4/19/2013
Oil Spill
Without much fanfare, first chapter of BP Gulf oil spill trial comes to
close
By Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
April 18, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Without much more than a few words of praise from the presiding judge for
the lawyers who tried the case, the first phase of the sprawling BP Gulf of
Mexico oil spill trial came to a low-key close Wednesday.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/04/without_much_celebration_first.html
USM Gulf Coast Research Lab still looking into oil spill impact
WLOX
Saturday marks three years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This week, WLOX News has been taking a closer
look at the ongoing impact of that disaster.
http://www.wlox.com/story/22016268/usm-gulf-coast-research-lab-still-looking-into-oil-spill-impact
Tarballs few and far between on uninhabited portion of Dauphin Island a day
before the 3 year anniversary of the BP oil spill
Press Register
By Ben Raines | braines@al.com
April 19, 2013 at 7:16 AM
It took some looking to find tarballs on the uninhabited portion of
Dauphin Island Thursday afternoon, almost exactly three years after the
explosion aboard the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/04/tarballs_few_and_far_between_o.html#incart_river
3 years after Gulf oil spill, crews continue to clean up, scientists study
environment
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, April 19, 4:44 AM
BAY JIMMY, La. — At first glance, the marshy, muddy coastline of Bay Jimmy
in southeast Louisiana appears healthy three years after the nation's worst
offshore oil spill. Brown pelicans and seagulls cruise the shoreline,
plucking fish and crabs from the water. Snails hold firm to tall blades of
marsh grass.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/3-years-after-gulf-oil-spill-crews-continue-to-clean-up-scientists-study-environment/2013/04/19/de763992-a8d4-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html
Finding oil in the marsh, 3 years after BP spill
WVUE
Three years after the Gulf oil disaster, Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone
Management Director P.J. Hahn knows where to find oil.
http://www.fox8live.com/story/22019611/finding-oil-in-the-marsh-3-years-after-the-bp-spill
Gulf Coast Spill Fund Plans Lagging, May Delay Payments
Wall Street Journal
By Jeffrey Sparshott
WASHINGTON–The Treasury Department has been slow to set up rules for a
Gulf Coast trust fund, potentially delaying billions of dollars in
payments to repair economic and environmental damages from the 010
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a federal watchdog said Thursday.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/04/18/gulf-coast-spill-fund-plans-lagging-may-delay-payments/
BP Still Uncertain Over Spill Cost at Third Anniversary
Bloomberg
By Margaret Cronin Fisk - Apr 19, 2013
BP Plc (BP/) faces the third anniversary of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico tomorrow with no sure knowledge of how much more it will have to
pay government and private plaintiffs over the disaster.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/bp-still-uncertain-over-spill-cost-at-third-anniversary.html
Gulf Coast still waiting for funds after spill
USA Today
The Gulf Coast and environmental groups have big plans for the
billions of dollars BP has yet to pay in civil fines and criminal
penalties in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in
2010.
WASHINGTON — Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
polluted the Gulf Coast's ecosystem and hammered its economy, the
region is still waiting on billions of dollars in fines and other
payments from BP.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/18/gulf-region-still-struggling-three-years-after-spill/2094725/
State News
Land application discussed
City weighing treatment options
Hattiesburg American
What will the future of wastewater treatment in Hattiesburg be? Land
application or mechanical treatment?
That's the question currently facing City Council.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20130419/NEWS01/304190024/Land-application-discussed
First responders train for emergencies at local fertilizer plant
Texas city leveled by explosion
WAPT
YAZOO CITY, Miss. —The band of destruction extends for blocks following a
fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, Texas.
http://www.wapt.com/news/central-mississippi/First-responders-train-for-emergencies-at-local-fertilizer-plant/-/9156946/19814198/-/dyj465/-/index.html
Rep. Jo Bonner: Give states power to manage red snapper fisheries
Press Register
By George Talbot | gtalbot@al.com
April 18, 2013 at 4:19 PM
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, said today he was pleased to
see governors from the Gulf Coast states actively engaging in discussions
on how best to manage red snapper fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.
Four of the five Gulf Coast governors - Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Texas'
Rick Perry, Florida's Rick Scott and Mississippi's Phil Bryant - signed a
letter on Wednesday calling on Congress to allow their states to take
control over management of red snapper from the federal government.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/04/rep_jo_bonner_give_states_powe.html#incart_river
National News
The Texas fertilizer plant explosion is horrific. But how common is this?
Washington Post
By Brad Plumer, Updated: April 18, 2013
Yet another bit of awful news to add to this week: A massive explosion at a
fertilizer retail facility in central Texas on Wednesday killed as many as
15 people and left more than 160 wounded.
Investigators are still trying to determine the exact cause of the blast.
But the explosion does call attention to the $10-billion dollar U.S.
fertilizer industry, which underpins our agricultural system and has been
expanding of late.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/18/the-texas-fertilizer-plant-explosion-is-horrific-but-how-common-is-this/
Rise in U.S. Gas Production Fuels Unexpected Plunge in Emissions
Wall Street Journal
By RUSSELL GOLD
U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions have fallen dramatically in recent years, in
large part because the country is making more electricity with natural gas
instead of coal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578430751849503848.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Senators reveal slimmer energy-efficiency bill with eye toward courting GOP
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 04/18/13 11:55 AM ET
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) revived a
scaled-back version of their energy-efficiency bill on Thursday.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/294763-senators-reveal-slimmer-energy-efficiency-bill-with-eye-toward-courting-gop
Rep. Shuster: House water bill likely by 'late spring-early summer'
The Hill
By Keith Laing - 04/18/13 10:28 AM ET
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Bill
Shuster (R-Pa.) said Thursday that the lower chamber would unveil its
version of a bill to boost waterways by late spring or early summer.
http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/ports/294733-rep-shuster-house-water-bill-likely-by-late-spring-early-summer
Will the EPA become more farmer friendly?
Southeast Farm Press
David Bennett
Thu, 2013-04-18 13:20
On Tuesday (April 16), the EPA's senior agricultural counsel said clean
energy and building bridges with the farming/ranching community will be
priorities going forward.
http://southeastfarmpress.com/government/will-epa-become-more-farmer-friendly
Kentucky Will Develop New Strategy to Reduce Nutrient Pollution
WFPL
By ERICA PETERSON
Kentucky regulators say the state will develop a more comprehensive
strategy for controlling nutrient water pollution, which commonly comes
from sources like sewage treatment plants and agricultural runoff.
http://www.wfpl.org/post/kentucky-will-develop-new-strategy-reduce-nutrient-pollution
Opinion
EPA release of farmers' personal information appalling
The HIll
By Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) - 04/18/13 02:25 PM ET
Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
that they mistakenly released personal information of thousands of farmers
to environmental groups in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request. This breach of confidentiality resulted from the agency's desire
to appease environmentalists, and I am appalled that the EPA would be so
careless with the personal information of these hardworking farmers.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/294817-epa-release-of-farmers-personal-information-appalling
