Isaac
Hotel operators say beach re-opening 'critical' for tourism
WLOX
We need our beach to re-open ASAP. Harrison County hotel operators
delivered that message Thursday to the county's sand beach director, saying
the beach is critical to successful tourism.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19539777/hotel-operators-say-beach-re-opening-critical-for-tourism
Officials: OS beach a health nuisance; clean-up could begin soon
WLOX
For more than two weeks, Ocean Springs beaches have been a smelly, ugly
mess. A recent legal ruling over ownership of portions of the beach has
prevented the county from clearing away Hurricane Isaac debris. That will
soon change, because the state health department has determined the beach
is dangerous.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19538283/officials-os-beach-a-health-nuisance-clean-up-could-begin-soon
Lee begins cleanup; scavengers warned
By David A. Farrell
The Picayune Item
POPLARVILLE — Supervisors on Wednesday signed a contract with Hensley R.
Lee Construction, LLC, of Picayune for pickup and disposal of debris
generated by Hurricane Isaac, which slammed Pearl River County Aug. 28
through 31 with some of the heaviest rainfall ever recorded here. Lee won
the contract on Monday with a $774,190 low bid. Four other companies also
bid on the project.
http://picayuneitem.com/local/x72185400/Lee-begins-cleanup-scavengers-warned
Stolthaven Chemical Plant May Have Leaked 191,000 Gallons During Hurricane
Isaac
WWNO
The state Department of Environmental Quality is checking a report that as
much as 191,000 gallons of toxic material may have been released during
Hurricane Isaac from the Stolthaven chemical facility in Braithwaite. The
company made the estimate to the Coast Guard's National Response Center.
http://www.wwno.org/post/stolthaven-chemical-plant-may-have-leaked-191000-gallons-during-hurricane-isaac
Oil Spill
Escambia, Santa Rosa counties plan for RESTORE Act funding
Counties consider committees to choose how to spend BP fine money
Pensacola News Journal
A committee of local experts and community leaders likely will help steer
millions of dollars in anticipated BP fine money for Escambia County in the
coming months and years, potentially changing the course of environmental
restoration and economic development.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20120914/NEWS01/309140024/Escambia-Santa-Rosa-counties-plan-RESTORE-Act-funding?nclick_check=1
RESTORE committee to meet Friday behind closed doors in Mobile
Thursday, September 13, 2012, 10:28 AM
Press Register
By George Talbot
It's an exclusive committee that could control billions of dollars and make
far-reaching decisions affecting the lives of thousands along the Alabama
Gulf Coast.
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/09/restore_committee_to_meet_frid.html
State News
Fight over Kemper plant returns to court today
WLOX
The construction of the $2.8 billion Kemper County power plant has
opponents going back to court today.
http://www.wlox.com/story/19543798/fight-over-kemper-plant-returns-to-court-today
Kemper County power plant opponents return to court Friday for new hearing
Thursday, September 13, 2012, 8:14 PM
By The Associated Press
JACKSON, Mississippi — Opponents will return to court Friday seeking to
again invalidate state regulators' decision to allow Mississippi Power Co.
to build a $2.8 billion power plant in Kemper County.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-business/2012/09/kemper_county_power_plan_oppon.html
Power plant completes milestone
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN — Mississippi Power announced Thursday completion of a major
construction milestone at its Kemper County energy facility as plant
construction nears the halfway mark. Installed was a section of the plant's
gasifier, which will be used to convert the plant's fuel source, lignite,
into a synthesis gas to generate electricity.
http://meridianstar.com/local/x1023282809/Power-plant-completes-milestone
Officials: This will probably be worst year ever for West Nile
by Associated Press
Published: September 13,2012
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Health officials say they're convinced this will be
the worst year for West Nile virus deaths and severe illnesses since the
disease hit America's shores in 1999.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/09/officials-this-will-probably-be-worst-year-ever-for-west-nile/
PERS Potential Problems
WJTV
There's growing concern about the stability of Mississippi's public
employees retirement system.
http://www2.wjtv.com/news/2012/sep/13/pers-potential-problems-ar-4539664/
National News
Hypoxia Task Force Begins New Efforts to Assess Water Quality Improvements
KTIC
The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Hypoxia Task Force
is launching efforts to monitor reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus
throughout the watershed.
http://kticradio.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=jfikh3f4
Making Sense of the U.S. Oil Boom
Daniel Yergin talks about where it's coming from and what it will mean for
the U.S.—and the world
Wall Street Journal
The U.S. has long been seen as an energy hog. Thanks to hydraulic
fracturing and deep water technology, it is now pumping more oil than it
has in more than a decade, and its growing status as a crude producer is
taking the world by storm.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444301704577631820865343432.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_6
House Republicans scrub climate change concerns from EPA bill
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 09/13/12 05:23 PM ET
The latest House bill aimed at thwarting climate change regulations drops
previous language that acknowledged scientific concerns about global
warming and evidence of rising temperatures and sea levels.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/249429-house-gop-scrubs-climate-concerns-from-epa-bill
EPA e-mail on Hispanic heritage featured lifted content, image of Che
Guevara
Washington Post
By Emily Heil
What's worse than plagiarizing? Maybe ... associating a U.S. government
agency with a Marxist hero?
It was a bad day for theEnvironmental Protection Agencyyesterday, when an
innocuously intentioned e-mail to staffers hailing National Hispanic
Heritage Month wound up stirring controversy and ticking off a lawmaker.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/epa-e-mail-on-hispanic-heritage-featured-lifted-content-image-of-che-guevara/2012/09/14/07e767d6-fe7d-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_blog.html
Press Releases
EPA Adds 12 Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund's National Priorities List
Eight Other Sites Proposed To Be Added
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding 12
new hazardous waste sites that pose public health and environmental risks
to the National Priorities List (NPL) for cleanup under the Superfund
program. EPA is also proposing to add another eight sites to the list.
Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most
complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.
For each of the 20 sites announced today, EPA has received letters of
concurrence from state officials supporting the NPL listing.
"Cleaning up contamination is vitally important to the health of America's
communities," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Putting clean land back into
productive use leads to increases in property values, generates new jobs
and creates a stronger local economy that will strengthen these communities
for years to come."
Since 1983, 1,676 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 360
sites have been cleaned up resulting in 1,316 sites currently on the NPL
(including the 12 sites added today). There are 54 proposed sites
(including the eight announced today) awaiting final agency action.
Contaminants found at the sites include acetone, arsenic, benzene, cadmium,
chromium, copper, dichloroethene (DCE), hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury,
methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tetrachloroethylene (PCE),
pentachlorophenol (PCP), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethylene (TCE),
xylene and zinc.
With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible
for the contamination at a site, and requires them to conduct or pay for
the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially
responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the
contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore,
it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding is required
for these sites.
The following 12 sites have been added to the National Priorities List:
• Alabama Plating Company, Inc. (former electroplater) in Vincent, Ala.
• Cedar Chemical Corporation (former chemical manufacturer) in West Helena,
Ark.
• Fairfax St. Wood Treaters (former wood treating operation) in
Jacksonville, Fla.
• Bautsch-Gray Mine (former lead and zinc mine) in Galena, Ill.
• EVR-Wood Treating/Evangeline Refining Company (former wood treating
operation) in Jennings, La.
• Leeds Metal (abandoned scrap metal facility) in Leeds, Maine
• Holcomb Creosote Co (former wood treating operation) in Yadkinville, N.C.
• Orange Valley Regional Ground Water Contamination (contaminated ground
water plume) in Orange/West Orange, N.J.
• Peters Cartridge Factory (former ammunition manufacturer) in Kings Mills,
Ohio
• West Troy Contaminated Aquifer (contaminated ground water plume) in Troy,
Ohio
• Circle Court Ground Water Plume (contaminated ground water plume) in
Willow Park, Texas
• U.S. Oil Recovery (former used oil recovery operation) in Pasadena, Texas
The following eight sites have been proposed for addition to the National
Priorities List:
• Pike and Mulberry Streets PCE Plume (former dry cleaner) in Martinsville,
Ind.
• Former United Zinc & Associated Smelters (former zinc smelter) in Iola,
Kan.
• Creese & Cook Tannery (former tannery and finishing facility) in Danvers,
Mass.
• Walton & Lonsbury Inc. (former chrome plating operation) in Attelboro,
Mass.
• Matlack, Inc. (former chemical transportation business) in Woolwich
Township, N.J.
• Riverside Industrial Park (former paint manufacturer) in Newark, N.J.
• Clinch River Corporation (former pulp and paper mill) in Harriman, Tenn.
• 700 South 1600 East PCE Plume (ground water plume) in Salt Lake City,
Utah
EPA is also withdrawing its earlier proposal to add the Evergreen Manor
Ground Water Contamination site in Winnebago County, Illinois to the NPL
because remedial action has been completed. Affected residences have been
connected to the public water supply, a county ordinance is in place which
restricts the installation of private wells in the affected area, and
contaminants of concern have remained below cleanup standards since 2006.
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the final and
proposed sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm
Information about how a site is listed on the NPL:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm
Superfund sites in local communities:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm
EPA Awards Almost $2.3 Million to Advance Chemical Safety Research
Contact Information: Jason McDonald, 404-562-9203, mcdonald.jason@epa.gov
ATLANTA - Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
nearly $2.3 million in grants was awarded to three universities in the
Southeast through EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. Nearly
$11 million dollars was awarded to eight universities in all. These grants
will help the universities develop fast and effective methods to test
chemicals to determine if they are harmful to people's health and the
environment. The methods will be used to predict a chemical's potential to
interact with biological processes that could lead to reproductive and
developmental toxicity, and disruption of the endocrine system.
The grantees will focus on developing methods and models to predict how
exposure to environmental and synthetic (man-made) chemicals and chemical
mixtures may harm the public. Some synthetic chemicals are known endocrine
disruptors, which interfere with or even mimic natural hormones and cause
damage to the development and function of vital organs, particularly in
young children and developing fetuses. There are currently thousands of
chemicals in use and hundreds more introduced every year.
"These projects highlight EPA's commitment to protecting peoples health and
the environment by developing innovative methods that are on the cutting
edge of chemical toxicity research," said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant
administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development.
The grantees are:
• North Carolina State University - developing assays to understand how
chemicals influence the regulation of development, reproduction, and
metabolism
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - developing chemical effect
testing for in vitro systems and developing computational toxicology
solutions to measure risk in populations, and creating models based on the
resulting data
• University of South Carolina - developing a targeted in vivo imaging
assay to screen and identify chemicals that exhibit aberrant development in
the cardiovascular and nervous system that lead to indirect adverse effects
on muscle development within zebrafish larvae
EPA's STAR grant program supports human health, ecology, economics and
engineering sciences through grants, centers, and fellowships.
More information on the grant awards:
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/hi_thruput_assays
More information on STAR grants: http://epa.gov/ncer/
More information on EPA's chemical safety research:
http://www.epa.gov/research/chemicalscience/
