BP liable to shell out $7.8B
Spill claims capped for seafood only
Clarion Ledger
In roughly 30 days, more than 100,000 individuals and businesses with claims against BP over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico can file to collect from a proposed class-action settlement.
Oil Field and Casino Workers Excluded from Preliminary Settlement of BP Oil Spill Claims
MPB
Published by Rhonda Miller on 03 May 2012 06:55pm
Payments for BP claims are expected to start rolling in to thousands of Mississippi residents in the near future, with the preliminary approval of a $7.8 billion settlement this week. But as MPB’s Rhonda Miller reports, some who believe they have been affected by the oil spill are not included.
Judge pushes civil trial over BP spill into 2013
Published: Thursday, May 03, 2012, 7:23 PM
By The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- The federal judge who will decide whether to approve a class-action settlement of claims against BP PLC has scheduled a January 2013 trial for other claims spawned by the deadly blowout of the company's deepwater well in the Gulf Mexico.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/05/judge_pushes_civil_trial_over.html
Ex-BP engineer pleads not guilty in spill probe
AP
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
A former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company's response to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was arrested in Texas last week because federal authorities feared he would leave the country for a job in Australia and not return, prosecutors said Thursday.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/03/v-print/3924227/ex-bp-engineer-pleads-not-guilty.html
Ernst: Oil from spill is still out there
Op-Ed, Sarasota Herald Tribune
By Eric Ernst
Published: Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 4:20 p.m.
The oil's still out there.
Maybe BP's Deepwater Horizon spill has receded from the public consciousness.
Mississippi producer making sure every drop of water counts
Delta Farm Press
Thu, 2012-05-03 15:12
Elton Robinson
Clarksdale, Miss., producer Pete Hunter has seen first-hand how farming practices along the Mississippi River can impact recreational activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
…Partners in the project include Delta F.A.R.M, Delta Wildlife, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Mississippi State University, Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey.
http://deltafarmpress.com/management/mississippi-producer-making-sure-every-drop-water-counts
Gulf Coast Research Lab Receives $2500
By: Malary Pullen
WHLT
Published: May 03, 2012
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss - The Bay St. Louis chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) will present a check for $2,500 to The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) on Saturday, May 5 at the Garfield Ladner Memorial Pier in Waveland.
http://www2.whlt.com/news/2012/may/03/gulf-coast-research-lab-receives-2500-ar-3724120/
Legislature ends its 2012 session
Sun Herald
By GEOFF PENDER
JACKSON -- The Mississippi Legislature on Thursday approved a redistricting plan and ended its 2012 session with lawmakers voting to adjourn “sine die,” a Latin phrase that means to go forth with no set time to return.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/03/v-print/3925273/legislature-ends-its-2012-session.html
Water woes: Revised tax bill needed
Editorial – Clarion Ledger
The death of a 1-cent sales tax bill in the Legislature on Tuesday was a blow to the city of Jackson and could have costly repercussions for the capital city and surrounding areas for years to come.
U.S. to Set Rules for Fracking on Federal Land
Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration will soon issue sweeping new environmental-safety rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal land, setting a new standard that natural-gas wells on all lands eventually could follow.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303877604577382460699241978.html
Wyo. state officials pushed EPA to delay reporting fracking contamination study
By Associated Press, Published: May 3
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s governor persuaded the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to postpone an announcement linking hydraulic fracturing to groundwater contamination, giving state officials — whom the EPA had privately briefed on the study — time to attempt to debunk the finding before it rocked the oil and gas industry more than a month later, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.
Fracking fluids may migrate to aquifers, researcher says
Bloomberg
Chemically treated drilling fluid can migrate through thousands of feet of rock and endanger water supplies, said a hydrologist whose research calls into question the safety of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/05/04/fracking-fluids-may-migrate-to-aquifers-researcher-says/
Emails show EPA frustration over White House letter to Boehner
The Hill
By Ben Geman and Andrew Restuccia - 05/03/12 04:02 PM ET
Internal Environmental Protection Agency emails show agency officials’ frustration with a 2011 White House letter to House GOP leaders that did not detail the health benefits of pollution regulations.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/225333-emails-show-epa-emails-show-epa-pique-at-white-house-letter-to-boehner-at-white-house-letter-to-boehner
EPA e-mails on anti-pollution rules reveal agency’s frustration with White House
Washington Post
By Juliet Eilperin,
Sometimes the Obama administration operates like a well-oiled machine when it issues pronouncements on how its proposed regulations will affect the nation.
Other times, it doesn’t.
EPA orders Utah to cut haze across national parks
CBS
SALT LAKE CITY — A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order will require two of Utah's oldest coal-fired power plants to improve control of pollution that has drastically reduced visibility across a region that includes five national parks and redrock wilderness.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57426971/epa-orders-utah-to-cut-haze-across-national-parks/
NOAA pulls ad seeking magician for training event
CNN
By Ted Barrett, Senior Congressional Producer
(CNN) -- In the wake of the GSA convention scandal that is still reverberating across the government, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday pulled a help-wanted ad for a magician to appear at a leadership training event for its staff in the Washington area next month.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/03/politics/noaa-ad-pulled/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
The EPA is earning a reputation for abuse
Washington Post
By Editorial Board, Published: May 3
MAYBE AL ARMENDARIZ — until Monday, one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s top administrators — didn’t mean his comments to sound quite how they did. But they didn’t sound good. In a 2010 speech, now circulating online, Mr. Armendariz compared his “philosophy of enforcement” to ancient Roman soldiers’ practice of crucifying random victims in recently conquered territory.
