Oil Spill
Claims against BP contractors dismissed at trial
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge conducting a trial to assign fault for
the nation's worst offshore oil spill dismissed claims Wednesday against a
BP contractor and the company that made a key safety device on the drilling
rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering the disaster.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21748394/plaintiffs-rest-in-trial-over-2010-gulf-oil-spill
Federal judge dismisses claims against drilling fluids supplier in BP oil
spill trial
Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
March 20, 2013 at 7:11 PM
The federal judge overseeing the 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill trial
dismissed claims Wednesday against the Houston-based company that supplied
drilling fluids to the British oil giant for its Macondo well.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/03/macondo_drilling_crew_got_ahea.html#incart_river
Ex-BP engineer faces new allegations of deleting voicemails after 2010 Gulf
oil spill
By Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — A former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages
about the company's response to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
faces new allegations that he also deleted voicemails from his phone.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ex-bp-engineer-faces-new-allegations-of-deleting-voicemails-after-2010-gulf-oil-spill/2013/03/20/9167e87e-91a2-11e2-9173-7f87cda73b49_story.html
Gulf Coast wildlife restoration effort shows progress
Houston Chronicle
ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LOUISIANA — When Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last
visited the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge in 2010, he stood on a
barren strip of land that looked more like the surface of the moon than a
flourishing marsh.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/03/20/gulf-coast-wildlife-restoration-effort-shows-progress/
Alabama Senate President Del Marsh: Use BP money for Gulf Coast
By George Talbot | gtalbot@al.com
March 20, 2013 at 11:52 AM
Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said today he does
not support legislation that would send proceeds from the state's
litigation against oil giant BP to repay the Alabama Trust Fund.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/03/alabama_senate_president_del_m.html
State News
DMR executive director decision now in governor's hands
By Warren Kulo | GulfLive.com
on March 20, 2013 at 3:20 PM
BILOXI, Mississippi -- The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources has
forwarded the names of three finalists for the Department of Marine
Resources Executive Director's post to Gov. Phil Bryant, who will make the
final decision.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/03/dmr_executive_director_decisio.html#incart_river
Audubon to get $1 million from Chevron
Sun Herald
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
MOSS POINT -- As part of a long-standing partnership, the Chevron
Pascagoula Refinery is donating $1 million to the Pascagoula River Audubon
Center and another National Audubon Society program, the Mississippi
Flyway.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/20/4541621/audubon-to-get-1-million-from.html
Recycled fashion hits runway in Bay St. Louis
By CECILY CUMMINGS — Special to the Sun Herald
BAY ST. LOUIS -- Despite what your mother might have told you, sometimes
it's OK to dress trashy.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/20/4541769/recycled-fashion-hits-runway-in.html
Council considers dispute over gas tanks
Commercial Dispatch
March 20, 2013 10:30:37 AM
Carmen K. Sisson - csisson@cdispatch.com
A currently defunct gas station is at the center of a dispute between the
City of Columbus and the station operator, who contends he is not
responsible for removing four free-standing fuel tanks which city fire
officials have declared a hazard.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=23004
Greene County joins Pine Belt Solid Waste Authority
Hattiesburg American
Greene County will join the Pine Belt Solid Waste Authority, stabilizing
rates for other producers, such as Hattiesburg, with its addition.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20130321/NEWS01/303210018/Greene-County-joins-Pine-Belt-Solid-Waste-Authority
Ripley building new wastewater line
Southern Sentinel
by Beth Thomas | 1:00 am | March 20, 2013
If you've driven along MS 15 in recent weeks and wondered about the
construction going on, a four-inch wastewater line between the Ripley
Oil-Dri plant and the city's lagoon at the south end of town is being
built.
http://southern-sentinel.com/2013/03/20/ripley-building-new-wastewater-line/
Refuge growth proposal revealed
Bolivar Commercial
by Rory Doyle
03.20.13 - 06:05 pm
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service continues its pursuit to increase the size
of the Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge in Bolivar County.
http://www.bolivarcom.com/view/full_story/22028498/article-Refuge-growth-proposal-revealed?instance=homefirstleft
A program to get More African American Girls Interested in Engineering is
Headed to Mississippi
MPB
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce only one in seven engineers
is female. Even fewer are women of color. But as MPB's Lawayne Childrey
reports an engineering program coming to Jackson this summer hopes to get
hundreds of African American girls in Mississippi thinking about going into
the field that has long been dominated by men.
http://mpbonline.org/News/article/a_program_to_get_more_african_american_girls_interested_in_engineering_is_h
National News
Supreme Court throws out ruling classifying logging road runoff as
industrial pollution
By Associated Press, Published: March 20
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with timber interests in
a dispute over the regulation of runoff from logging roads in western
forests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/supreme-court-throws-out-ruling-classifying-logging-road-runoff-as-industrial-pollution/2013/03/20/06942e0c-916f-11e2-9173-7f87cda73b49_story.html
Energy firms, environmental groups agree on tough new fracking
standards
AP
PITTSBURGH -- In an unlikely partnership between longtime
adversaries, some of the nation's biggest energy companies and
environmental groups have agreed on a voluntary set of standards
for gas and oil fracking in the Northeast that appear to go
further than existing state and federal pollution regulations.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy-firms-environmental-groups-agree-tough-new-fracking-standards-1C8975363
Senate committee approves bill to boost waterways
The Hill
By Keith Laing - 03/20/13 05:46 PM ET
A reauthorization of federal waterways funding cleared its first hurdle on
Wednesday when it was approved by a key Senate committee.
http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/ports/289399-senate-committee-approves-bill-to-boost-waterways
Coastal states want more offshore drilling revenue
Politico
By: Andrew Restuccia
March 21, 2013 04:56 AM EDT
Sens. Mary Landrieu and Lisa Murkowski expressed confidence on Wednesday
that their legislation to funnel more royalties from offshore energy
production to coastal states can win congressional approval.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/coastal-states-want-more-offshore-drilling-revenue-89145.html?hp=r13
Opinion
SUN HERALD | Editorial: Legislature still has time to require audits of all
agencies
While the Mississippi Legislature is still in session, we again call on
Gov. Phil Bryant to support legislation requiring an annual financial audit
of every agency of state government.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/20/4541170/sun-herald-editorial-legislature.html
New EPA Administrator should seek to improve relationships with industry
The Hill
By Former Rep. Ronnie Shows (D-Miss.) - 03/20/13 11:05 AM ET
The recent decision by President Barack Obama to nominate Gina McCarthy to
head the Environmental Protection Agency is an opportunity for the White
House to try and repair the rift that has grown between industry and the
Democratic Party.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/289249-new-epa-administrator-should-seek-to-improve-relationships-with-industry
