3.11.13
Oil Spill
Second week of BP oil spill trial focuses on gross negligence
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
updated March 09, 2013 at 5:35 PM
In the second week of the BP oil spill trial in New Orleans, lawyers for
the Plaintiffs Steering Committee and the Justice Department continued to
plod through a long list of witnesses called to back up their contention
that BP committed gross negligence and willful misconduct in actions
before, during and after the blowout of its Macondo oil well nearly three
years ago.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/03/second_week_of_bp_oil_spill_tr.html#incart_river
BP warns of rising costs from spill settlement
AP
BP is warning investors that the price tag will be "significantly higher"
than it initially estimated for its multibillion-dollar settlement with
businesses and residents who claim the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
cost them money.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21555461/bp-warns-of-rising-costs-from-spill-settlement
BP Expects Some US Gulf Oil Spill Claims To Be Higher Than Anticipated
Published March 08, 2013
Dow Jones Newswires
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BP PLC (BP.LN) now expects to pay more than previously anticipated in
compensation for private economic and property damage stemming from the
Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the
company's annual report.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/03/08/bp-expects-some-us-gulf-oil-spill-claims-to-be-higher-than-anticipated/
Southeast, Mid-South farms eligible for BP oil spill settlement
Delta Farm Press
Farmers and agriculture-related businesses in much of the Southeast and
Mid-South are eligible to be a part of the settlement stemming from the
2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Billions of dollars are available
to those whose businesses suffered due to the spill.
http://deltafarmpress.com/government/southeast-mid-south-farms-eligible-bp-oil-spill-settlement
State News
New questions about Utility Authority contractor S.H. Anthony
WLOX
During a lengthy exchange at Thursday's Harrison County Utility Authority
meeting, Gulfport Mayor George Schloegel questioned payments made by his
city to the utility authority.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21549548/new-questions-have-surfaced-about-utility-authority-contractor-sh-anthony
DMR hasn't been audited by the state in over 10 years
Sun Herald
By MICHAEL NEWSOM — mmnewsom@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- The last state audit of the Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources came in 2002, the year Bill Walker became the executive director
at the agency. Now DMR is the focus of ongoing state and federal
investigations.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/09/4518255/dmr-hasnt-been-audited-by-the.html
DMR's refusal to produce records limits public information
Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE — calee@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- The records arrived in October at the Sun Herald's front desk in
a brown business envelope.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/09/4518067/dmrs-refusal-to-produce-records.html
DMR commissioner used foundation boat in fishing tournament
Sun Herald
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- One member of the commission that oversees the state Department
of Marine Resources said he borrowed a 36-foot recreational fishing boat
from Bill Walker, the former executive director of the agency, to fish a
big game tournament.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/09/4518261/dmr-commissioner-used-foundation.html
NAS Deals with Pipeline Spill
WTOK
A jet fuel spill at NAS Meridian caused concerns off the base. The spill
was discovered late Thursday. A leaky pipeline was to blame.
http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/NAS-Deals-with-Pipeline-Spill-196612181.html
Review of fish counts sought by lawmakers
Clarion Ledger
WASHINGTON — Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi
are part of a bipartisan group of senators pressing for an independent
review of how the federal government calculates fishing stocks in the Gulf
of Mexico and South Atlantic.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130311/NEWS01/303110006/Review-fish-counts-sought-by-lawmakers
Mississippi government sunshine laws not consistent
By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press
Sunday, March 10, 2013
JACKSON — Want to get personnel records for a government employee or attend
the board meeting of a county-owned hospital in Mississippi? How about
reviewing records of the state Board of Dental Examiners or attending a
Parole Board hearing?
You're probably out of luck.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/mar/10/mississippi-government-sunshine-laws-not/?print=1
National News
Arkansas, Oklahoma Senators Want Farms Exempt From EPA Rule
AP
Arkansas' two U.S. senators and one from Oklahoma joined three other
senators in introducing a bill to exempt some farmers from an Environmental
Protection Agency requirement regarding fuel storage.
http://www.news9.com/story/21556772/arkansas-oklahoma-senators-want-farms-exempt-from-epa-rule
La. agencies to address 'dead zone' nutrients in the Gulf
Baton Rouge Advocate
By AMY WOLD
Four state agencies have begun work on a plan that will address Louisiana's
contributions to the nutrients that end up in the Gulf of Mexico and help
create the "dead zone" of low oxygen that appears every summer.
http://theadvocate.com/news/5321195-123/louisiana-agencies-to-address-dead
As Asbestos Claims Rise, So Do Worries About Fraud
Wall Street Journal
By DIONNE SEARCEY and ROB BARRY
Three decades after Manville Corp. collapsed under an avalanche of
asbestos litigation, personal-injury claims continue to pile up at a rate
of 85 per day.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578318611662911912.html
EPA fails to revise key lead-poisoning hazard standards
USA Today
The EPA has not revised key hazard standards that protect children
from lead poisoning since 2001, despite science showing harms at far
lower levels of exposure than previously believed.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/10/epa-has-not-revised-lead-hazard-standards-for-dust-and-soil/1971209/
Can the world fight climate change and energy poverty at the same time?
Washington Post
By Brad Plumer , Updated: March 10, 2013
The United Nations has set two huge energy-related goals for the coming
century. The first is to bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people who
still don't have it. The second is to curtail fossil fuel use andkeep
global warming below 2°C.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/10/can-we-tackle-climate-change-and-energy-poverty-at-the-same-time/
Nuclear Chief: US Plants Safer After Japan Crisis
AP
Two years after the nuclear crisis in Japan, the top U.S. regulator says
American nuclear power plants are safer than ever, though not trouble-free.
A watchdog group calls that assessment overly rosy.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/nrc-years-japan-us-nuke-plants-safer-18696953?page=2
Obama's EPA chief pick known for dogged pursuit of anti-climate change
policies
By Doug McKelway
Published March 08, 2013
FoxNews.com
aWith his pick of Assistant EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy to head the agency, President Obama has
signaled fidelity to his inaugural address promise to "respond to the
threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray
our children and future generations."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/08/obama-pick-for-epa-chief-known-for-dogged-pursuit-anti-climate-change-policies/
Opinion
SUN HERALD | Editorial: Every agency of state government should be audited
every year
Part of the mystery surrounding the Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources has been solved. The agency has not been audited for more than 10
years.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/09/4515792/sun-herald-editorial-every-agency.html
