2.25.13
Oil Spill
BP should get maximum penalty in oil spill trial, environmentalists say
By George Talbot | gtalbot@al.com
updated February 23, 2013 at 9:43 AM
"The Obama Administration can and must do more to hold BP accountable." -
National Wildlife Federation president Larry Schweiger
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/02/bp_should_get_maximum_penalty.html#incart_river
Trial set to open for Gulf oil spill litigation
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN — Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — Nearly three years after a deadly rig explosion in the Gulf
of Mexico triggered the nation's worst offshore oil spill, a federal judge
in New Orleans is set to preside over a high-stakes trial for the raft of
litigation spawned by the disaster.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/02/25/4488611/trial-set-to-open-for-gulf-oil.html
Settlement Offer to BP Takes Shape
Wall Street Journal
By TOM FOWLER
The U.S. Justice Department and Gulf Coast states are considering offering
BPBP.LN +2.00% PLC a deal under which the company would pay $16 billion to
settle civil claims related to the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident,
according to people familiar with the discussions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323549204578320362599078672.html
As BP Trial Nears, Hints of Progress on a Deal
NY Times
By BARRY MEIER and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
NEW ORLEANS — As settlement talks continued Sunday on the eve of a trial
against BP stemming from the 2010 explosion of a drilling rig in the Gulf
of Mexico, the details of an offer by federal and state officials to the
oil company started to emerge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/energy-environment/as-bp-trial-nears-hints-of-progress-on-a-deal.html?ref=earth&_r=0&pagewanted=print
BP, Halliburton, Transocean, plaintiffs' lawyers all prepare to face off in
gulf oil spill trial
Washington Post
By Steven Mufson,
One of the biggest legal circuses on Earth — the trial of BP over the
extent of its responsibility for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill — is
scheduled to open in New Orleans on Monday, featuring 34 leading lawyers in
the jam-packed federal court and hundreds of others listening to video
feeds in rooms nearby.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-trial-bp-halliburton-transocean-plaintiffs-lawyers-prepare-to-face-off/2013/02/23/84aea08c-7d2a-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html
BP oil spill trial begins Monday in New Orleans almost three years after
one of the worst spills in U.S. history
By NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
updated February 22, 2013 at 10:29 PM
The long-awaited civil trial against BP and its partners in the ill-fated
Macondo oil well is slated to begin Monday in federal court in New Orleans,
setting the stage for a three-month proceeding to assign liability
potentially worth tens of billions of dollars for the explosion and
collapse of the Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010, which killed 11 workers and
caused one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/02/bp_oil_spill_trial_begins_mond.html
BP Seeks to Prove Gulf Spill Errors Weren't Negligence
Bloomberg
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Jef Feeley - Feb 25, 2013
BP Plc (BP/), Transocean Ltd. (RIG) and Halliburton Co. (HAL) must convince
a federal judge that mistakes that led to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
don't amount to gross negligence if they are to avoid billions of dollars
in damages for the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-02-25/bp-seeks-to-prove-gulf-spill-errors-weren-t-grossly-negligent.html
State News
Investigators remove documents from Scott Walker's home
WLOX
The State Auditor's office completed a search of Scott Walker's home in
Ocean Springs Friday afternoon.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21310881/investigators-remove-documents-from-scott-walkers-home
Scott Walker's Ocean Springs home searched by auditors
Sun Herald
By MICHAEL NEWSOM — mmnewsom@sunherald.com
The State Auditor's Office searched Scott Walker's Ocean Springs home
Friday.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/02/22/4485096/scott-walkers-ocean-springs-home.html
DMR's Shumate approached Land Trust on purchase of Scott Walker lot, group
says
Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE — calee@sunherald.com
Tina Shumate, a board member with the Land Trust for the Mississippi
Coastal Plain, approached that group about buying property from the son of
her boss at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, its executive
director said.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/02/23/4486897/dmrs-shumate-approached-land-trust.html
County sewage districts progress
Bolivar Commercial
by Rory Doyle
02.23.13 - 12:13 pm
The development of two new sewage utility districts within the Noblin and
Stanton subdivisions is progressing along the projected timeline under the
direction of the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors.
http://www.bolivarcom.com/view/full_story/21800078/article--County-sewage-districts-progress?instance=latest_articles
Solar energy company moves offices to Coast
by MBJ Staff
Published: February 24,2013
GULFPORT — Solar America Corp. completed the relocation of its corporate
offices to Gulfport.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/02/24/solar-energy-company-moves-offices-to-coast/
Panel to discuss climate change
Starkville Daily News
Rusty Pritchard shows that evangelical faith and climate change do not have
to be mutually exclusive.
http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/node/13277
Girls get hands on engineering experience at Mississippi Power
WLOX
It's a career field largely dominated by men, but today Mississippi Power
hosted a program meant to encourage more girls to consider a job in
engineering.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21317492/girls-get-hands-on-engineering-experience-at-mississippi-power
National News
Coastal governors unite in push for offshore revenue-sharing bill
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 02/22/13 04:45 PM ET
A group of coastal governors said it has sharpened its main policy goals:
push the White House for faster offshore energy permitting, and coax
Congress into passing offshore revenue-sharing legislation.
The top agenda item for Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition members
Sean Parnell (Alaska), Pat McCrory (N.C.) and Phil Bryant (Miss.), all
Republican governors, is securing a bill that would award coastal states
more federal revenues for energy developed off their coasts.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/284467-coastal-governors-unite-in-push-for-offshore-revenue-sharing-bill
6 underground tanks leaking radioactive toxic waste at Washington nuke
facility
By The Associated Press
updated February 23, 2013 at 2:44 PM
YAKIMA, Washington -- Federal and state officials say six underground tanks
holding a brew of radioactive and toxic waste are leaking at the country's
most contaminated nuclear site in south-central Washington, raising
concerns about delays for emptying the aging tanks.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/02/6_underground_tanks_leaking_ra.html#incart_river
Opinion
EPA's fuel folly
Politico
By: Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner
February 24, 2013 09:06 PM EST
What has been termed the Environmental Protection Agency's "Phantom Fuel
Requirement" is an aptly named rule that epitomizes the mind-set of an
agency that has put itself above the law. Hiding behind complexity and its
self-assigned moral authority, EPA increasingly subjugates the views of the
public, Congress and the courts to its own policy determinations.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/epas-fuel-folly-87997.html?hp=r12
Press Releases
Landowners Can Apply for Funds to Create, Enhance Wetlands
JACKSON, Feb. 22, 2013 – Private landowners in Mississippi wanting to
protect and restore wetland areas on their property can submit applications
for financial and technical assistance to USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service. Applications are due on March 15, 2013
Through the Wetlands Reserve program, NRCS provides technical and financial
assistance to help landowners voluntarily restore and protect wetland
ecosystems. Landowners may select either a permanent or 30-year easement,
retaining ownership of the land once the easement is in place. To be
eligible, land must have hydric soil and cropping history. Landowners
enrolling into the program can earn up to $1,800 per acre, depending on
land use.
"The Wetlands Reserve Program is a great conservation tool, providing
landowners a way to protect and restore wetland areas while making
improvements to their land," NRCS State Conservationist Homer Wilkes said.
"It is a win-win for the environment, the landowner and the community."
The program is best suited for frequently flooded agriculture lands, where
restoration will maximize habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife,
and improve water quality.
Wetlands provide a tremendous ecological service to the state and country.
They slow and store water, lowering the risk of flooding for nearby
communities during hurricanes and other severe weather events.
Wetlands are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world.
Rare and endangered wildlife, such as the Louisiana black bear, are
thriving on WRP easement lands.
"The farmers, ranchers and landowners in Mississippi are not our only
citizens who have benefited from the Wetlands Reserve Program," Wilkes
said. "The program has led to cleaner water, aesthetic open spaces and
abundant habitat for wildlife. Mississippi will continue to benefit from
WRP as more land is set aside for wetland areas."
