10.3.13
Oil Spill
Gulf oil spill crisis could have ended sooner, witness says at BP trial
Wednesday
Mark Waller
The Times-Picayune
October 02, 2013 at 8:45 PM
If BP already had a capping stack of the type it eventually used to close
the erupting oil well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, it could have ended
the crisis sooner, said the company's leader in its campaign to control the
well, during an ongoing federal trial in New Orleans on Wednesday.
Company executive James Dupree said storing such backup equipment is
something BP and other oil companies now do, in the aftermath of the 2010
disaster.
http://blog.nola.com/2010_gulf_oil_spill/print.html?entry=/2013/10/harrowing_oil_spill_response_i.html
BP executive: Well could have been sealed sooner
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP could have ended its massive oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico sooner if it had built a capping stack before the 2010 blowout of
its well off the coast of Louisiana, a company executive said under
cross-examination Wednesday at a trial over the deadly disaster.
http://www.wlox.com/story/23590565/bp-executive-well-could-have-been-sealed-sooner
Court to Halt Some Oil-Spill Payments Challenged by BP
Appeals Court's Ruling Slows Pace of Disbursements Tied to 2010 Deepwater
Horizon Spill
By TOM FOWLER
A federal appeals court ordered a lower-court judge to halt payments to
some Gulf Coast businesses that say they suffered damage after the 2010
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303722604579112031433995804.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
State
Ground broken on Big Hill Acres sewer and water project
WLOX
Help is on the way for an area of Jackson County long plagued by septic
tank failures.
Following years of planning between numerous agencies, ground was broken
Wednesday morning on a $20.6 million water and sewer project.
http://www.wlox.com/story/23594394/ground-broken-on-big-hill-acres-sewer-and-water-project
Water, sewer relief coming for Big Hill Acres in Jackson County
Sun Herald
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
VANCLEAVE -- Jackson County and federal officials broke ground Wednesday
morning on a project that should put an end to an environmental problem
that began in the 1990s.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/10/02/5000235/water-sewer-relief-coming-for.html
Local city upgrading wastewater treatment operation
WTVA
WEST POINT, Miss. (WTVA) — With the help of a state loan, West Point is
upgrading the way it treats wastewater.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Local-city-upgrading-wastewater-treatment/zO49ja2rlEK4bLc_PpBY5g.cspx
Early discussion of Brownfields grant placed on the table
Monroe Journal
by Ray Van Dusen | 6:30 am | October 3, 2013
ABERDEEN – Representatives from Thompson Engineering approached the board
of supervisors Monday regarding the possibility of pursuing an Environment
Protection Agency-sanctioned Brownfields grant for one of the county's
industrial sites.
http://monroecountyjournal.com/2013/10/03/early-discussion-brownfields-grant-placed-table/
Appeal filed to overturn gravel pit ruling
The Panolian
10/1/2013
By Rupert Howell
Panola supervisors recently employed attorney Jay Westfaul to defend their
decision for special exception to re-classifiy property on I-55 near Como's
exit owned by H & G Land Company now on appeal.
http://www.panolian.com/contentitem/354565/1180/appeal-filed-to-overturn-gravel-pit-ruling-1012013
MS Power volunteers clean coastal waterways
WLOX
Mississippi Power employees believe South Mississippi is a beautiful place
to live, work, and play... and they want to keep it that way. Dozens of
volunteers took part in the company's annual Renew Our Rivers cleanup
Wednesday.
http://www.wlox.com/story/23593952/ms-power-volunteers-clean-coastal-waterways
Pascagoula's Bill Feidt named chief financial officer for Mississippi
Department of Marine Resources
Mississippi Press Staff
October 02, 2013 at 3:10 PM
BILOXI, Mississippi -- The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has
hired a chief financial officer and a chief operations officer, Executive
Director Jamie Miller announced Wednesday.
Bill Feidt, 42, of Pascagoula, will be the agency's CFO, and Brig. Gen. Joe
Spraggins, 60, will serve as COO, Miller said. Both will start work Oct. 8.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/10/pascagoulas_bill_feidt_named_c.html#incart_river
Mississippi Power admits Kemper plant will miss deadline, company must
repay $133M in tax credits
The Associated Press
October 02, 2013 at 7:45 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Mississippi Power Co. says its Kemper County power
plant won't be finished by the original May 2014 deadline, but will start
service sometime later that year.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/10/mississippi_power_admits_kempe.html#incart_river
National
Special Report: EPA Study Could Be Used To Expand Reach of Law Over Waters
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Bloomberg
By Amena H. Saiyid
Sept. 26 -- Federal regulators may be able to assert Clean Water Act
jurisdiction over more waters and wetlands than are now protected on the
basis of a draft scientific study that links all streams and certain
wetlands with larger, downstream navigable waters, attorneys and policy
analysts say.http://www.bna.com/special-report-epa-n17179877469/
China recycling cleanup jolts global industry
By JOE McDONALD — AP Business Writer
BEIJING — China for years has welcomed the world's trash, creating a
roaring business in recycling and livelihoods for tens of thousands. Now
authorities are clamping down on an industry that has helped the rich West
dispose of its waste but also added to the degradation of China's
environment.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/10/03/5001730/china-recycling-cleanup-jolts.html
Fuel From Landfill Methane Goes on Sale
NY Times
By DIANE CARDWELL
Farmers, waste management companies and the energy industries have long
experimented with converting methane, a byproduct of decomposing organic
matter, into transportation fuel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/business/energy-environment/the-swamp-gas-station-fuel-from-landfill-methane-goes-on-sale.html?ref=earth&_r=0&pagewanted=print
