12.26.2013
Oil Spill
Some business claimants shouldn't be required to prove damage from the BP
oil spill, judge rules
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
December 24, 2013 at 8:15 PM
Not all businesses filing claims for damages stemming from the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill should be required to prove that they were hurt by the
spill, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled Tuesday, rejecting a request
from the oil giant.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/12/some_business_claimants_should.html#incart_river
U.S. court rejects BP bid to require proof of Gulf oil spill losses
Reuters
Wed, Dec 25 2013
By Jonathan Stempel
Dec 24 (Reuters) - BP Plc has failed to persuade a U.S. federal judge to
require businesses seeking to recover money over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico
oil spill to provide proof that their economic losses were caused by the
disaster.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/12/25/bpspill-ruling-idINL2N0K406T20131225
Former FBI agent appointed interim CEO of BP oil spill claims office
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
December 24, 2013 at 3:09 AM
Deepwater Horizon Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau announced Monday that
he has named David Welker, a former FBI agent, as interim chief executive
officer of the Deepwater Horizon Court-Supervised Settlement Program.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/12/former_fbi_agent_appointed_int.html#incart_river
Ex-official rejects BP ad's 'distorted' claims
AP
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -
Two former top officials at the settlement program for compensating victims
of BP's 2010 Gulf oil spill say their recent resignations had nothing to do
with the company's allegations that they frequented a New Orleans strip
club that received a settlement payment.
http://www.wlox.com/story/24297220/ex-official-rejects-bp-ads-distorted-claims
Louisiana seafood marketing campaign in wake of BP spill plagued with
problems, according to audit
Richard A. Webster
The Times-Picayune
December 23, 2013 at 4:56 PM
A multi-million dollar media campaign to tout Louisiana's seafood after the
BP oil spill in 2010 was plagued by a lack of oversight that led to
mismanagement of money, questionable spending on alcohol and limousines and
the potential looting of thousands of dollars in promotional merchandise
from the New Orleans Saints, according to a report by the Legislative
Auditor's office.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/louisiana_seafood_marketing_ca.html
Proposed beach hotel and convention center is not an appropriate use of
NRDA money (Opinion from the Gulf Restoration Network)
AL.com
December 25, 2013 at 7:47 AM
(Editor's note: Mobile attorney Hank Caddell, board chair of the Gulf
Restoration Network, made the following remarks during a public hearing
before the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees at the RSA
Battlehouse last week.)
By Hank Caddell
Gulf Restoration Network is a gulf-wide organization that works to empower
people across the Gulf Coast to restore and protect their environment. We
appreciate this opportunity to comment on the Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement.
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/12/proposed_beach_hotel_and_conve.html
State
Jury awards Dedeaux Utility $8.1 million plus interest
Sun Herald
BY MARY PEREZ
GULFPORT -- A jury on Friday awarded Dedeaux Utility Co. $8,063,981 plus
interest, possibly ending a dispute that has been ongoing since Gulfport
seized the utility by eminent domain as part of the 1994 annexation of
Orange Grove.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/12/23/5216151/jury-awards-dedeaux-utility-81.html
One charged in illegal trash dump
Grenada Star
By GALEN HOLLEY
Law enforcement officials have arrested one person in connection with
illegal dumping, and they want the public to know that it will not be
tolerated.
http://www.grenadastar.com/contentitem/365911/1218/one-charged-in-illegal-trash-dump
Tourism tax down
Software likely cause of drop
DeStoto Times
By ROBERT LEE LONG
Thursday, December 26, 2013 1:05 AM CST
…In other matters Monday, the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors heard of
plans by county officials to send monthly air quality ozone action
committee updates to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
"We're using this winter time of the year to educate the community about
it," Lynchard said, referring to plans to help make DeSoto County in
compliance with stricter air quality standards.
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2013/12/26/news/doc52b9ff413bda7140505671.txt
Tupelo offers tree recycling
WTVA
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- You've enjoyed your tree for weeks now, but we all
know what happens after Christmas!
The city of Tupelo is accepting live trees that need to be disposed.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be using them to create fish habitats
throughout the state.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Tupelo-offers-tree-recycling/5pTj4RtDRUSz2KndikDDrg.cspx
Putting the green back in Christmas
DeSoto Times
By ROBERT LEE LONG
Tuesday, December 24, 2013 5:18 AM CST
After all of the tinsel and trappings of Christmas has been stripped away,
evergreen trees can be transported to three area rubbish pits for disposal,
DeSoto County Environmental Services Manager Ray Laughter said Monday.
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2013/12/26/news/doc52b8e990bb683616246047.txt
Eco-Systems changes name to Allen Engineering and Science
by MBJ Staff
Published: December 23,2013
JACKSON — Eco-Systems Inc. has changed its name to Allen Engineering and
Science.
Company president Jeff Allen, P.E., said the "new name coincides with the
company's continued growth and expansion into new markets, and our firm's
20th year anniversary of being in business."
The change will become effective Jan. 1.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/12/23/eco-systems-changes-name-allen-engineering-science/
National
Progress cited in chemical safety push
The Hill
By Ben Goad
Agencies tasked with updating the nation's chemical regulations in response
to this year's deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion have made progress
toward shoring up gaps in safety and security, they contend in a belated
report.
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/pending-regs/193889-belated-report-cites-progress-in-chemical-safety-push
Obama gets clean coal by aiding oil industry
The Hill
By Laura Barron-Lopez
The technology President Obama is touting for coal plants to cut back on
emissions is helping an unlikely source: the oil industry.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/193864-obama-gets-clean-coal-by-aiding-oil-industry
EPA Probe Demands More Water Testing in Texas
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was justified in immediately
barring residents in North Texas from using water contaminated with
explosive methane and cancer-causing benzene, but additional testing and
work needs to be done to assess whether a risk still exists, according to
an internal investigation released Tuesday.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/epa-probe-demands-water-testing-texas-21330881
Landrieu In Line to Head Senate Energy Panel
Job Could Open as Part of Chairman Shuffle Following Naming of Baucus to
Ambassador Post
Wall Street Journal
By ALICIA MUNDY
Dec. 25, 2013 8:47 p.m. ET
The nomination of Sen. Max Baucus to be ambassador to China could result in
Sen. Mary Landrieu, a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry, taking
over the energy committee in the Senate.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304753504579280514189356326?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
Reactors on Slow Road to Demolition
Deal Set to Raze a Vermont Nuclear Plant as Soon as Possible, but Others
Have 60 Years to Get It Done
Wall Street Journal
When the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear-power station agreed in August
to shut the plant next year, many state officials and residents cheered.
Worried about safety and costs, they had waged a lengthy legal battle to
close the plant that opened in 1972.
Then came the bad news: Entergy Corp. ETR +0.30% , which bought Vermont
Yankee in 2002, said it would exercise its legal right to take as many as
60 years to demolish the plant, located 5 miles south of Brattleboro, Vt.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304244904579276942505956738?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
Opinion
Political Science at the EPA
The agency peer reviews itself on its own coal ban.
Wall Street Journal
Dec. 23, 2013 5:40 p.m. ET
The Environmental Protection Agency pretends that its mission is
scientific, not political. But you sure wouldn't know it from the campaign
to cut out the EPA's independent science advisers who exposed the junk
science behind the EPA ban on new coal power.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303560204579250382687716124
