Oil Spill
Oyster leaseholders lose suit blaming oil spill berms for damage
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
May 21, 2013 at 6:36 PM
Oyster growers on both sides of the Mississippi River who sued the state,
dredge operators and BP claiming damages to their oyster leases in 2010
during the construction of berms designed to capture oil during the BP
Deepwater Horizon oil spill had their lawsuit thrown out in two different
federal courts on Monday.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/05/oyster_leaseholders_lose_suit.html
State News
Bill exempting small farms from fuel storage regs passes Senate
by MBJ Staff
Published: May 21,2013
WASHINGTON — Legislation to exempt small farms from Environmental
Protection Agency fuel storage requirements has been incorporated into the
Senate-passed Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA), according to
a release from U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/05/21/bill-exempting-small-farms-from-fuel-storage-regs-passes-senate/
Predictions about 2013 Mississippi shrimp season
WLOX
The start of shrimp season in Mississippi is about two weeks away. Tuesday,
the Commission on Marine Resources heard an update about expectations for
the 2013 season.
http://www.wlox.com/story/22309764/predictions-about-2013-mississippi-shrimp-season
Hatchery releases largemouth bass fingerlings in three rivers
by MBJ Staff
Published: May 21,2013
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI — The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR)
Lyman Fish Hatchery has released 49,592 Florida largemouth bass fingerlings
in the Pascagoula, Tchoutacabouffa and Jordan rivers.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/05/21/hatchery-releases-largemouth-bass-fingerlings-in-three-rivers/
Sierra Club, NAACP call for answers from MS Power
WLOX
The Sierra Club and now the NAACP are calling for answers from Mississippi
Power.
http://www.wlox.com/story/22380732/sierra-club-naacp-call-for-answers-from-ms-power
Fervor grows for Tuscaloosa Marine Shale
MBJ
by Ted Carter
Published: May 17,2013
Mississippi's leaders expect a parade of oil drillers to converge on the
southwest corner of the state and are happy to cover the cost of striking
up the marching music.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/05/17/fervor-grows-for-tuscaloosa-marine-shale/
National News
Industry accuses EPA of skirting rules for public review of draft fuel regs
The Hill
By Ben Goad - 05/21/13 05:31 PM ET
The oil and gas industry's leading trade association accused the
Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday of skirting federal law by cutting
short public consideration of new regulations meant to curb air pollution.
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energyenvironment/301109--industry-accuses-epa-of-skirting-rules-for-public-review-of-draft-fuel-regs
Lawmakers press Interior to slow down on fracking rules
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 05/21/13 11:16 AM ET
The bipartisan leadership of the House Natural Resources Committee wants
the Interior Department to slow down development of revised rules unveiled
last week to regulate oil and gas "fracking" on public lands.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/300957-house-fracking-rule-critics-press-interior-to-slow-it-down
Moniz vows to help advance big efficiency bill, sees 'real chance'
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 05/21/13 02:43 PM ET
New Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz vowed Tuesday to help advance a big
bipartisan energy efficiency bill that's moving through Congress and make
conservation a major priority using his existing authorities.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/301033-moniz-vows-to-help-advance-big-efficiency-bill-sees-real-chance
Companies share energy efficiency secrets
USA today
Department of Energy program gets companies to share energy reducing
strategies.
When hotel guests leave their room during the day, a magnetic door
sensor tells the thermostat to reduce the heating or cooling. When
they come back, it has the temperature return to their selected
degree.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/22/companies-energy-efficiency-secrets-obama-program/2209145/
Press Releases
EPA Adds Nine Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund's National Priorities List
Agency also proposes to add an additional nine sites
WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding
nine hazardous waste sites that pose risks to people's health and the
environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. EPA
is also proposing to add another nine sites to the list. Superfund is the
federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex,
uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country to protect
people's health and the environment.
"Sites that pose serious risks to human health and the environment and
warrant Superfund attention continue to be identified by EPA and our state
partners," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "EPA continues to act on its
statutory obligation to update the NPL annually and clean up hazardous
sites to protect human health with the goal of returning them to
communities for productive use. Superfund cleanups improve local economies,
protect people's health and improve overall quality of life in affected
communities."
A site's listing neither imposes a financial obligation on EPA nor assigns
liability to any party. Updates to the NPL do, however, provide
policymakers and the public with a list of high priority sites, serving to
identify the size and nature of the nation's cleanup challenges.
The Superfund program has provided important benefits for people and the
environment since Congress established the program in 1980.Those benefits
are both direct and indirect, and include reduction of threats to human
health and ecological systems in the vicinity of Superfund sites,
improvement of the economic conditions and quality of life in communities
affected by hazardous waste sites, prevention of future releases of
hazardous substances, and advances in science and technology.
By eliminating or reducing real and perceived health risks and
environmental contamination associated with hazardous waste sites,
Superfund actions frequently convert contaminated land into productive
local resources and increase local property values. A recent study
conducted by researchers at Duke and Pittsburgh Universities concluded
that, while a site's proposal to the NPL reduces property values slightly,
making a site final on the NPL begins to increase property values
surrounding Superfund sites. Furthermore, the study found that, once a site
has all cleanup remedies in place, surrounding properties have a
significant increase in property values as compared to pre-NPL proposal
values.
Since 1983, EPA has listed 1,685 sites on the NPL. At 1,145 or 68 percent
of NPL sites, all cleanup remedies are in place. Approximately 610 or 36
percent of NPL sites have all necessary long-term protections in place,
which means EPA considers the sites protective for redevelopment or reuse.
With all NPL sites, EPA first works to identify companies or people
responsible for the contamination at a site, and requires them to conduct
or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable
potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of
the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site.
Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding
is required for these sites.
The following nine sites have been added to the NPL:
• Macon Naval Ordnance Plant (former ordnance manufacturer) in
Macon, Ga.;
• Pike and Mulberry Streets PCE Plume (former dry cleaner) in
Martinsville, Ind.;
• Former United Zinc & Associated Smelters (former zinc smelter)
in Iola, Kan.;
• Creese & Cook Tannery (Former) (former tannery and finishing
facility) in Danvers, Mass.;
• Walton & Lonsbury Inc. (former chrome plating operation) in
Attelboro, Mass.;
• Matlack, Inc. (former chemical transportation business) in
Woolwich Township, N.J.;
• Riverside Industrial Park (former paint manufacturer) in
Newark, N.J.;
• Clinch River Corporation (former pulp and paper mill) in
Harriman, Tenn.; and
• 700 South 1600 East PCE Plume (ground water plume) in Salt Lake
City, Utah.
The following nine sites have been proposed for addition to the NPL:
• Beck's Lake (former automotive and hazardous waste dump) in
South Bend, Ind.;
• Garden City Ground Water Plume (ground water plume) in Garden
City, Ind.;
• Keystone Corridor Ground Water Contamination (ground water
plume) in Indianapolis, Ind;
• Smurfit-Stone Mill (former pulp and paper mill) in Missoula,
Mont.;
• Cristex Drum (former fabric mill) in Oxford, N.C.;
• Hemphill Road TCE (former chemical drum recycling) in Gastonia,
N.C.;
• Collins & Aikman Plant (Former) (former automotive rubber
manufacturer) in Farmington, N.H.;
• Wilcox Oil Company (former oil refinery) in Bristow, Okla.; and
• Makah Reservation Warmhouse Beach Dump (municipal and hazardous
waste dump) in Neah Bay, Wash.
EPA is also proposing to change the name of the B.F. Goodrich site in
Rialto, Cal., which EPA added to the NPL on September 23, 2009 (74 FR
48412). A settling work party has requested that EPA propose changing the
site's name to Locust Avenue; the proposed change is consistent with the
terms of a consent decree lodged with the court and informs the public of
the site's geographic location.
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the final and
proposed sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm
Information about how a site is listed on the NPL:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm
Superfund sites in local communities:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm
More information about The Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the law establishing the Superfund
program: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/index.htm
