7.30.14
Oil Spill
Miss. ready to implement restoration efforts
Hattiesburg American
WASHINGTON – Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states are "energized
and stand ready,'' to begin restoration projects as soon as money
becomes available to help the region recover from the 2010 Deepwater
Horizon oil spill, a top Mississippi environmental official said
Tuesday.
"We stand here before you today poised to pull the trigger,'' Trudy
Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, testified at a Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation subcommittee hearing on the status of restoration
efforts under the 2012 RESTORE Act.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/politics/2014/07/29/state-officials-anxious-restore-act-funds/13344467/
Democrats and Republicans agree: federal government needs to move faster on
RESTORE Act
Bruce Alpert
Times-Picayune
July 29, 2014 at 6:10 PM
WASHINGTON -- In a change from the usual partisanship, Democrats and
Republicans delivered the same message Tuesday: The Obama administration
needs to speed up implementation of the 2012 law that distributes Clean
Water Act fines from the BP oil spill to the five Gulf States.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/07/democrats_and_republicans_agre.html#incart_river
Environmental groups praise bipartisan Senate message to speed enactment of
RESTORE Act
Bruce Alpert
Times-Picayune
July 29, 2014 at 10:45 PM
WASHINGTON -- Six groups working on environmental and economic recovery
issues Tuesday night quickly endorsed the bipartisan message delivered just
hours earlier at a Senate oversight hearing: Democratic and Republican
lawmakers said they want the federal government to move faster to select
projects and release funding for coastal restoration work promised under a
2012 law.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/07/environmental_groups_praise_bi.html#incart_river
BP employees shower Houston officials with emails over lawsuit
Houston Chronicle
By Kiah Collier and Mike Morris
Weeks after Harris County joined the city of Houston in a lawsuit against
several companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of
those companies - BP - is waging what local government officials describe
as a strange and unprecedented mass email campaign aimed at getting them to
drop the suit.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/BP-employees-shower-local-officials-with-emails-5655318.php
State
Miss. fines Severstal $135K on emission sensors
AP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Commission of Environmental Quality
has fined Columbus steel mill Severstal $135,000 because the company's
pollution control monitors didn't function properly after the plant
expanded in June 2011.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Miss-fines-Severstal-135K-on-emission-sensors/tQF4KwENo0C5MY82VSRC9g.cspx
Public works director salary stirs up Council debate
Clarion Ledger
Jackson's recently confirmed public works department head could make
more money than the mayor, a price tag city officials say is worth
the investment to handle infrastructure woes projected to cost an
eventual $1 billion or more.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/07/29/public-works-salary/13323837/
Mantachie Opens Natural Gas Station
WCBI
MANTACHIE, Miss. (WCBI) — North Mississippi residents now have access to a
natural gas pump, thanks to the Northeast Mississippi Natural Gas District
in Mantachie.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/video-mantachie-opens-natural-gas-station
Dam Safety Law Means Help For The Delta
Delta Council E-News
The Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission is initiating plans
for dam rehabilitation on hillside tributaries along the bluff hill line of
the Mississippi Delta and in other parts of the State. In a law enacted
during the 2014 Mississippi Legislative Session, funds were restored for a
dam safety program to be implemented by the Mississippi Soil and Water
Conservation Commission, under the leadership of its Executive Director,
Don Underwood.
"Delta Council has long been concerned for the lack of State funding for
maintenance activities on these hillside watershed dams, which have
outlived their 50-year life expectancy," stated Chat Phillips, the Delta
Council leader from Yazoo County who who served on the Mississippi Soil and
Water Conservation Commission for many years.
The funds dedicated to dam safety are designed to protect watersheds such
as those with their mouth in the Mississippi Delta. These waters dump huge
volumes of sediment-laden discharges into the downstream landscapes which
are typical of the Mississippi Delta, causing significant stream
maintenance cost for counties, local drainage districts, and residents.
"This source of dedicated funding for the Mississippi Soil and Water
Conservation Commission, if sustained, will slowly reverse the trend of so
many dam failure possibilities which currently exists throughout the State,
and especially along the bluff hill line of the Mississippi Delta,"
concluded Phillips, the resident of the Eden community in Yazoo County.
Kemper price holds at $5.6 billion
Sun Herald
The total cost of the Kemper County power plant remains at about $5.6
billion, Southern Company said Tuesday in its 8-K report.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/07/29/5719967/kemper-price-holds-at-56-billion.html?sp=/99/184/
Southwire Receives Industry of the Year Award
WCBI
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — The Golden Triangle Development LINK has
selected Southwire as its 2014 Industry Of The Year.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/southwire-receives-the-industry-of-the-year-award
Training the key to first responder success
WLOX
They go into situations most of us run away from. First responders are
always on the front lines, risking their own lives to save others.
Monday's explosion at Omega Protein in Moss Point was one of those
instances for Jackson County's emergency teams.
http://www.wlox.com/story/26142406/training-the-key-to-first-responder-success
National
Clean-air rules assailed as too much, too little
AP
DENVER — Hundreds of people across the country lined up today to
tell the Environmental Protection Agency that its new rules for
power-plant pollution either go too far or not far enough.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/29/clean-air-rules/13323221/
Competing visions of cataclysm at an EPA hearing
Washington Post
On one side were the enviros in "Climate Action Now" T-shirts who came to
pass out muffins and stand up for asthmatics. The Obama administration's
plan to force power plants to cut pollution 30 percent by 2030 is absurdly
gentle, they argued at a public hearing Tuesday, and too toothless to save
what one advocate called "civilization as we've known it."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-plan-to-force-power-plants-to-cut-pollution-draws-strong-opinions-at-an-epa-hearing/2014/07/29/0c59cafe-1742-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981_story.html
Energy Regulators Say EPA's Climate Rule Poses Grid Challenges
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Expresses Cost, Reliability Concerns
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's proposed rule to curb carbon emissions
from the nation's power plants could raise costs and affect reliability in
the U.S. electricity system, federal regulators told Congress.
But the commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the
government agency charged with overseeing the electric grid and other parts
of the nation's energy infrastructure, also said at a House hearing that
the government has a responsibility to act on climate change.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/energy-regulators-say-epas-climate-rule-poses-grid-challenges-1406659902
Administration unveils actions to curb methane emissions
The Hill
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced new actions Tuesday aimed at
curbing methane emissions form the nation's natural gas systems.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/213715-administration-unveils-actions-to-curb-methane-emissions
Senate Dems' bill would bring back Superfund tax
The Hill
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and two of his colleagues introduced a bill
Tuesday to reinstate the Superfund tax, which charges certain industries
fees to clean up contaminated industrial sites.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/213707-senate-dems-bill-would-bring-back-superfund-tax
House votes to place new requirements on government in declaring species
endangered
Al.com
Brendan Kirby
July 30, 2014 at 5:06 AM
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to place new limits on the
Endangered Species Act that supporters said would improve transparency when
the government decides which critters deserve federal protection.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/house_votes_to_place_new_requi.html#incart_river
Press Releases
Wicker Comments on 'RESTORE' Progress
Miss. Senator Says 'Legal Wrangling Has Created an Environment of
Uncertainty, Delays'
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today said that ongoing
litigation is negatively impacting the implementation of long-term
restoration efforts required by the "Resources and Ecosystems
Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf
Coast States Act" (RESTORE Act). The legal fight pertaining to civil
penalties for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred in 2010, is
not expected to resume until next spring.
"The continued legal wrangling over the Deepwater Horizon disaster has
created an environment of uncertainty and delays," Wicker said. "Funding
has not been released or even obligated for the final projects that have
been selected under the 'RESTORE Act.' The 10-year prioritized project list
has also been put on hold."
Wicker's comments were issued following a Senate Subcommittee on Oceans,
Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard hearing to examine ongoing efforts
to restore the Gulf of Mexico, including implementation of the 2012
"RESTORE Act."
"Despite being an active participant, Mississippi has yet to receive
'RESTORE Act' funds," Wicker continued. "In fact, the state has not even
been asked to submit proposed projects for funding under the law. This is
unacceptable."
In 2011, Senator Wicker cosponsored the "RESTORE Act," which dedicated 80
percent of all "Clean Water Act" penalties paid by those responsible for
the 2010 disaster to Gulf Coast restoration. The remaining 20 percent of
the fines are directed to the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
Funding available to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and the
Gulf Coast states through the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund currently
stands at $800 million. More than $480 million of these funds are expected
to be used by the Council pursuant to the "RESTORE Act." The remaining
funds are then made available to the states.
"I urge those involved with implementing the law, including the Restoration
Council and the Treasury Department, to move forward with plans to
establish a funding priority list, finalize the needed regulations, and
complete a comprehensive plan to carry it out," Wicker concluded.
Ms. Trudy Fisher, director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality, testified at today's hearing. Ms. Fisher has served as the
agency's director since 2007 and is tasked with leading Mississippi's
recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
http://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=ef2afea4-a363-4912-92c3-efc95f956aea
