1.10.2014
Oil Spill
Oil spill fund trustees extend deadline for public comment
Sun Herald
BY LAUREN WALCK
People who wish to comment on proposed Coast projects funded through BP oil
spill settlement money now have an extra 15 days.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/01/09/5247558/oil-spill-fund-trustees-extend.html
Judge orders lawyers in BP engineer's case to stop contacting jurors
The Associated Press
January 09, 2014 at 12:38 PM
A federal judge has ordered lawyers for a former BP engineer to refrain
from having any more contact with jurors who convicted their client of
trying to obstruct a federal probe of the company's 2010 oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2014/01/judge_orders_lawyers_in_bp_eng.html
Manatee officials add port, seafood venture to oil spill 'wish list'
Bradenton Herald
BY SARA KENNEDY
MANATEE -- County officials have added Port Manatee infrastructure projects
and a seafood venture to those they want financed with funds stemming from
the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
http://www.bradenton.com/2014/01/10/4928349/manatee-officials-add-port-seafood.html
US-collected-8-billion-in-civil-criminal-cases-in-2013
CBS
The Justice Department collected more than $8 billion in civil and criminal
actions – stemming from cases ranging from health care fraud to the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion – in the 2013 fiscal year, Attorney
General Eric Holder announced Thursday.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-collected-8-billion-in-civil-criminal-cases-in-2013/
State
City OKs waste deal
Hattiesburg contracts with Groundworx
Hattiesburg American
Over the years, Pine Belt developer Bennett York had turned to
land-application disposal methods to disperse treated wastewater from his
developments at Canebrake, Bellegrass and Big Bay.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20140110/NEWS01/301100014/City-OKs-waste-deal
Council Agrees On New Wastewater System; 4 To 1 Vote
WHLT
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It's official, the City of Hattiesburg and Groundworx
will work together on a land-based treatment facility for the city's waste.
That means the "stench" from the city's current lagoon system may go away
soon.
http://www.whlt.com/story/24411345/council-agrees-on-new-wastewater-system-4-to-1-vote
GRN Files Motion for Summary Judgment in Hattiesburg Sewage Case
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -
This is a news release from Gulf Restoration Network
On Tuesday, January 7th, Gulf Restoration Network, through its attorneys at
the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in
Federal Court in the Southern District of Mississippi in support of GRN's
Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against the City of Hattiesburg, MS for sewage
discharge violations that pollute the Bouie and Leaf Rivers. The suit was
originally filed in March of 2012.
http://www.wdam.com/story/24410212/grn-files-motion-for-summary-judgment-in-hattiesburg-sewage-case
Discarded Christmas trees head to new home
The Associated Press
HERNANDO, MISS. — Christmas is still ahead for some lucky Arkabula Lake
fish.
They'll soon be getting gifts in the form of fresh habitat from discarded
holiday trees collected by Hernando rubbish crews for the Corps of
Engineers-managed lake in southwestern DeSoto County.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/01/10/5247935/discarded-christmas-trees-head.html
Pay lags for Mississippi government employees
BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press
JACKSON -- Mississippi government employees make an average of $9,108 less
than their counterparts in the surrounding states of Alabama, Arkansas,
Louisiana and Tennessee, said the Mississippi State Personnel Board
director Thursday.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/01/09/5247509/pay-lags-for-mississippi-government.html
Personnel Board gives overview of Miss. government workforce
Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi State Personnel Board, which oversees most state government
employees other than teachers and professors, gave the House Appropriations
Committee an overview of its workforce on Thursday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140110/NEWS01/301100025/Personnel-Board-gives-overview-Miss-government-workforce
Regional
State proposes spending $668 million on coastal restoration, levees in 2015
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
January 10, 2014 at 3:36 AM
The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is recommending that
the state spend $668 million on coastal restoration and flood protection
projects in fiscal year 2015, according to the authority's proposed annual
plan released Thursday.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/01/state_proposes_spending_668_mi.html#incart_river
National
House votes to ease EPA actions on states
The Hill
By Pete Kasperowicz
The House passed legislation Thursday aimed at easing Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) rules and requiring more cooperation between the
EPA and states on environmental cleanup projects.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/votes/194999-house-votes-to-ease-epa-actions-on-states
After explosions, senators call for review of oil shipments by rail
BY CURTIS TATE
McClatchyWashington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Two Senate committee chairs asked the secretaries of
transportation and energy on Thursday to take "prompt and decisive action"
to resolve recent safety problems with crude oil transported by rail.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/01/09/5247369/after-explosions-senators-call.html
EPA's Reliance on Driller Data for Water Irks Homeowners
Bloomberg
By Mark Drajem - Jan 10, 2014
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared that a group of
Texas homes near a gas-drilling operation didn't have dangerous levels of
methane in their water, it relied on tests conducted by the driller itself.
Now, independent tests from Duke University researchers have found
potentially explosive levels of methane in some of the wells, and
homeowners want the EPA to re-open the case.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-10/epa-s-reliance-on-driller-data-for-water-irks-homeowners.html
Inhofe wants EPA to report economic impact of regulations
The Hill
By Laura Barron-Lopez
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment to the Senate's
extension of unemployment benefits that would require the Environmental
Protection Agency report the economic impacts of any new regulations.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/194982-inhofe-wants-epa-to-report-economic-impact-of-regs
Chemical spill shuts down much of W.Va. capital
BY JOHN RABY
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.VA. — Schools and restaurants closed, grocery stores sold out
of bottled water, and state legislators who had just started their session
canceled the day's business after a chemical spill in the Elk River in
Charleston shut down much of the city and surrounding counties even as the
cause and extent of the incident remained unclear.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/01/10/5247888/wva-national-guard-set-to-help.html
Opinion
James Gill: BP execs show sharp sense of humor
Baton Rouge Advocate
by James Gill
BP, alleging it is being forced to pay bogus Deepwater Horizon claims, is
hoping to get the public on its side through national newspaper ads.
http://theadvocate.com/columnists/8045641-55/james-gill-bp-execs-show
