5.9.14
State
Lawmakers approve $17M for tornado recovery
Clarion Ledger
Lawmakers in a special session Thursday quickly approved $17 million
in state disaster assistance after last week's deadly tornadoes.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/08/tornado-special-session/8854349/
Debris removal about to begin in Tupelo
WTVA
UPELO, Miss (WTVA) -- Ton after ton of debris is piled along most of the
streets where there has been tornado damage.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Debris-removal-about-to-begin-in-Tupelo/D8lAyrtWz0mYW4nRuQrNoA.cspx
Trash penalties weighed
Hattiesburg American
PURVIS — Lamar County supervisors are weighing options on how to prod
landlords into tidying up trashy properties.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20140509/NEWS01/305090014/Trash-penalties-weighed
Committee continues to improve look of city
Bolivar Commercial
by Courtney Warren
05.08.14 - 05:53 pm
The Cleveland Beautification/Litter Committee met Wednesday to discuss the
progress made in Cleveland.
http://www.bolivarcom.com/view/full_story/25075125/article-Committee-continues-to-improve-look-of-city?instance=latest_articles
Beach erosion has section of Ocean Springs beach sidewalk on verge of
collapse
Mississippi Press
Warren Kulo
May 08, 2014 at 12:33 PM
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- A section of Ocean Springs Front Beach which
has been a problem area for years became more so after recent heavy rains
washed away nearly all of what little sand was there.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/05/beach_erosion_has_section_of_o.html#incart_river
Regional
Federal officials order Georgia to fix dust plans at power plants
By RAY HENRY
ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, May 8, 2014 - 10:38pm
ATLANTA | Federal environmental officials are requiring that Georgia
regulators better explain how a major utility will prevent dust from
escaping coal-fired power plants.
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-05-08/federal-officials-order-georgia-fix-dust-plans-power-plants
National
Obama to Lay Out Proposals on Cutting Carbon Pollution
President Will Focus on Clean-Energy Objectives He Can Accomplish Without
Congress's Help
Wall Street Journal
President Barack Obama on Friday will trumpet new executive actions and
public- and private-sector commitments aimed at cutting carbon pollution
and improving energy efficiency as he continues to make the pitch that the
impacts of climate change must be addressed.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304655304579550930491221134?mg=reno64-wsj
Agreement reached on $8.2B waterways bill
The Hill
Lawmakers in the House and Senate said Thursday evening that they have
reached an agreement on an $8.2 billion bill to boost U.S. ports and
waterways.
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/205666-agreement-reached-on-82b-waterways-bill
Press releases
EPA Adds Seven Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund's National Priorities
List
Agency also proposes to add an additional five sites
WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding
seven hazardous waste sites that pose risks to people's health and the
environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. EPA
is also proposing to add another five sites to the list. Superfund is the
federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex,
uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country to protect
people's health and the environment.
"Cleaning up contaminated land is critical to the protection of human
health and the environment," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator
for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Superfund cleanups
also play an important role in advancing the economic well-being of
communities by turning formerly idle properties into productive community
assets that can broaden tax bases, create jobs, enhance property values and
support improved overall well-being."
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA), the law establishing the Superfund program, requires EPA to
update the NPL at least annually and clean up hazardous waste sites to
protect human health with the goal of returning them to communities for
productive use. A site's listing neither imposes a financial obligation on
EPA nor assigns liability to any party. Updates to the NPL do, however,
provide policymakers with a list of high priority sites, serving to
identify the size and nature of the nation's cleanup challenges.
The Superfund program has provided important benefits for people and the
environment since Congress established the program in 1980.Those benefits
are both direct and indirect, and include reduction of threats to human
health and ecological systems in the vicinity of Superfund sites,
improvement of the economic conditions and quality of life in communities
affected by hazardous waste sites, prevention of future releases of
hazardous substances, and advances in science and technology.
Superfund actions frequently convert contaminated land into productive
local resources and increase local property values by eliminating or
reducing real and perceived health risks and environmental contamination
associated with hazardous waste sites. A study conducted by researchers at
Duke and Pittsburgh Universities concluded that, while a site's proposal to
the NPL reduces property values slightly, making a site final on the NPL
begins to increase property values surrounding Superfund sites.
Furthermore, the study found that, once a site has all cleanup remedies in
place, surrounding properties have a significant increase in property
values as compared to pre-NPL proposal values.
Since 1983, EPA has listed 1,701 sites on the NPL. At 1,158 or 68 percent
of NPL sites, all cleanup remedies are in place. Approximately 662 or 39
percent of NPL sites have all necessary long-term protections in place,
which means EPA considers the sites protective for redevelopment or reuse.
With all NPL sites, EPA first works to identify companies or people
responsible for the contamination at a site, and requires them to conduct
or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable
potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of
the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site.
Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding
is required for these sites.
The following seven sites have been added to the NPL:
• MacMillan Ring Free Oil (former oil refinery) in Norphlet,
Ark.;
• Keddy Mill (former sawmill, grist and wool carding mill) in
Windham, Maine;
• PCE Southeast Contamination (ground water plume) in York, Neb.;
• PCE/TCE Northeast Contamination (ground water plume) in York,
Neb.;
• Unimatic Manufacturing Corporation (former chemical
manufacturer) in Fairfield, N.J.;
• Wolff-Alport Chemical Company (former metal extraction
facility) in Ridgewood, N.Y.; and
• Walker Machine Products, Inc. (former machine screw products
manufacturer) in Collierville, Tenn.;
The following five sites have been proposed for addition to the NPL:
• Colorado Smelter (former smelter) in Pueblo, Colo.;
• North Shore Drive (ground water plume) in Elkhart, Ind.;
• Delta Shipyard (former boat cleaning and repair) in Houma, La.;
• Baghurst Drive (ground water plume) in Harleysville, Pa.; and
• Jard Company, Inc. (former capacitor manufacturer) in
Bennington, Vt.
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the final and
proposed sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm
Information about how a site is listed on the NPL:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm
Superfund sites in local communities:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm
More information about the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the law establishing the Superfund
program: http://epa.gov/superfund/policy/cercla.htm
