Jackson County begins enormous task of removing storm debris
WLOX
It was a bittersweet day for many homeowners in Jackson County. On Wednesday, they watched as county crews began removing all the disgusting storm debris that's been piling up since Hurricane Isaac flooded their homes.http://www.wlox.com/story/19525837/jackson-county-begins-enormous-task-of-removing-storm-debris
Cleaning up Isaac's mess in Biloxi
WLOX
It's debris pick up time in the City of Biloxi. Two heavy machinery crews from Crowder Gulf were hired to take their crane trucks up and down every single street in Biloxi to pick up the mess Hurricane Isaac left behind.http://www.wlox.com/story/19518593/cleaning-up-isaacs-mess-in-biloxi
Mississippi Health Department declares debris on Ocean Springs' beaches to be nuisances and hazards
Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 6:05 PM
By Susan Ruddiman, The Mississippi Press
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi - Front Beach and East Beach in Ocean Springs was declared on Wednesday a public nuisance and health hazard by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/09/mississippi_health_department.html
Parts of Harrison County beach could be open this weekend
Sun Herald
Portions of the Hurricane Isaac-battered beach in Harrison County could be open this weekend as workers continue to remove debris the storm left behind.http://www.sunherald.com/2012/09/12/4182732/parts-of-beach-could-be-open-this.html
Army Corps of Engineers survey Turkey Creek levee system
WLOX
Neighbors, elected leaders and engineers are once again trying to figure out why the Turkey Creek levee system isn't working the way it should.http://www.wlox.com/story/19528074/army-corps-of-engineers-survey-turkey-creek-levee-system
Oil Spill
Gulf Coast needs urgent help to stem demise, group says
By GREG GORDON — Sun Herald Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A five-state coalition, warning that decades of damage inflicted by man and nature could take a $350 billion toll, called on the White House and Congress on Wednesday to make an urgent commitment of massive, long-term aid to protect the battered Gulf Coast, its fragile ecosystem and its oil, seafood, shipping and tourism industries.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/09/12/4183039/gulf-coast-needs-urgent-help-to.html
Gulf Coast officials seek restoration help
Shreveport Times
WASHINGTON — The federal government should do more to finance and fast-track restoration projects on the Gulf Coast, where the ecosystem has been devastated by natural disasters and the 2010 BP oil spill, officials from the region said Wednesday.http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20120912/NEWS01/120912040/Gulf-Coast-officials-seek-restoration-help?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp&nclick_check=1
Bacteria Sucked Up 200,000 Tons of Oil After BP Spill
by LiveScience Staff
Date: 12 September 2012 Time: 12:44 PM ET
Naturally-occurring bacteria gobbled up at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the Gulf following the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, a new study shows.
http://www.livescience.com/23126-bacteria-sucked-up-200-000-tons-of-oil-after-bp-spill.html
State News
State inspects levees, dams after Isaac
8 to 10 south Mississippi waterways in need of repair
WAPT
JACKSON, Miss. —
State officials said in the wake of Hurricane Isaac, eight to 10 waterways in south Mississippi need work or they could give way.
New lease option granted on old paper company property
Sun Herald
MOSS POINT — The Jackson County Board of Supervisors has agreed to a new lease option with Leucadia National Corp. for the 205-acre site of the old International Paper Co. property in Moss Point.http://www.sunherald.com/2012/09/12/4180935/new-lease-option-granted-on-old.html
Sewers to Cost City Big
Jackson Free Press
The city of Jackson will soon have a sewer repair bill that could rival the city's entire annual budget.http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2012/sep/12/sewers-cost-city-big/
Two Mississippi River Mayors Head To Meeting On Health and Future Of The River
MPB
PUBLISHED BY JEFFREY HESS ON 12 SEP 2012 04:41PM
Two Mississippi mayors will join with mayors from other cities along the Mississippi river in St. Louis today to discuss the health and future of the river. MPB's Jeffrey Hess reports the meeting comes after historic flooding last year and near record lows this summer.
National News
Task force examines Gulf “dead zone”
Radio Iowa
September 12, 2012 By Dar Danielson
A task force examining the so-called “dead-zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is meeting again today (Wednesday) in Des Moines. The oxygen depleted area is believed to have been created in part by nutrient runoff from farm fields that empty into the Mississippi River.
http://www.radioiowa.com/2012/09/12/task-force-examines-gulf-dead-zone/
Task force to monitor farm runoff
BY JORDAN BLUM
Baton Rouge Advocate Washington bureau
September 13, 2012
WASHINGTON — The federal government announced Wednesday the formation of a new Mississippi River Monitoring Collaborative project to help prevent the growth of low-oxygen dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.
http://theadvocate.com/home/3881011-125/task-force-to-monitor-farm
Wyo. gov. to Interior: Back off on fracking rules
AP
By Mead Gruver on September 12, 2012
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has asked the Interior Department to scale back — or abandon altogether — proposed rules that would require petroleum companies to disclose the chemicals they inject down well bores during hydraulic fracturing.
http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/82416?type=ap
Plasma Gasification Raises Hopes of Clean Energy From Garbage
NY Times
By RANDY LEONARD
David Robau tours the country promoting a system that sounds too good to be true: It devours municipal garbage, recycles metals, blasts toxic contaminants and produces electricity and usable byproducts — all with drastic reductions in emissions.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/science/plasma-gasification-raises-hopes-of-clean-energy-from-garbage.html?_r=1&ref=earth&pagewanted=print
Biofuels supporters buoyed after meetings with lawmakers
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 09/12/12 04:07 PM ET
Biofuels supporters who swarmed Capitol Hill offices this week feel confident they have sufficient congressional commitment to preserve a fuel rule critical to the industry.
Shipping company admits to ocean pollution
WAFB
Officials said a Greek shipping company was fined and put on probation after admitting in Louisiana federal court to dumping pollution in the ocean.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19524276/shipping-company-admits-to-ocean-pollution
Press Releases
Hypoxia Task Force Launches New Monitoring Efforts to Track Water Quality Improvements
Task force includes Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee and 9 other states
Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293, marraccini.davina@epa.gov
(ATLANTA – Sept. 12, 2012) The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient (Hypoxia) Task Force announced today that it is launching two new efforts to monitor reductions in nutrients – nitrogen and phosphorus – throughout the watershed. The joint federal, state and tribal task force, chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Iowa, has established the Mississippi River Monitoring Collaborative to evaluate progress toward reducing the amount of nutrients entering local waterways and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). a member of the Task Force is also preparing to update its technical standard for water quality monitoring to better measure the amount of nutrients coming from farm fields.
Nutrient runoff from agricultural, urban and industrial sources has polluted waterways for decades and contributed to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico – an area of low oxygen that is largely uninhabitable by fish and other marine life. Federal, state and local agencies, together with private landowners and water users, have been working to reduce the amount of nutrients that reaches the Gulf.
“Farmers, ranchers and other land managers, with help from federal, state and local funding sources and technical assistance, are investing in conservation projects on their lands in the Mississippi River Basin,” said Nancy Stoner, acting Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA and co-chair of the Task Force. ”Working together to expand monitoring will give us critical insight into the progress of conservation projects and help us improve activities on the ground and in the water.”
The new Mississippi River Monitoring Collaborative, made up of federal and state agencies, is identifying streams with long-term nutrient monitoring and streamflow records. So far, the team has collected more than 670,000 nutrient data records from 12 states in the Mississippi River Basin, which it will use to evaluate where conservation practices and policies are working, and where new or enhanced nutrient reduction strategies need to be developed.
“It is important we continue to have strong cooperation as we work together to monitor the progress cities, industries and farmers are making as they work to make changes and address water quality concerns,” said Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and co-chair of the Task Force.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), with assistance from EPA, the U.S. Geological Survey and many state partners, are working to improve monitoring through pilot programs of the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). One of the primary goals of the MRBI is to improve water quality in small priority watersheds of the Mississippi River Basin. NRCS and its partners have sought to capture the benefits of MRBI by measuring water quality at the edge-of-field, in stream and at the outlet of a watershed. This year NRCS reviewed progress in 15 small watersheds with MRBI projects in order to update its technical standard for water quality monitoring.
The Task Force consists of five federal agencies, 12 states and the tribes within the Mississippi/ Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). The Task Force was established in 1997 to reduce and control hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. For more, visit http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/msbasin/index.cfm
EPA Partnering with State Capitals on Green Design
Program will strengthen local economies, protect health
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the capital cities of Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Indiana will be awarded design assistance from EPA to create healthy, prosperous communities through green development. EPA’s Greening America’s Capitals (GAC) program will help these capital cities stimulate economic development, provide more housing and transportation choices, and reduce infrastructure and energy costs. Through this project, EPA will provide design assistance from private-sector experts to help these capital cities demonstrate sustainable designs that create vibrant neighborhoods while strengthening the local economies and protecting people’s health.
The following five cities were selected through a national competition for assistance.
• Frankfort, Ky. will receive assistance to enhance walkability and add bike lanes between the historic downtown and the State Capitol. The project will also connect the downtown with the proposed Kentucky River trail.
• Des Moines, Iowa will receive assistance to incorporate green infrastructure elements into a proposed streetscape plan for a one-mile segment of 6th Avenue. The project will revitalize the commercial street that serves as the northern gateway to the city’s downtown.
• Baton Rouge, La. will receive assistance to incorporate green infrastructure elements into a proposed walking and biking trail that connects Louisiana State University with the city’s downtown.
• Helena, Mont. will receive assistance to improve the walkability and add bike lanes along Last Chance Gulch, a street that connects the northern part of the Helena business district with the historic downtown. The project will also explore design alternatives for a five-way intersection to enhance walkability.
• Indianapolis, Ind. will receive assistance to make streets more pedestrian-friendly and revitalize public plazas within and adjacent to the Market Square redevelopment area. The project will tie in with the city’s larger plan to develop businesses in a new green cultural district.
GAC is a project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities among EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The partnership is helping communities across the country create more housing and transportation choices, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses. This is the third year of the Greening America’s Capitals program. Capital cities selected in the first two years included Boston, Mass.; Charleston, W.Va.; Hartford, Conn.; Jackson, Miss.; Jefferson City, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; Little Rock, Ark.; Montgomery, Ala.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C.
More information on GAC: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/greencapitals.htm
More information on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: http://www.sustainablecommunities.gov
