9/9/13
OilSpill
Possible Fraud Cited in Deepwater Horizon Oil-Spill Fund
Wall Street Journal
By TOM FOWLER
Former FBI director Louis Freeh found there may have been criminal fraud on the part of some lawyers overseeing payments from the Deepwater Horizon settlement fund, according to a report released Friday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579059652497717442.html?KEYWORDS=TOM+FOWLER
BPclaims investigation finds 'isolated' fraud, but says payments should continue
Press-Register
George Talbot
September07, 2013 at 10:31 AM
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Former FBI chief Louis Freeh on Friday submitted results of his investigation into the office that handles claims against BP from the 2010 Gulf oil spill, finding that two former staff attorneys took kickbacks but clearing the top administrator of any wrongdoing.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/09/bp_claims_investigation_finds.html
Probe clears BP claims administrator despite staff misconduct
Reuters
Fri,Sep 6 2013
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An investigation led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh cleared the BP claims administrator of misconduct in handling settlement payouts from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, but found some of his staff took kickbacks for referrals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/07/us-bp-settlement-idUSBRE98603N20130907
Somecorruption in BP oil spill settlement program, Freeh says, but not on part of claims administrator
The Associated Press
September06, 2013 at 8:55 PM
An independent probe by former FBI director Louis Freeh has concluded that several private plaintiffs' attorneys worked together to corrupt a settlement process designed to compensate victims of BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico .
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/09/some_corruption_in_bp_oil_spil.html
Rebel claimants in BP spill settlement get expedited hearing
Reuters
Fri,Sep 6 2013
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court will hold an expedited hearing for a small group of claimants in a Gulf spill settlement with BP Plc, with oral arguments set for the week of November 4, the court said on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/06/us-bp-spill-appeal-idUSBRE9850WI20130906
Florida tourism gets boost from BP– again
Fox 13
CLEARWATER (FOX 13) -Visit St. Pete-Clearwater has been awarded a $500,000 grant related to 2010's BP oil spill -- again.
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/23363991/2013/09/06/florida-tourism-gets-boost-from-bp-again
State
ANALYSIS: Will MDA hear South Mississippi's voice on drillingthis time?
Sun Herald
By PAUL HAMPTON — jphampton@sunherald.com
Opponents of a plan to drill for natural gas off the Mississippi Coast have reason to be skeptical. TheMississippi Development Authority has been ignoring them for years.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/09/07/4933465/analysis-will-mda-hear-south-mississippis.html
MDA issues statement aboutoil and gas drilling story
WLOX
We have a follow-up to a story WLOX News firstreported on Thursday.
It involves the debate over oil and gas drilling in Mississippi waters. That issue is heating up again because the Mississippi Development Authority has begun the process of allowing an offshore lease sale.
http://www.wlox.com/story/23363877/mda-issues-statement-about-oil-and-gas-drilling-story
Wastewater plant dedicated
DeSoto takes care of its business
DeSoto Times
By ROBERT LEE LONG
Published:
WALLS — DeSoto County's western wastewater plant wasdedicated Thursday as a host of state, local and federal officials looked on.
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2013/09/09/news/doc522a7866cb39c082437796.txt
Sludgereport: Buildup more prevalent than previously expected
Buildupmore prevalent than previously expected
HattiesburgAmerican
In the Highlands of Scotland, a monster allegedly lives near the bottom of a lake, a beastie capable of stirring up an occasional fuss and conversation that has come to be known as “Nessie.”
In Hattiesburg, a monster definitely lives near the bottom of a lagoon, a long-ignored and unwanted nasty beast more than capable of stirring up a regular stink and consternation that has become, quite frankly, “Messy.”
Mississippi lawmakers to meet on wild hog problem
AP
Mississippi lawmakers are to hear from wildlife and hunting experts Monday on possible programs to combat a growing wild hog population.
Regional
Shrimp Raise Big Question: Friend or Foe?
InvasiveAsian Tiger Species, Now in the U.S., Has Scientists Worried About Ecosystem
Wall Street Journal
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala.—Dennis Morrison took a boatout with a friend recently to cast nets for white shrimp in the marshes around this seafood port. On one of his last throws, an odd-looking black shrimp came up in the haul. It didn't act like the others; it jumped and flopped in the boat.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579057403395388302.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet
National
EPA pulls backchemical regs
- 09/06/13 04:13 PM ET
The Environmental Protection Agency is withdrawing a pair of regulations drafted to boost oversight of dangerous chemicals, they agency said Friday.
House to takeaim at fracking regulations
- 09/06/13 04:54 PM ET
Lawmakers in the House will focus in coming weeks on a measure to combat new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/legislation/320801-house-to-take-aim-at-fracking-regulations
Opinion
GeoffPender:Kemper plant no political game changer
Clarion Ledger
When, or maybe if, Mississippi Power fires up the burners at its Kemper County plant next spring, many state leaders will be watching with bated breath, and their anxiousness will be more about politics than power generation.
THE NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL: Nuclear storage ideais premature and ill-timed
Patrick Sullivan, director of the private-sector Mississippi Energy Institute, and Jason Dean, a lobbyist and former education assistant to former Gov. Haley Barbour, have been shopping the idea that jobs will run to Mississippi if the state opens itself to nuclear waste storage and reprocessing of nuclear waste. Gov. Bryant apparently has become a supporter and criticized voices in opposition, like U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, the 4th District Republican.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/09/08/4930945/the-northeast-mississippi-daily.html
James Gill:BP’s money drowns integrity
By James Gill
The Advocate
Nobodydenies that BP is paying hundreds of millions, or more, to settle claims brought by businesses that suffered no losses whatsoever from the Deepwater Horizon leak in 2010.
http://theadvocate.com/columnists/6976447-55/bps-noney-drowns-integrity
Teague: BP needs to honor its compensation agreement
Houston Chronicle
ByStephen Teague | September 7, 2013
Over thepast year, BP has made several challenges to the court-approved settlement program established to compensate those who suffered medical injuries and economic losses as a result of the April 2010, BP oil disaster.
http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Teague-BP-needs-to-honor-its-compensation-4795316.php
BPnegotiated the settlement it's trying to disown: Keith Jones
Times-Picayune
Contributing Op-Ed columnist
September06, 2013 at 6:52 AM
As an attorney, I am dismayed to see the ease with which many in the media have blindly bought into BP's latest round of misleading advertisements and take its propaganda for gospel. The facts are simple. BP wrote and agreed to the settlement -- including all the portions it now whines and complains about --in an effort to buy peace and bring closure to its investors.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2013/09/bp_negotiated_the_settlement_i.html
