1.28.13
Oil Spill
GoCoast report coming Monday
Sun Herald
BILOXI -- The final report of the GoCoast 2020 Commission will be released
at a press conference Monday.
Gov. Phil Bryant and Trudy Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality, will release the report.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/25/4426812/business-briefs.html
BP oil spill: Grover Robinson 'a natural fit' for Gulf Consortium chairman
Pensacola News Journal
Electing Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson to be chairman of
Florida's Gulf Consortium was an easy decision, according to Gulf County
Commissioner Warren Yeager.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130128/NEWS08/301280018/Grover-Robinson-BP-oil-spill-Gulf-Consortium
Escambia County officials break ground on Mahogany Mill Boat Ramp
Pensacola News Journal
Escambia County broke ground on the future site of the Mahogany Mill Boat
Ramp on Friday.
The boat ramp is part of the initial wave of restoration projects funded by
the Natural Resource Damage Assessments allotted to the state of Florida
following the Deep-water Horizon oil spill.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130126/NEWS01/301260020/Escambia-County-officials-break-ground-Mahogany-Mill-Boat-Ramp
State News
'Oversights' disclosed in $3M BP grant
Sun Herald
By MARY PEREZ — meperez@sunherald.com
D'IBERVILLE -- City officials say it was an "oversight" that the council
didn't know about a contract with Maxwell-Walker Consulting Group to secure
a BP grant for D'Iberville that would net the firm a finder's
fee.http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/26/4430383/oversights-disclosed-in-3m-bp.html
Oily sheen reported up to three miles downriver from Vicksburg barge
accident
By The Associated Press
updated January 28, 2013 at 2:57 AM
A barge laden with 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge in
Vicksburg, Miss., over the weekend, spilling light crude into the
Mississippi River and closing the waterway for miles each way, the Coast
Guard said. A second barge was damaged.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/01/oily_sheen_reported_up_to_thre.html#incart_river
Keesler Air Force Base earns recycling award
SUN HERALD
BILOXI -- Keesler Air Force Base has been named an environmental hero in
Mississippi for its comprehensive recycling efforts.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/27/4431413/keesler-air-force-base-earns-recycling.html
Utility Authority working on many projects
By Jeremy Pittari
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE — Pearl River County's Utility Authority is working on a number of
water and waste water projects to improve the infrastructure for those
services.
http://picayuneitem.com/local/x2056595446/Utility-Authority-working-on-many-projects
Bill would remove AG lawyers from state agency duties
Sun Herald
By MICHAEL NEWSOM — mmnewsom@sunherald.com
Lawyers from the Mississippi Attorney General's Office would no longer be
assigned to state agencies, if one state lawmaker gets his wish.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/26/4430373/bill-would-remove-ag-lawyers-from.html
National News
Marine biologists look to hatcheries to replenish red snapper, speckled
trout stocks
By The Associated Press
updated January 26, 2013 at 8:25 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- Marine biologists are trying to learn whether they can
increase populations of two of the Gulf of Mexico's most popular sport and
food fish -- and perhaps further relax quotas on one of them -- by raising
and releasing small fry.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/01/marine_biologists_look_to_hatc.html#incart_river
Court of Appeals says EPA overestimates production of certain biofuels to
promote industry
By Associated Press,
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental
Protection Agency is overestimating the amount of fuel that can be produced
from grasses, wood and other nonfood plants in an effort to promote a
fledgling biofuels industry.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-of-appeals-says-epa-overestimates-production-of-certain-biofuels-to-promote-industry/2013/01/25/66ba94ac-6725-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html
Focus On Fracking Diverts Attention From Horizontal Drilling
NPR
Mention the recent surge in oil and natural gas production in the U.S. and
one word comes to mind for a lot of people: "fracking." Hydraulic
fracturing is a controversial technique that uses water, sand and
potentially hazardous chemicals to break up rock deep underground to
release oil and natural gas.
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/27/170015508/focus-on-fracking-diverts-attention-from-horizontal-drilling
Stage is set for fracking in Tennessee
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Pam Sohn
Monday, January 28, 2013
·
East Tennessee in coming years may find itself front and center in the
growing debate over fracking — the hydraulic or nitrogen gas fracturing of
shale rock deep underground to free natural gas.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jan/28/stage-is-set-for-fracking-in-tennessee/
Colorado gov. proposes new fracking study
By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Colorado should use unanticipated tax money to study the
effects of oil and gas drilling on air quality, as well as devote more
money to public schools and wildfire prevention, Gov. John Hickenlooper
told lawmakers Friday.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Colorado-gov-proposes-new-fracking-study-4224642.php
Press Releases
EPA Releases New Report on Children's Health and the Environment in America
WASHINGTON – EPA today released "America's Children and the Environment,
Third Edition," a comprehensive compilation of information from a variety
of sources on children's health and the environment. The report shows
trends for contaminants in air, water, food, and soil that may affect
children; concentrations of contaminants in the bodies of children and
women of child-bearing age; and childhood illnesses and health conditions.
The report incorporates revisions to address peer review and public
comments on draft materials released in 2011.
"This latest report provides important information for protecting America's
most vulnerable – our children. It shows good progress on some issues, such
as reducing children's blood lead levels and exposure to tobacco smoke in
the home, and points to the need for continued focus on other issues", said
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Although we are encouraged by these
findings, there is still much work to be done. By monitoring trends,
identifying successes, and shedding light on areas that need further
evaluation, we can continue to improve the health of our children and all
Americans."
Among the contaminants clearly linked to health conditions in children, key
findings include:
· The median concentration of lead in the blood of children between the
ages of 1 and 5 years was 92 percent lower in 2009-2010 compared to
1976-1980 levels. Although the majority of the decline occurred in
the 1980s, consistent decreases have continued since 1999.
· The median level of cotinine (a marker of exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke) measured in blood of nonsmoking children ages 3 to 17
years was 88 percent lower in 2009-2010 than it was in 1988–1991. In
2010, 6 percent of children ages 0 to 6 years lived in homes where
someone smoked regularly, compared with 27 percent in 1994.
· The percentage of children living in counties where pollutant
concentrations were above the levels of one or more national air
quality standards declined from 75 percent to 59 percent from 1999 to
2009.
The level of knowledge regarding the relationship between environmental
exposures and health outcomes varies widely among the topics presented in
this report, and the inclusion of an indicator in the report does not
necessarily imply a known relationship between environmental exposure and
children's health effects. The report provides data for selected children's
health conditions that warrant further research because the causes,
including possible contributing environmental factors, are complex and not
well understood at this point.
In the case of asthma, researchers do not fully understand why children
develop the condition. However, substantial evidence shows exposure to
certain air pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone, can trigger
symptoms in children who already have asthma. Although the report found the
percentage of children reported to currently have asthma increased from 8.7
percent in 2001 to 9.4 percent in 2010 and that minority populations are
particularly affected by asthma, the severity of children's asthma and
respiratory symptoms has declined. The rate of emergency room visits for
asthma decreased from 114 visits per 10,000 children in 1996 to 103 visits
per 10,000 children in 2008. Between 1996 and 2008, hospitalizations for
asthma and for all other respiratory causes decreased from 90
hospitalizations per 10,000 children to 56 hospitalizations per 10,000
children.
The report also looks at trends in other health conditions, such as
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and preterm births, for
which rates have increased. There is no conclusive information on the role
of environmental contaminants in ADHD or preterm births, and additional
research is ongoing.
The national indicators presented in this comprehensive report are
important for informing future research related to children's health.
Children may be more vulnerable to environmental exposures than adults
because children's bodies are still developing. Children eat more, drink
more, and breathe more in proportion to their body size; and their behavior
can expose them more to chemicals and organisms.
This report includes 37 indicators of children's environmental health to
address 23 important topics. The expanded content reflects the latest
research on children's health issues and the availability of data for more
topics. Each indicator and its supporting text were peer reviewed by
independent external experts and made available for review and comment by
the public.
More on "America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition":
http://www.epa.gov/ace/
