Oil Spill
South MS leaders learn details about Restore Act funding
Posted: Jul 13, 2012 5:50 PM CDTUpdated: Jul 13, 2012 6:43 PM CDT
WLOX
While litigation is still pending against BP, Mississippi expects to
receive hundreds of millions of dollars from fines levied against the
company for violating the Clean Water Act. On Friday, government leaders
from across south Mississippi gathered to learn how that money could help
repair the damage caused by the 2010 oil disaster.
"The ink is barely dried on the Restore Act, so we're still working through
a lot of the details," said Trudy Fisher, MDEQ Executive Director.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19022850/south-ms-leaders-learn-details-about-restore-act-funding
RESTORE Act process explained to officials
Updated: Friday, July 13, 2012, 5:18 PM
By Harlan Kirgan
Mississippi Press
GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Coast elected officials were briefed Friday on how
the RESTORE Act functions by Trudy Fisher, executive director of the
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/07/restore_act_process_explained.html
Coast Leaders Kick-Start Plans to Use RESTORE Act millions
MPB
PUBLISHED BY RHONDA MILLER ON 13 JUL 2012 07:41PM
Gulf Coast leaders have begun planning how to use millions of dollars from
the RESTORE Act recently passed by Congress. The money comes from fines BP
will have to pay because of damage caused by the oil spill. MPB's Rhonda
Miller reports.
http://mpbonline.org/News/article/gulf_coast_leaders
Coast and state officials, businessmen meet to hear more on RESTORE Act
money
Published: July 13, 2012
Sun Herald
Officials gather in Gulfport to hear how state will receive billions
outlined in act
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
GULFPORT -- Government leaders from all around South Mississippi answered a
call from the state Friday morning to hear early details of how hundreds of
millions in RESTORE Act money will come to Mississippi.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/07/13/4060987/officials-businessmen-meet-to.html
Oil dispersant maker asks judge to toss claims
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS -- The manufacturer of a chemical dispersant used to fight the
2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico asked a federal judge Friday to
dismiss all claims against the company over the government's use of its
product.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/13/2894112/oil-dispersant-maker-asks-judge.html
New law on BP spill fines raises stakes for Gulf states
Reuters
Sat, Jul 14 2012
By Chris Baltimore
HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Gulf Coast states have a higher stake in the
amount of money the U.S. government can wring out of BP Plc for the 2010
Deepwater Horizon oil spill due to a new law that would divert billions of
dollars in potential BP fines to them.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/14/bp-spill-settlement-gulf-idINDEE86D04J20120714
Factbox: BP's potential price tag for the Gulf spill
Reuters
(Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research)(BP.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) faces substantial civil and potentially criminal liability
stemming from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which killed 11 rig
workers and caused America's biggest offshore oil spill. A rough
calculation of those costs, based on estimates from analysts and some
previously paid items, could put the total bill at more than $69 billion.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/16/us-bp-settlement-costs-idINBRE86F06B20120716
BP oil-spill fines could boost Everglades restoration
Orlando Sentinel
By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau
10:24 a.m. EST, July 8, 2012
WASHINGTON -- Everglades restoration backers are aiming to get a big piece
of the billions of dollars of fines that oil giant BP is expected to pay
for polluting the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting Florida's delicate ecology
during the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-08/news/fl-everglades-backers-seek-bp-billions-20120708_1_everglades-restoration-deepwater-horizon-bp
State News
Nearly 100 dead redfish near Bayou Casotte ship channel
WLOX
Dozens of dead redfish floating near the Bayou Casotte ship channel in
Jackson County caused quite a stink Friday. The fish were spotted floating
about a mile south of Pascagoula.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19022480/nearly-100-dead-redfish-near-bayou-casotte-ship-channel
Redfish die after being netted
Updated: Monday, July 16, 2012, 7:58 AM
By Harlan Kirgan
Mississippi Press
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Up to 100 redfish and other fish reportedly died
after being caught in the net of an Omega Protein fishing vessel Thursday.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/07/redfish_die_after_being_netted.html
Career Gulf scientists from USM's Gulf Coast Research Lab give history of
Gulf scientific work
Sun Herald
Published: July 14, 2012
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
OCEAN SPRINGS -- Three career fisheries experts and scientists at USM's
Gulf Coast Research Lab will give a retrospective of their work in the Gulf
Wednesday at the Issues+Answers forum at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural
Center.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/07/14/4063075/career-gulf-scientists-from-usms.html
Oysters can handle some, but not all pollution we dump into the nation's
estuaries
Updated: Monday, July 16, 2012, 7:17 AM
By Ben Raines
Press-Register
MOBILE, Alabama -- While oysters are known to be one of nature's best
natural filters, new research suggests there are limits to how much
pollution they can clean up.
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/07/oysters_can_handle_some_of_the.html
Museum of Natural Science goes to the dinosaurs
WLBT
The sight and sound of a large robotic dinosaur can spark almost anyone's
curiosity at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.
http://www.wlbt.com/story/19030077/museum-of-natural-science-goes-to-the-dinosaurs
Ready To Recycle
By CALEB BEDILLION
DAILY LEADER
Sunday, July 15, 2012 3:00 pm
Brookhaven's recycling bins are in place ahead of an August rollout date
for the program, and a local church has been doing its part to encourage
participation in the environmental effort.
http://www.dailyleader.com/topstories/article_7201183c-ce27-11e1-ae27-001a4bcf887a.html
Lamar Co. seeks recycling option
Group to meet with supervisors to discuss issue
Hattiesburg American
PURVIS — A group of Lamar County residents are tired of hauling their
recyclables to Kamper Park in Hattiesburg.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120716/NEWS01/207160309/Lamar-Co-seeks-recycling-option
Officials keep eye on area oil exploration efforts
By CALEB BEDILLION
DAILY LEADER
Friday, July 13, 2012 3:00 pm
Lincoln County supervisors are keeping an eye on increased oil exploration
and drilling in Southwest Mississippi, but are taking a wait and see
approach before they determine what Lincoln County's role should be in
moving forward.
http://www.dailyleader.com/topstories/article_57c07082-cd08-11e1-bcce-0019bb2963f4.html
National News
EPA drops proposed livestock reporting rule pushed by environmental groups,
derided by farmers
By Associated Press,
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency won't adopt a
proposed rule that would have required large livestock farms to report
information about their operations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/epa-drops-proposed-livestock-reporting-rule-pushed-by-environmental-groups-derided-by-farmers/2012/07/13/gJQA6agwiW_story.html
BACKGROUND CHECK: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson
Washington Post
By Emily Heil
The Environmental Protection Agency might be one of conservatives' favorite
punching bags (whaddya mean, climate change?). But it just happens that
that the agency's leader, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, seems to relish a
good fight. The EPA's first African-American chief has turned in feisty
performances during Capitol Hill hearings and defended greenhouse-gas
rules.
She chats with the Loop about her secret addiction, her Cabinet-level movie
buddies, and her un-glamorous first job as a maintenance (wo)man.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/background-check-epa-administrator-lisa-jackson/2012/07/13/gJQAhWV9hW_blog.html
Rising Shale Water Complicates Fracking Debate
by CHRISTOPHER JOYCE
NPR
July 9, 2012
The nation's boom in natural gas production has come with a cost: The
technique used to get much of the gas out of the ground, called hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, has contaminated drinking water. But how often and
where this contamination is taking place is a matter of much debate and
litigation.
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/09/156505748/rising-shale-water-complicates-fracking-debate
From Coal To Gas: The Potential Risks And Rewards
by NPR STAFF
July 15, 2012
This past week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
released a reportlinking climate change to some of the extreme weather
events of 2011, like the devastating drought in Texas and record high
temperatures in Britain.
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/15/156814490/from-coal-to-gas-the-potential-risks-and-rewards
Can fracking pollute drinking water? Unique study seeks answer
By Kevin Begos
Associated Press Sunday July 15, 2012 7:58 AM
PITTSBURGH — A new study being done by the Department of Energy might
provide some of the first solid answers to a controversial question: Can
gas-drilling fluids migrate and pose a threat to drinking water?
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/insight/2012/07/15/1-can-fracking-pollute-water-unique-study-seeks-answer.html
Opinion
Don't just RESTORE, but PREPARE (Your Word)
Published: Monday, July 16, 2012, 5:38 AM
· By John F. Valentine and George F. Crozier
· Special to the Press-Register
·
With the passage of the RESTORE Act, the state of Alabama is presented with
an extraordinary opportunity and challenge: the opportunity to make a
difference in our society and the challenge to carry through on it.
http://blog.al.com/press-register-commentary/2012/07/dont_just_restore_but_prepare.html
RESTORE Act money can help resolve lingering questions about oil spill's
impact (editorial)
Published: Sunday, July 15, 2012, 5:38 AM
By Press-Register Editorial Board
RESEARCH PUBLISHED in the scientific journal PLoS ONE provides troubling
new information about the effects of the BP oil spill on the Gulf of
Mexico. It suggests that big changes took place in microscopic organisms in
the months after the spill, and that those changes could have significant
impacts in the years to come.
http://blog.al.com/press-register-commentary/2012/07/restore_act_money_can_help_res.html
