Oil Spill
Tar balls believed to be from BP spill wash up on West Ship Island,
Mississippi officials say
The Associated Press
March 22, 2014 at 9:06 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi environmental authorities say oil debris
found this week on state barrier islands is believed to be from the BP's
disastrous 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and contractors for the oil
giant are involved in the cleanup.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/03/tar_balls_believed_to_be_from.html
300 pounds of tar balls from BP spill discovered on Ship, Horn islands
Sun Herald
BY MARY MARGARET HALFORD
As many as 300 pounds of tar balls were discovered on the Mississippi
Barrier Islands on Friday by a team from the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, and the department says that oil is related to the
2010 BP oil spill.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/03/21/5434500/tar-balls-discovered-on-ship-horn.html
MDEQ: 300 lbs of tar balls wash up on Horn Island
WLOX
ISSISSIPPI SOUND (WLOX) -Hundreds of pounds of tar balls are washing up on
Mississippi's barrier islands. According to the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, about 200 to 300 pounds were found on Horn Island;
Another 10 pounds of tar balls were discovered on West Ship Island. The
material will be cleaned up by contractors working for BP, beginning
Friday.
http://www.wlox.com/story/25041561/mdeq-300-lbs-of-tar-balls-wash-up-on-horn-island
More BP Oil Washes Ashore As Trial Date Set In Federal Court
WWNO
Oil continues to wash up on Gulf of Mexico shorelines from BP's underwater
well explosion almost four years ago. The find comes as a key trial date is
set in federal court in New Orleans.
http://wwno.org/post/more-bp-oil-washes-ashore-trial-date-set-federal-court
Scientists: Gulf able to absorb methane from oil spill
Researchers find that bacteria have consumed the gas
Tallahassee Democrat
In some respects, the Gulf of Mexico may be less fragile than many people
feared in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20140324/NEWS01/303240014/Scientists-Gulf-able-absorb-methane-from-oil-spill?nclick_check=1
BP oil spill trial's final phase to determine fines will stretch into 2015
Jennifer Larino
The Times-Picayune
March 21, 2014 at 6:30 PM
It's approaching four years since the sprawling lawsuit against BP and its
partners in the Macondo oil well was introduced in federal court in New
Orleans. It will be another year or more before BP finds out how many
billions of dollars it will owe in fines related to the oil well blowout
and resultingGulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/bp_oil_spill_trials_final_phas.html
BP Partner Anadarko E-Mails Seen Showing Role in Well
Bloomberg
By Jef Feeley and Laurel Brubaker Calkins - Mar 22, 2014
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) officials urged BP Plc (BP/) to drill deeper
into the Gulf of Mexico well that caused the worst offshore oil spillin
U.S. history even after BP warned that doing so would be unsafe.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-03-21/bp-partner-anadarko-e-mails-seen-showing-role-in-well.html
Bay County Restore Act Committee
WJHG
PANAMA CITY, Fla The 9-people who will help(Embedded image moved to file:
pic30106.jpg) Bay County Commissioners decide how to spend money from the
Restore Act met for the first time Friday.
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/Bay-County-Restore-Act-Committee-251689481.html
TDC receives BP grant monies for marketing
SR Press
By AARON LITTLE
Published: Friday, March 21, 2014 at 13:04 PM.
This year is the second year the Tourist Development Council of Santa Rosa
County received a grant from the Deepwater Horizon fund of British
Petroleum (BP) according to Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jim Melvin.
http://www.srpressgazette.com/news/business/tdc-receives-bp-grant-monies-for-marketing-1.294560
State
Refinery fight headed to court
Jeff Amy
AP
A competitor's effort to question an air pollution permit for a planned
Tishomingo County silicon metal refinery has spilled into court.
The $200 million Mississippi Silicon project, announced in late December,
is supposed to create 200 jobs in Burnsville.
Globe Metallurgical of Selma, Ala., is suing the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality in Hinds County Chancery Court.
http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20140321/NEWS01/303210055/Refinery-fight-headed-court
What's next? Sewage problems still loom large for Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg American
The City of Hattiesburg has major problems when it comes to treating and
disposing of its sewage and wastewater.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20140323/NEWS01/303230026/What-s-next-Sewage-problems-still-loom-large-Hattiesburg
Officials: Mississippi does good job protecting turtles
Sun Herald
BY PAUL HAMPTON
The Southeast shrimp trawl fishery is one of the nine dirtiest in the
United States, a watchdog group says.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/03/22/5436735/officials-mississippi-does-good.html
Recycling expanding into Adams County
The Associated Press
March 24, 2014
NATCHEZ, MISS. — The expansion of curbside recycling into Adams County
outside of Natchez will begin this week.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/03/24/5439407/recycling-expanding-into-adams.html?sp=/99/184/218/
City councilman says there's a trash problem in West Gulfport
WLOX
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) -A city councilman in Gulfport says his ward has a
growing litter problem. Despite his own efforts to pick up trash around the
area, he says there's simply too much.
http://www.wlox.com/story/25051527/city-councilman-says-theres-a-trash-problem-in-west-gulfport
PASCAGOULA RIVER WMA HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED
Press Register
This spring, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
will conduct habitat improvements on Pascagoula River Wildlife Management
Area.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/03/alabama_nwtf_chapter_funds_bar.html#incart_river
KiOR stares down default on MDA loan
Commercial Dispatch
March 22, 2014 11:41:19 PM
William Browning - wbrowning@cdispatch.com
If KiOR does not finalize the details of a $25 million commitment from a
California investor within the next nine days the company expects to
default on a $75 million loan it received from the state of Mississippi.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=32061
Retiring Chevron refinery manager looks back on Pascagoula career
Through the years, Tom Kovar has seen hurricanes, an ice storm and a $1.4
billion expansion
Sun Herald
BY KAREN NELSON
PASCAGOULA -- Tom Kovar saw the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery through a $1.4
billion expansion -- a project that equals the value of one fifth of all
the land in the county.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/03/22/5436895/a-busy-place-retiring-chevron.html?sp=/99/184/201/
Regional
EPA opposes state air permit for Nucor iron plant in Convent
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
March 21, 2014 at 5:19 PM
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has raised objections to an air
pollution permit granted by the state Department of Environmental Quality
for Nucor's new pig iron and direct reduced iron manufacturing plant in St.
James Parish. EPA concluded the plant will violate several provisions of
the Clean Air Act.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/03/epa_objects_to_state_air_permi.html#incart_river
NC Pulls Deal With Duke on Coal Ash Pollution
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MITCH WEISS Associated Press
North Carolina regulators said Friday that they have asked a judge to
withdraw a proposed settlement that would have allowed Duke Energy to
resolve environmental violations by paying a $99,000 fine with no
requirement that the $50 billion company clean up its pollution.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/regulators-duke-pumped-coal-ash-nc-river-22998018?singlePage=true
National
As Listener and Saleswoman, E.P.A. Chief Takes to the Road for Climate
Rules
NY Times
By CORAL DAVENPORT
MARCH 21, 2014
BEULAH, N.D. — Gina McCarthy was deep in enemy territory.
Here on this wind-whipped prairie pocked with strip mines,
Ms. McCarthy, the administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, faced 20 coal miners, union workers and
local politicians deeply suspicious of the new climate
change regulations she had come to pitch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/us/as-listener-and-saleswoman-epa-chief-takes-to-the-road-for-climate-rules.html?ref=earth&_r=0
Oil spill cleanup blocks major Texas shipping channel
AP
TEXAS CITY, TEXAS – A barge that once carried some 900,000 gallons of
heavy tar-like oil was cleared Sunday of its remaining contents, a day
after the vessel collided with a ship in the busy Houston Ship Channel and
leaked as much as about a fifth of its cargo into the waterway.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/24/oil-spill-cleanup-blocks-major-texas-shipping-channel/?intcmp=latestnews
Trouble with trash? Try turning it into fuel
CNBC
By: Anmar Frangoul
It's a problem that cities all over the world face: what to do with the
vast amounts of trash generated every day?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101514381
Congress focuses on dams amid California's drought
BY KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — California's drought has sparked a new push by federal
lawmakers to create or expand a handful of reservoirs around the state,
ramping up a political battle that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once
referred to as a "holy war in some ways."
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/03/23/5437960/congress-focuses-on-dams-amid.html?sp=/99/184/208/
