Oil Spill
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory studying blue crabs for oil spill damage
assessment (gallery)
By Harlan Kirgan, Mississippi Press
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Two months after the April 2010 Deepwater
Horizon oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coast Research
Laboratory scientist Harriet Perry released a photo of blue crab megalopa
with oil droplets under its shell.
…On Monday, Perry and other scientists -- including Mike Beiser, scientific
lead on the Deepwater Horizon incident for the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality -- explained the study under way on blue crabs.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/05/gulf_coast_research_laboratory_5.html
Shrimp season off to a slow start
Daily Comet
By Nikki Buskey
What shrimpers are hauling in depends on who you ask.
Some say they are catching beautiful shrimp, but some say evidence of the
BP oil spill is showing up in this year's catch, with shrimp sporting
mutations that could be linked to the spill.
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120508/ARTICLES/120509641
Gulf oil spill moratorium inquiries rebuffed, investigator says
By Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune
WASHINGTON -- A senior federal investigator says he was denied access to a
White House official and full email records as he tried to determine
whether a BP oil spill report was intentionally edited to erroneously
suggest outside experts supported the Obama administration's deepwater
drilling moratorium. The experts, in fact, did not endorse the moratorium
the administration ordered after the 2010 spill. The White House and
Department of Interior later said the mistake was inadvertent, a result of
an early-morning edit that moved some material from the body of the report
to the executive summary.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/05/oil_spill_moratorium_inquiries.html
Gulf of Mexico oil spill status conferences scheduled
By Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune
Now that the massive trial over liability in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil
disaster has been rescheduled for Jan. 14, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier
released a list of dates when the parties to the case can get together each
month through the end of the year to confer about progress in their work.
Status conferences have been scheduled for June 15, July 13, Aug. 17, Sept.
14, Oct. 19, Nov. 16 and Dec. 18. All meetings are at 9:30 a.m. in room
C-268 at federal court in New Orleans.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/05/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_statu.html
State News
Some Jackson residents dealing with sewage-soaked streets
16 WAPT News asks 'Who's Accountable?'
JACKSON, Miss. - Some Jackson residents are fed up with the leaking sewer
system and an overloaded water-treatment plant.
…The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is taking legal action
in an effort to get public works to clean up its act.
"What the city has a problem with is what we call 'I and I' -- inflow and
infiltration," said Chris Wells, the attorney for MDEQ. "It's basically
rainwater getting into the system. The sewer system is not designed to
handle rainwater."
http://www.wapt.com/news/central-mississippi/jackson/Some-Jackson-residents-dealing-with-sewage-soaked-streets/-/9156912/12730854/-/g3wryb/-/index.html
Federal lawmakers 'disappointed' in EPA's air quality decision
by MBJ Staff
Published: May 7,2012
DESOTO COUNTY — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Sen. Roger Wicker
(R-Miss.), in addition to Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.), have expressed
their disappointment with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
decision to list parts of DeSoto County as noncompliant for air quality
standards.
…The EPA did not list DeSoto County in the Memphis non-attainment area in
2004 because the county did not significantly contribute to ozone levels in
the Memphis area. Since that time, ozone concentrations have dropped in
DeSoto County, according to the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/05/federal-lawmakers-disappointed-in-epas-air-quality-decision/
Landfill proposed for Stone County rubbish
Sun Herald
By NICOLE DOW
STONE COUNTY -- The Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Management Authority
will hold a meeting May 17 about the proposed rubbish landfill on City
Bridge Road.
…The county's former landfill on Old Mississippi 26 was shut down by the
state Department of Environmental Quality about a year ago, he said.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/07/v-print/3932633/landfill-proposed-for-stone-county.html
Fire heavily damages Jones County business
Hattiesburg American
A fire Sunday afternoon heavily damaged Beech Electric in the Pleasant
Ridge community of west Jones County.
…The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was also
informed of the situation and put on stand-by. However, the volunteer
firefighters were able to control the fire and prevented any hazardous
material from escaping.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120507/NEWS01/120507002/Fire-heavily-damages-Jones-County-business?odyssey=nav|
head
Weed invading southwest Mississippi
AP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists cogongrass in its assessment of
the world's worst weeds.
The Enterprise-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/JQIqXS) that the weed has
made its way into southwest Mississippi and is overtaking surrounding plant
life worse than the more familiar kudzu.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/08/v-print/3932896/weed-invading-southwest-mississippi.html
Gov. Bryant to Keynote 77th Annual Meeting of Delta Council
Delta Farm Press
Mon, 2012-05-07 16:06
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant will offer the keynote address for the 77th
annual meeting of Delta Council on Friday, May 11, at the Bologna
Performing Arts Center on the Delta State University campus in Cleveland,
Miss.
http://deltafarmpress.com/management/gov-bryant-keynote-77th-annual-meeting-delta-council
National News
Public support slips for steps to curb climate change
By Dan Vergano
USA TODAY
From gas-mileage standards to tax breaks for windmills, public support for
"green" energy measures to tackle global warming has dropped significantly
in the past two years, particularly among Republicans, a new poll suggests.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2012-05-02/greenhouse-gas-global-warming/54810942/1
Dinosaur Gas Emissions May Have Warmed Air
Wall Street Journal
By ROBERT LEE HOTZ
Gassy dinosaurs may have spewed so much methane into the air that it could
have helped warm the climate tens of millions of years ago, when
temperatures were much higher than today, a team of U.K. scientists
reported Monday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303630404577390042359268690.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
