2/20/14
Oil Spill
BP official says it's getting closer to EPA agreement
AP
NEW ORLEANS — The head of BP America says he believes the company is moving
closer toward once again being allowed to bid on federal contracts.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/02/19/bp-official-says-its-getting-closer-to-epa-agreement/
Hatchery vote could ripple across Florida
Officials: BP restoration projects could be derailed if council rejects
Bruce Beach lease
Pensacola News Journal
The fate of $88 million in BP early restoration projects across Florida has
been placed squarely on the shoulders of the Pensacola City Council.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20140220/NEWS10/302190024/Hatchery-vote-could-impact-entire-state
State
Gautier becomes first city on Gulf Coast to execute MDEQ sign stream
initiative
Mississippi Press
Joanne Anderson
February 19, 2014 at 10:58 AM
GAUTIER, Mississippi -- A drainage ditch is not just a drainage ditch.
A new program of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is
designed to raise public awareness of the importance of keeping clean
streams of any size that drain into the area's bayous and ultimately the
Gulf of Mexico.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/02/gautier_becomes_first_city_on.html
Bill and Scott Walker ready to plead guilty to felonies
Bill and Scott Walker readyto plead guilty to federal felonies
Sun Herald
BY ANITA LEE
Former Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Director Bill Walker and
his son, once a candidate for Ocean Springs mayor, admit they conspired to
defraud the federal government of $210,000 for their own financial benefit.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/02/19/5351791/scott-walker-to-enter-guilty-pleas.html
Bill Walker to plead guilty to federal conspiracy charge March 10
Mississippi Press
Warren Kulo
February 19, 2014 at 2:20 PM
HATTIESBURG, Mississippi -- Former Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources Director Bill Walker will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy
to defraud the federal government, according to a notice of intent to plead
filed with the U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg Wednesday.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/02/bill_walker_to_plead_guilty_to.html#incart_river
Former DMR director Walker to plead guilty
WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -The former director of the Department of Marine
Resources will plead guilty to one federal charge of conspiracy to defraud
the federal government.
http://www.wlox.com/story/24767514/former-dmr-director-walker-to-plead-guilty
Tupelo closes recycling site, improves another
By Robbie Ward
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Tupelo will end drop-off recycling in west Tupelo on Feb. 27 but
plans to expand and improve the remaining downtown location.
http://djournal.com/news/tupelo-closes-recycling-site-improves-another/
Regional
Environmental groups may sue over lack of turtle protections in Gulf shrimp
trawls
Benjamin Alexander-Bloch
The Times-Picayune
February 19, 2014 at 6:37 PM
Environmental groups are threatening to sue to force the use of turtle
excluder devices in shrimp trawls in the Gulf of Mexico. The groups on
Wednesday said that until those devices are required, the National Marine
Fisheries Service should "suspend the shrimp trawl fishery" in the Gulf.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/02/environmental_groups_threaten.html#incart_river
Sugarcane hybrid eyed as possible biofuel
Plants resistant to cold, disease key to research
AP
This winter is an excellent test for a sugarcane hybrid developed in
Louisiana as a potential biofuel crop, according to a professor at
Mississippi State University.
http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20140220/BIZ/302200039/Sugarcane-hybrid-eyed-possible-biofuel
National
Trading System Tackles Waste
New Plan Pays Farmers to Curb Agricultural Runoff that Pollutes the Gulf of
Mexico
Wall Street Journal
NEW MADISON, Ohio— Kevin Hollinger planted radishes and oats last fall in
his corn and soybean fields, but he isn't planning to harvest them.
Instead, he is letting the crops die over the winter to improve the soil
and keep fertilizer and other nutrients from running into nearby waterways.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579391142078606468?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
Highway agency moving toward new alt fuel rules
The Hill
By Tim Devaney
The Obama administration is moving forward with another fuel efficiency
rule that would cost automakers more than $14 million each year, according
to government estimates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced
Wednesday it is considering a new rule that would require car manufacturers
to indicate which vehicles can operate on alternative fuels and explain
which alternative fuels they can use, such as ethanol, biodiesel, vegetable
oil, hydrogen or electric batteries.
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energy-environment/198756-highway-agency-set-to-release-new-alt-fuel-rules
Solar energy plants in tortoises' desert habitat pit green against green
Published February 20, 2014
FoxNews
Plans to create two solar energy plants on public lands in California and
Nevada are pitting renewable energy advocates against environmentalists who
fear the facilities will endanger federally threatened desert tortoises in
the area.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/20/solar-energy-plants-in-tortoises-desert-habitat-pit-green-against-green/?intcmp=latestnews
