1.16.13
Oil Spill
Outgoing EPA chief says sending BP fines to the Gulf Coast a highlight of
her tenure
By Bruce Alpert, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune
updated January 15, 2013 at 5:21 PM
WASHINGTON - Outgoing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa
Jackson, who tangled often with congressional Republicans during her
four-year tenure, says it will take strong public pressure to convince some
lawmakers to accept scientific evidence of the harmful impact of some
pollutants.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/01/outgoing_epa_chief_says_sendin.html
Family members of BP Deepwater Horizon accident victims criticize company's
$4.5 billion criminal settlement
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
updated January 15, 2013 at 8:15 PM
At least five family members of workers killed in the BP Deepwater Horizon
disaster and one injured worker have filed victim statements in response to
BP's proposed $4.5 billion settlement of criminal charges stemming from the
accident. Some are calling the settlement "incomprehensible," and
questioning why no top officials of the company have been charged with
criminal acts.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/01/family_members_of_bp_deepwater.html
Okaloosa to form committee for RESTORE Act (DOCUMENT)
By KARI BARLOW / Daily News
Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 20:35 PM.
FORT WALTON BEACH — Okaloosa County commissioners will form a nine-member
advisory committee to help decide how RESTORE Act money should be spent
locally.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/local/okaloosa-to-form-committee-for-restore-act-document-1.79523
Okaloosa County RESTORE
WEAR
Okaloosa County Commissioners are trying to decide how to use money from
the Restore Act.
It's meant to provide recovery funds to the county from the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill.
http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_restore-act-28182.shtml
State News
Dr. Bill Walker fired from DMR director's post
WLOX
Dr. Bill Walker was fired on Tuesday as executive director of the
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The Commission on Marine
Resources voted unanimously for the termination.
http://www.wlox.com/story/20591301/dr-bill-walker-fired-from-dmr-directors-post
Q and A with Vernon Asper
WLOX
http://www.wlox.com/category/240214/video-center?clipId=8194614&autostart=true
Bill Walker fired as Director of Department of Marine Resources (updated)
Mississippi Press
By Warren Kulo | GulfLive.com
updated January 15, 2013 at 10:44 AM
BILOXI, Mississippi -- Bill Walker has been fired as Executive Director of
the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/01/bill_walker_fired_as_director.html#incart_river
Ousted as DMR director, Bill Walker trying to stay `upbeat'
Mississippi Press
By Warren Kulo | GulfLive.com
updated January 15, 2013 at 4:23 PM
BILOXI, Mississippi -- Dr. Bill Walker said he was surprised at the
Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources' decision to remove him as
Executive Director of the Department of Marine Resources, but is trying to
stay "upbeat" despite the controversy swirling around him.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/01/bill_walker_ousted_from_dmr_tr.html#incart_river
Commissioners fire Walker from Mississippi DMR post
Sun Herald
CMR's Drummond: New informationfrom investigators 'disturbing'
By MICHAEL NEWSOM — mmnewsom@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- The governing board of Mississippi's Department of Marine
Resources on Tuesday fired Executive Director Bill Walker, who is under
state and federal investigation. Walker didn't attend the meeting and
couldn't be reached for comment.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/15/4408663/commissioners-fire-walker-from.html
Guice believes 'providence' landed him in DMR's top job
Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE — calee@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- The former legislator Bill Walker hand-picked in November to be
deputy director at the state Department of Marine Resources said Tuesday if
he had known then what he knows now, he might have turned down the job.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/15/4408662/guice-believes-providence-landed.html
DMR records subpoenaed by grand jury closed to public
Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE — calee@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- The attorney for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
read a statement during a board meeting Tuesday about why the agency
recently denied the Sun Herald's request for financial records.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/15/4407948/dmr-records-subpoenaed-by-grand.html
Environmental agencies test for contaminants from Hercules plant
WDAM
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality are in Hattiesburg to over see testing that Hercules
is conducting off their property, east of the plant.
http://www.wdam.com/story/20594302/environmental-agencies-test-for-contaminants-from-hercules-plant
Supervisors oppose La. levee study
Sea Coast Echo
By Dwayne Bremer
Jan 15, 2013, 17:04
Some have said it will never happen – others have said it would be too
expensive and that the government would never allow something that would
adversely affect South Mississippi. Don't tell that to Louisiana, however,
which appears poised to move forward with plans that include building new
levees to close off the Lake Pontchartrain basin.
http://www.seacoastecho.com/article_6573.shtml#.UPah1CfXnNs
State settles lawsuit with defunct solar company Twin Creeks (updated)
By The Associated Press
JACKSON, Mississippi — The state of Mississippi settled a lawsuit Tuesday
with Twin Creeks, a California solar panel company that went out of
business after the state spent $27.7 million to construct a building for
the business in Senatobia and buy equipment, The Associated Press has
learned.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-business/2013/01/state_settles_lawsuit_with_def.html#incart_river
PEER committee to review Port of Gulfport's federal spending
SUN HERALD
GULFPORT -- The state Legislature's Joint Committee on Performance
Evaluation and Expenditure Review plans to study the Port of Gulfport's
management of federal Community Development Block Grant money, port
officials have learned.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/15/4408620/peer-committee-to-review-port.html
Oil Extractions In North Ms & West Alabama
WCBI
UNDATED, Miss. (WCBI)-Oil prospectors leasing land from the city of
Caledonia have made some headlines in Lowndes County recently.
But the oil lease really isn't anything new in North Mississippi.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/video-oil-extractions-in-north-ms-west-alabama
Mississippi Moving Forward With Program To Track The Effectiveness of State
Spending
MPB
BY JEFFREY HESS | PUBLISHED 15 JAN 2013 06:14PM
Mississippi is moving toward adopting a national program that is intended
to measure how much impact each dollar of state spending is creating. MPB's
Jeffrey Hess reports the state corrections system is the first target of a
data driven program to measure cost versus benefit.
http://mpbonline.org/News/article/mississippi_moving_forward_with_program_to_track_the_effectiveness_of_state
Dems taking hard line against PERS changes
Planned bill called unfair to state workers
Clarion Ledger
State Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday warned Republican lawmakers they will
have a fight on their hands if legislation is introduced to reduce
retirement benefits for current or retired state employees.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130116/NEWS010504/301160016/Dems-taking-hard-line-against-PERS-changes
National News
U.S., South Mississippi shrimp processors seek federal help to slow imports
By ROB HOTAKAINEN — McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- They survived hurricanes and oil spills, but Gulf Coast
shrimp processors say there's no way they can battle foreign governments to
stay in business.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/15/4408675/us-south-mississippi-shrimp-processors.html
AP source: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leaving
By JULIE PACE — AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will leave the Obama
administration in March, an Obama administration official said Wednesday.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/16/4409125/ap-source-interior-secretary-ken.html
Fed agency: 2012 was 10th-warmest year on record worldwide
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 01/15/13 03:19 PM ET
Average global temperatures in 2012 were the 10th-warmest on record,
federal scientists reported Tuesday.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/277311-fed-agency-2012-was-10th-warmest-on-record-worldwide
EPA says new air quality revisions will slash industry costs, health risks
The Hill
By Ben Goad - 01/15/13 12:09 PM ET
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued final revisions to a
2010 air quality rule, saying the changes would reduce costs associated
with the regulations while also protecting public health.
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/legislation/277247-epa-says-new-air-quality-revisions-will-slash-industry-costs-health-risks
EPA Issues New Emission Rules for Diesel Generators
Published January 15, 2013
Dow Jones Newswires
advertisement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new emission rules Tuesday
for diesel generators used for oil and natural-gas production, emergency
situations and other uses that the agency said would cut costs while
reducing air pollution.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/01/15/epa-issues-new-emission-rules-for-diesel-generators/
Burning Fuel Particles Do More Damage to Climate Than Thought, Study Says
NY Times
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
The tiny black particles released into the atmosphere by burning fuels are
far more powerful agents of global warming than had previously been
estimated, some of the world's most prominent atmospheric scientists
reported in a study issued on Tuesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/science/earth/burning-fuel-particles-do-more-damage-to-climate-than-thought-study-says.html?ref=earth&_r=0&pagewanted=print
AP Exclusive: EPA reversed course on tainted Texas water wells after gas
company protested
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, January 16, 2:27 AM
WEATHERFORD, Texas — When a man in a Fort Worth suburb reported his
family's drinking water had begun "bubbling" like champagne, the federal
government sounded an alarm: An oil company may have tainted their wells
while drilling for natural gas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ap-exclusive-epa-reversed-course-on-tainted-texas-water-wells-after-gas-company-protested/2013/01/16/197a363c-5fb6-11e2-9dc9-bca76dd777b8_print.html
Florida property rights showdown lands at the Supreme Court
By Shannon Bream
Published January 15, 2013
FoxNews.com
A land battle that has been raging for nearly two decades landed Tuesday at
the Supreme Court, which will decide whether the government went too far in
regulating a development in Florida.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/15/justices-tackle-property-rights-showdown/
Court denies challenge to EPA ethanol ruling
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 01/15/13 01:43 PM ET
A federal court on Tuesday preserved an Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) ruling that permits the sale of a high-ethanol fuel blend.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/277269-court-denies-challenge-to-high-ethanol-fuel-sales
Oil industry escalates attacks on biofuel mandate
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 01/15/13 12:16 PM ET
The oil industry on Tuesday escalated its attacks on the federal biofuel
mandate as it rolled out a national ad campaign aimed at promoting the
nation's refineries.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/277243-api-ad-campaign-to-push-for-biofuel-rule-repeal
Press Releases
Signet Maritime Corporation Announces Expansion of Operations in
Pascagoula, Miss.
Pascagoula, Miss. – Signet Maritime, a marine transportation and logistics
services company, has announced the expansion of its Signet Shipbuilding &
Repair operations at the Port of Pascagoula in Pascagoula, Miss. The
expansion represents a corporate investment of $3.6 million and is creating
50 additional jobs.
Signet is constructing additional facilities and infrastructure at its
Pascagoula location to accommodate an increase in shipbuilding and fleet
repair.
Signet Maritime has already hired the 50 additional people to assist with
the construction of a new state of the art tractor tug to be named SIGNET
MAGIC, a new 140' x 40' heavy deck barge and increased repair work for
customer and company vessels. In addition, the expansion will include the
construction of new fabrication and support shops, a new 1,000-foot
waterfront bulkhead and new office spaces to enhance the Pascagoula repair
and construction facility.
"Signet Maritime's decision to expand its shipbuilding and ship repair
operations is wonderful news for Pascagoula, Jackson County and the entire
Mississippi Gulf Coast region," Governor Phil Bryant said. "I thank the
company for its continued confidence in Mississippi, and I am pleased the
State of Mississippi was able to assist with this project."
"This is a very important plan for our Pascagoula expansion," said Signet
Maritime President J. Barry Snyder. "We are honored to participate with
the State of Mississippi and the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) to
provide additional jobs to the people of this fine state and to aid the
growth of Jackson County and the Jackson County Port Authority."
MDA provided assistance for the construction of the new shipbuilding and
ship repair facilities through the Hurricane Katrina - Community
Development Block Grant (K-CDBG) program.
"I am grateful to Barry Snyder and the Signet Maritime team for further
investing in their Pascagoula operations and for creating additional jobs
for the residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast," said MDA Executive
Director Brent Christensen. "Mississippi's economic development team works
hard to support our state's existing businesses and help them expand, and
we were proud to support Signet with this expansion."
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and Colle Towing
Company, which previously operated on the land where Signet Maritime is
constructing its new facilities, also played an integral role in the
expansion by reaching a critical Brownfield agreement that enabled the
expansion to go forward.
"This is a great example of collaboration between public entities and the
private sector," said MDEQ Executive Director Trudy Fisher. "Working
together, MDEQ and Signet Maritime were able to incorporate protective
remedial measures into the overall design of the planned expansion."
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Signet Maritime is a global provider of
vessel services and logistics. Signet owns and operates a modern fleet of
tugs and barges complemented by a full service construction and repair
shipyard. Signet provides energy and shipping support for liquefied
natural gas (LNG) vessel assist, rig transport, harbor tugboat operations,
ocean towing, petroleum fueling and heavy-lift barge services in the
Americas, Africa and Middle East.
In addition to its Pascagoula location, Signet has operating offices in
Morgan City, La., Ingleside and Brownsville, Texas, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, and Brazil. For more information, please visit
www.signetmaritime.com.
###
Gov. Bryant Appoints Coast Business Leader to Port Commission
JACKSON—Gov. Phil Bryant today appointed Gulf Coast business leader Jack
Norris to the Mississippi State Port Authority Board of Commissioners.
Norris begins his service immediately and will assume the unexpired term of
former port commissioner Frances Turnage, who resigned Dec. 14, 2012.
The five-member board of commissioners is responsible for overseeing the
daily operations of the Port of Gulfport. Members are appointed in
staggered five-year terms.
"I am pleased to appoint Jack to the Port Authority Board of
Commissioners," Gov. Bryant said. "He is an experienced leader and has
played a large role in directing Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts for
South Mississippi. He understands the importance of the port, and he is a
strong advocate for its restoration and improvement."
Gov. Bryant has worked to speed port restoration and issued five priorities
for its improvement:
· Adding 1,200 additional jobs
· Maintaining current tenants and developing a long-term plan
to retain them
· Deepening the port channel
· Ensure port infrastructure can accommodate 1 million TEUs per
year
· Creating non-maritime development on the north harbor and
east pier
Norris is president of the Gulf Coast Business Council, a group of 250
business leaders focused on improving the economic vitality of the
Mississippi Gulf Coast. He previously served under Gov. Haley Barbour as
Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Recovery and Renewal. He was
responsible for coordinating recovery efforts and advising the governor on
the development of recovery policy.
"I am honored that Governor Bryant has appointed me to serve as a
commissioner," Norris said. "I am passionate about the potential of the
Port of Gulfport and its importance to the state and the Gulf Coast. I
believe in the vision and the strategies Gov. Bryant has set forth, and I
look forward to working with the other commissioners to achieve those
goals."
Norris holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of
Mississippi. He and his wife Stephanie live in Gulfport with their twin
daughters.
###
EPA Finalizes Revisions to Clean Air Standards for Stationary Engines
Updated rule provides extensive public health protections, slashes costs of
compliance
WASHINGTON – Today, in compliance with settlement agreements, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized revisions to standards to
reduce air pollution from stationary engines that generate electricity and
power equipment at industrial, agricultural, oil and gas production, power
generation and other facilities.
The final revised rule announced today will reduce the capital and annual
costs of the original 2010 rules by $287 million and $139 million,
respectively, while reducing harmful pollutants, including 2,800 tons per
year (tpy) of hazardous air pollutants; 36,000 tpy of carbon monoxide;
2,800 tpy of particulate matter; 9,600 tpy of nitrogen oxides, and 36,000
tpy of volatile organic compounds.
Pollution emitted from the engines can cause cancer and other serious
health effects including: aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular
disease; premature deaths in people with heart or lung disease;
neurological, cardiovascular, liver, kidney health effects; and effects on
immune and reproductive systems.
EPA estimates annual health benefits of the updated standards to be worth
$830 million to $2.1 billion.
The final amendments to the 2010 "National Emission Standards for Hazardous
Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE)"
reflect new technical information submitted by stakeholders after the 2010
standards were issued. The updates will ensure that the standards are
cost-effective, achievable, and protective, while continuing to provide
significant emission reductions.
The amendments also specify how the standards apply to emergency engines
used for emergency demand response.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/rice/ricepg.html
