5.20.14
Oil Spill
Appeals court won't rehear BP settlement issue
KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal appeals court on Monday refused to reconsider
its previous ruling that businesses don't have to prove they were directly
harmed by BP's 2010 Gulf Of Mexico oil spill to collect settlement
payments.
http://www.wlox.com/story/25559005/appeals-court-wont-rehear-bp-settlement-issue
Follow the Seafood Trail — New program aims to boost restaurants,
commercial fishing
MBJ
by Wally Northway
Published: May 19,2014
No two industries were more affected by the explosion in 2010 of the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig than restaurant/hospitality and commercial
fishing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The oil spill that spewed hundreds
of millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico kept tourists
away and left Gulf Coast-caught seafood with a black eye among consumers.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/05/19/follow-seafood-trail-new-program-aims-boost-restaurants-commercial-fishing/
State
Debris Removal Contract in Louisville Awarded to South Carolina Company
WCBI
LOUISVILE, Miss. (WCBI) – Louisville city leaders are continuing with
recovery efforts and have now selected a contractor to remove debris.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/louisville-debris-removal-contract-awarded-to-south-carolina-company
Hattiesburg Wastewater project to move forward while permit is reviewed
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -The Hattiesburg Wastewater Project will move
forward while its permit is under review.
http://www.wdam.com/story/25558028/hattiesburg-wastewater-project-to-move-forward-while-permit-is-reviewed
British company plans pellet mill in Magnolia, would be third in La. and
Miss.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAGNOLIA, Mississippi — Permit and grant applications show the same British
company that's building a wood pellet mill in Gloster is planning one in
Magnolia.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c4ad11db3484415c92cafdd7d75b332b/MS--Wood-Pellet-Plant
State port celebrates new tenant
Gas, oil business moving from Morgan City, La. to Gulfport
Sun Herald
BY ANITA LEE
GULFPORT -- With much fanfare, state port commissioners voted unanimously
Monday to approve a lease with McDermott Inc., a 90-year-old business that
serves offshore oil and gas companies worldwide.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/05/19/5584008/mcdermott-inc-signs-10-year-lease.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1
DMR steps up to help Colonial Estates get crucial water
Sun Herald
BY KAREN NELSON
PASCAGOULA -- Jackson County supervisors announced Monday morning that the
state will help a small subdivision, just outside the Ocean Springs city
limits, get safe drinking water.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/05/19/5583871/dmr-steps-up-to-help-colonial.html?sp=/99/184/
Phosphate Holdings hires new operations manager for Pascagoula DAP plant
Mississippi Press
April M. Havens
May 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM
MADISON, Mississippi -- Phosphate Holdings Inc., owner of Mississippi
Phosphates in Pascagoula, today announced that two new senior executives
have been hired.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-business/2014/05/phosphate_holdings_hires_new_o.html#incart_river
Mississippi Supreme Court rules Exxon not liable for alligators at its
waste site
The Associated Press
May 19, 2014 at 12:30 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- A divided Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that
Exxon Mobil Corp. can't be held liable for the presence of alligators at a
waste site it owns in Wilkinson County.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/05/mississippi_supreme_court_rule_3.html#incart_river
Regional
Environmental, ag leaders to tour sites in eastern Arkansas that reduce
pollution in Delta
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STUTTGART, Arkansas — Federal officials plan to tour several projects in
eastern Arkansas that are reducing water and nutrient pollution in the
Mississippi Delta.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/fc41436a13834ce39017b4e89f5f4885/AR--Mississippi-Delta-Water-Pollutionf
National
Obama may personally announce new coal rules
The Hill
President Obama may personally announce new carbon emissions limits on
existing coal-fired power plants.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/206513-obama-likely-to-personally-announce-climate-regs
EPA carbon curbs to reach beyond power plant 'fence,' aiding cap-and-trade
Reuters
By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's landmark rules to
cut power plant emissions will likely give a fresh push to regional U.S.
carbon cap-and-trade systems by allowing for a holistic, state-wide view of
new pollution targets, sources familiar with the process said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/usa-carbon-idUSL1N0O50CD20140520
EPA Issues Rules to Protect Fish in Plant Cooling Systems
Agency Stops Short of Requiring Less Water Use
Wall Street Journal
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday issued long-delayed rules
requiring companies to reduce the number of fish that are killed in the
cooling systems of older power plants and factories, but stopped short of
requiring them to use less water from rivers, lakes and oceans or to
install specific new cooling technologies.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304422704579572492594329888?mg=reno64-wsj
Power Plant Owners Get EPA Options to Prevent Fish Kills
Bloomberg
By Mark Drajem - May 19, 2014
The Obama administration issued rules that give operators of power plant
and factories an array of options to prevent fish from being killed when
water is used to cool machinery.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-19/power-plant-owners-get-epa-options-to-prevent-fish-kills.html
EPA Mulls Ethanol Change as Industry Profits Soar
By DAVID PITT
Associated Press
Just as ethanol producers have been seeing the industry's most profitable
months ever, the federal government is considering whether to lower the
amount of the corn-based fuel that must be blended into gasoline.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/epa-mulls-ethanol-change-industry-profits-soar-23784063?singlePage=true
National landmarks threatened by climate change
USA Today
Climate change is putting historic and cultural landmarks around the
USA at risk, according to a report released today by the Union of
Concerned Scientists (UCS), a non-profit science advocacy
organization based in Washington, D.C.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/05/20/national-landmarks-climate-change/9281341/
EPA targets couple's private pond in Wyoming, threatens huge fines
Fox News
When Andy and Katie Johnson built a pond on their property in 2011 to
provide water for their cattle, they never dreamed it would result in
threats of $75,000 a day in fines from the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/19/feds-target-private-pond/?intcmp=latestnews
Press Releases
EPA Finalizes Standards to Protect Fish, Aquatic Life from Cooling Water
Intakes
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized
standards to protect billions of fish and other aquatic life drawn each
year into cooling water systems at large power plants and factories. This
final rule is required by the Clean Water Act to address site-specific
challenges, and establishes a common sense framework, putting a premium on
public input and flexibility for facilities to comply.
An estimated 2.1 billion fish, crabs, and shrimp are killed annually by
being pinned against cooling water intake structures (impingement) or being
drawn into cooling water systems and affected by heat, chemicals, or
physical stress (entrainment). To protect threatened and endangered species
and critical habitat, the expertise of the Fish & Wildlife Service and
National Marine Fisheries Service is available to inform decisions about
control technologies at individual facilities.
"EPA is making it clear that if you have cooling water intakes you have to
look at the impact on aquatic life in local waterways and take steps to
minimize that impact," said Nancy Stoner, acting Assistant Administrator
for Water at EPA.
The final rule establishes requirements under the Clean Water Act for all
existing power generating facilities and existing manufacturing and
industrial facilities that withdraw more than 2 million gallons per day of
water from waters of the U.S. and use at least 25 percent of the water they
withdraw exclusively for cooling purposes. This rule covers roughly 1,065
existing facilities –521 of these facilities are factories, and the other
544 are power plants. The technologies required under the rule are
well-understood, have been in use for several decades, and are in use at
over 40 percent of facilities.
The national requirements, which will be implemented through National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, are applicable to
the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake
structures at these facilities and are based on the best technology
available for minimizing environmental impact. The rule establishes a
strong baseline level of protection and then allows additional safeguards
for aquatic life to be developed through site-specific analysis, an
approach that ensures the best technology available is used. It puts
implementation analysis in the hands of the permit writers so requirements
can be tailored to the particular facility.
There are three components to the final regulation.
· Existing facilities that withdraw at least 25 percent of their water
from an adjacent waterbody exclusively for cooling purposes and have
a design intake flow of greater than 2 million gallons per day are
required to reduce fish impingement. To ensure flexibility, the owner
or operator of the facility will be able to choose one of seven
options for meeting best technology available requirements for
reducing impingement.
· Facilities that withdraw very large amounts of water – at least 125
million gallons per day – are required to conduct studies to help the
permitting authority determine what site-specific entrainment
mortality controls, if any, will be required. This process will
include public input.
· New units at an existing facility that are built to increase the
generating capacity of the facility are be required to reduce the
intake flow to a level similar to a closed cycle, recirculation
system. Closed cycle systems are the most effective at reducing
entrainment. This can be done by incorporating a closed-cycle system
into the design of the new unit, or by making other design changes
equivalent to the reductions associated with closed-cycle cooling.
More information: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/316b/
