2.24.2014
Oil Spill
5th Circuit deputy clerk: 'Staff error' caused wrong ruling on BP's request
to have full court review oil spill settlement
WWL
NEW ORLEANS -- A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
kept alive BP's request to have the full court review its expensive
settlement with private businesses affected by its 2010 oil spill.
But only after a whole lot of confusion.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Three-judge-panel-rejects-BPs-attempt-to-have-2010-settlement-reviewed-246520461.html
BP's ready for new U.S. energy contracts, official says
UPI
Published: Feb. 24, 2014 at 6:01 AM
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- British energy
company BP is close to getting relief from a 2012 ban on new oil contracts
secured through the U.S. government, a company official said.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2014/02/24/BPs-ready-for-new-US-energy-contracts-official-says/UPI-97141393239713/
Four years after oil accident, BP giving cash to Alabama politicians
Feb 23, 2014
Anniston Star
MONTGOMERY — Nearly four years after an oil spill that killed an entire
summer of tourism along the Gulf coast, the employee PAC for the oil
company BP is dipping its toes in Alabama's political waters again.
http://www.thepiedmontjournal.com/view/full_story/24630073/article-Four-years-after-oil-accident--BP-giving-cash-to-Alabama-politicians?instance=news_secondary
Dispute over law firm's oil spill claims continues
By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press / February 21, 2014
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP is pressing a federal court to disallow a $7.9
million Gulf oil spill claim awarded to a Louisiana law firm.
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2014/02/21/dispute-over-law-firm-oil-spill-claims-continues/92IglkRP0GJcMaYb4iUB1O/story.html
State
MDEQ: Claim of incomplete permit review for silicon plant a 'guise' by
competitor
MBJ
by Ted Carter
Published: February 21,2014
The head of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality says an
Alabama silicon manufacturer's claim that the state agency erred in
granting an operating permit to competitor Mississippi Silicon Metals lacks
merit.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/02/21/mdeq-claim-incomplete-permit-review-silicon-plant-guise-competitor/
Gautier working to keep its bodies of water cleaner
WLOX
GAUTIER, MS (WLOX) -One coast city is going beyond telling people to not
litter the land, it's also telling people to not litter the water.
The City of Gautier is the first coast city to take part in the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality's stream sign initiative.
http://www.wlox.com/story/24797218/gautier-working-to-keep-its-bodies-of-water-cleaner
14th Ave. drainage project moving forward
Commercial Dispatch
Nathan Gregory
February 21, 2014
A painstaking process to make drainage improvements to a contaminated ditch
on 14th Avenue North is taking a major step forward.
Columbus councilmen authorized mayor Robert Smith to execute an
environmental action and transfer agreement between the city and Multistate
Environmental Response Trust (MST). The agreement is expected to be
finalized next week when representatives of both entities discuss the
agreement's terms and closing dates.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=31363
Enerkem's biofuel plant in Pontotoc still on drawing board
By Dennis Seid
Daily Journal
PONTOTOC – Five years have passed, and a planned $100 million ethanol plant
is no closer to being built.
Little has changed from a year ago, when company officials said they were
committed to the project and were working to "move the project forward."
http://djournal.com/news/enerkems-biofuel-plant-pontotoc-still-drawing-board/
MDEQ issues another water contact advisory
by MBJ Staff
Published: February 21,2014
OCEAN SPRINGS — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ),
through its Beach Monitoring Program, has issued a water contact advisory
for one sampling station in Jackson County.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/02/21/mdeq-issues-another-water-contact-advisory/
Moss Point working to repair main water line that busted at reverse osmosis
plant
Mississippi Press
Myya Robinson
February 21, 2014 at 5:15 PM
MOSS POINT, Mississippi -- Moss Point crews are working to repair a main
water line that busted at the city's reverse osmosis plant, according to
Mayor Billy Broomfield.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/02/moss_point_working_to_repair_m.html#incart_river
George County supervisors OK contract for next round of work on $50 million
reservoir project
Mississippi Press
Gareth Clary
February 21, 2014
LUCEDALE, Mississippi -- The George County Board of Supervisors this week
approved a $1 million contract with the Pat Harrison Waterway District and
Jackson-based Pickering Engineering for the next phase of work on the
Southeast Mississippi Regional Water Supply Project, more commonly known as
Lake George.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/02/george_county_supervisors_ok_1.html
Natchez Trace Parkway Superintendent on the move
WTVA
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- She's a mountain woman ready to take on the
Magnolia State.
Mary Risser is the new Natchez Trace Parkway Superintendent.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Natchez-Trace-Parkway-Superintendent-on-the-move/OIgY5-QByUe9UAGFqS2EjA.cspx
Regional
Barge oil spill closes Mississippi River at New Orleans
AP
NEW ORLEANS — A 65-mile stretch of the Mississippi River remained closed at
New Orleans on Monday following a weekend collision that resulted in crude
oil spilling from a barge.
http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20140224/NEWS01/140224002/Barge-oil-spill-closes-Mississippi-River-New-Orleans
National
Supreme Court Climate Case Looks at EPA's Power
AP
Industry groups and Republican-led states are heading an attack at the
Supreme Court against the Obama administration's sole means of trying to
limit power-plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/supreme-court-climate-case-looks-epas-power-n36591
Supreme Court weighs EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases
The Hill
By Laura Barron-Lopez
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear challenges to an Obama administration
greenhouse gas regulation.
The program in question is the Environmental Protection Agency's permitting
process for industry sources, which includes coal-fired power plants,
chemical facilities and oil refineries.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198962-supreme-court-weighs-epa-authority-to-regulate-greenhouse-gases
Federal wood burning rule prompts rural backlash
By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal proposal to clean up the smoke wafting
from wood-burning stoves has sparked a backlash from some rural residents,
lawmakers and manufacturers who fear it could close the damper on one of
the oldest ways of warming homes on cold winter days.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/science/article/EPA-wood-stove-proposal-prompt-rural-backlash-5260343.php
Colorado first state to regulate methane emissions
The Hill
By Laura Barron-Lopez
Colorado approved groundbreaking controls on emissions from oil and natural
gas operations as a means to curb increasing smog.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/199015-colorado-first-state-to-regulate-methane-emissions
Opinion
The 'Absurd Results' Power Grab
Can the EPA simply rewrite a law to suit its policy goals?
Wall Street Journal
The Obama Administration's penchant for rewriting the law via regulation
will get a major test on Monday when the Supreme Court hears a challenge to
the Environmental Protection Agency's "carbon endangerment" rule. This case
is especially significant because it will determine whether the agency can
rewrite its own previous rewrite of the Clean Air Act to bypass the normal
channels of democratic consent.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304914204579397003756191282
The EPA 'Spy' and Double Standards
Gina McCarthy gets a pass, while Mark Townsend gets a threat.
Wall Street Journal
The official story about the Environmental Protection Agency fraudster who
pretended to work for the CIA has collapsed. It turns out that EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy not only didn't uncover John Beale's crimes.
She helped him collect extra taxpayer money and appears to have ignored
critical evidence of his fraud more than two years before he left the
agency. Meanwhile, in another EPA case, the government has threatened an
employee with prison time for alleged management errors that appear far
less serious than those of Ms. McCarthy.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303491404579391463486610206
BLOOMBERG VIEW: Fracking doesn't have to leave us parched
BY AND EDITORIAL OPINIONOF BLOOMBERG VIEW
February 23, 2014
Among the environmental worries posed by hydraulic fracturing, including
the release of methane into the air and contamination of groundwater, one
has recently escalated: the concern that the enormous quantities of water
used in fracking will leave parts of the country parched.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/02/23/5363614/bloomberg-view-fracking-doesnt.html
