations
By Associated Press, Published: May 28
FRESNO, Calif. — Sequoia National Park, home to the giant redwoods, suffers
the worst air pollution of any national park in the country. Here are the
parks in the National Park Service system with the highest smog levels and
the number of days monitors recorded violations last year:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/list-of-us-national-parks-with-most-smog-number-of-days-that-violated-environment-regulations/2012/05/28/gJQAM6MhwU_print.html
EPA considers new pharmaceutical waste rules
2012-05-28
(Embedded image moved to file: pic12859.jpg)
As reported by the U.S.-based Waste Business Journal(
www.wastebusinessjournal.com), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is now considering healthcare facility-specific regulations for
managing hazardous pharmaceutical waste rather than regulate them under its
universal waste program as proposed in December 2008.
http://www.solidwastemag.com/news/epa-considers-new-pharmaceutical-waste-rules/1001413314/
Opinion
Resources sorely needed for recovery from BP oil spill
By AN EDITORIAL OPINION OFTHE TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans)
Posted: 11:00pm on May 27, 2012
When a final transportation bill is worked out by Senate-House negotiators,
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., says that it will include a measure to direct
80 percent of BP oil spill fines to the Gulf Coast.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/27/3970549/resources-sorely-needed-for-recovery.html
Press Releases
USDA Announces Results for Conservation Reserve Program General Sign-Up
Interest High in the 26-year-old Conservation Program
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2012–Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced
that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will accept 3.9 million acres
offered under the 43rd Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up.
During the extended five-week signup, the Department received nearly 48,000
offers on more than 4.5 million acres of land, demonstrating the CRP's
continuing leadership as one of our nation's most successful voluntary
efforts to conserve land and improve our soil, water, air and wildlife
habitat resources. Under Vilsack's leadership, USDA has now enrolled nearly
12 million acres in the CRP since 2009. Currently, there are more than 29.6
million acres enrolled on more than 736,000 contracts.
"For more than 25 years, lands in CRP have helped to support strong incomes
for our farmers and ranchers and produce good middle-class jobs throughout
the country related to outdoor recreation, hunting, and fishing," said
Vilsack. "As the commodities produced by our farmers and ranchers continue
to perform strongly in the marketplace—supporting 1 out of every 12 jobs
here in the United States—it is no surprise that American producers also
recognize the importance of protecting our nation's most environmentally
sensitive land by enrolling in CRP."
Enrollment of the new 3.9 million acres will allow USDA to continue
important targeting of CRP acres through continuous sign-up
initiatives—including those announced earlier this year for highly-erodible
land, as well as grasslands and wetlands—while also maintaining and
enhancing the significant benefits that the program has already achieved.
The two continuous sign-ups announced earlier this year will target an
additional 1.75 million acres in total.
For the first continuous sign-up program, USDA encourages landowners with
land that has an Erosion Index (EI) of 20 or greater to consider
participating in the Highly Erodible Land initiative. Lands eligible for
this program are typically the least productive land on the farm. In many
cases the most cost-effective option to reduce erosion is to put the land
into a wildlife friendly cover, which will improve habitat and reduce
sediment and nutrient runoff and reduce wind erosion. For the second
continuous sign-up program, landowners with sensitive grasslands, wetlands
and wildlife habitat are encouraged to participate. The grasslands and
wetlands initiative increases acres set aside for specific enrollments that
benefit duck nesting habitat, upland birds, wetlands, and wildlife, and
provides benefits for specific conservation practices, including new
benefits for pollinator practices.
CRP is a voluntary program designed to help farmers, ranchers and other
agricultural producers protect their environmentally sensitive land.
Eligible landowners receive annual rental payments and cost-share
assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible
farmland throughout the duration of 10 to 15 year contracts.
CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation's natural
resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant
economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United
States. Under CRP, farmers and ranchers plant grasses and trees in crop
fields and along streams or rivers. The plantings prevent soil and
nutrients from washing into waterways, reduce soil erosion that may
otherwise contribute to poor air and water quality, and provide valuable
habitat for wildlife. Plant cover established on the acreage accepted into
the CRP will reduce nutrient and sediment runoff in our nation's rivers and
streams. In 2011, as a result of CRP, nitrogen and phosphorous losses from
farm fields were reduced by 623 million pounds and 124 million pounds
respectively. The CRP has restored more than two million acres of wetlands
and associated buffers and reduces soil erosion by more than 300 million
tons per year. CRP also provides $1.8 billion annually to
landowners—dollars that make their way into local economies, supporting
small businesses and creating jobs. In addition, CRP is the largest private
lands carbon sequestration program in the country. By placing vulnerable
cropland into conservation, CRP sequesters carbon in plants and soil, and
reduces both fuel and fertilizer usage. In 2010, CRP resulted in carbon
sequestration equal to taking almost 10 million cars off the road.
USDA selected offers for enrollment based on an Environmental Benefits
Index (EBI) comprised of five environmental factors plus cost. The five
environmental factors are: (1) wildlife enhancement, (2) water quality, (3)
soil erosion, (4) enduring benefits, and (5) air quality. The minimal
acceptable EBI level for this sign-up was 209. The average rental rate per
acre for this sign-up is $51.24.
In 2011, USDA enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in
conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers
to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, filter
the water we drink, and prevent soil erosion. Moreover, the Obama
Administration, with Agriculture Secretary Vilsack's leadership, has worked
tirelessly to strengthen rural America, implement the Farm Bill, maintain a
strong farm safety net, and create opportunities for America's farmers and
ranchers. U.S. agriculture is currently experiencing one of its most
productive periods in American history thanks to the productivity,
resiliency, and resourcefulness of our producers.
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