8.25.14
State
Harrison Co. Inmate Litter Program a Success
WXXV
Harrison County was recognized by the Mississippi Department of
Transportation (M.D.O.T.) for its Inmate Litter Program. The program
collected more than 10,000 bags of trash along state highways, more than
any county in Mississippi.
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/local/story/Harrison-Co-Inmate-Litter-Program-a-Success/KemSs5MNUUqY1y92GlH1DQ.cspx
State Looks To Energy Sector To Boost Economy, Jobs
MPB
State leaders, including Governor Phil Bryant, are cheering the opening of
a new base-oil plant at the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery as a sign of
Mississippi's growing prominence in the energy sector. But how much growth
could there really be?
http://mpbonline.org/News/article/state_looks_to_energy_sector_to_boost_economy_jobs
Mississippi Power's $660 million Plant Daniel scrubber project 60 percent
complete
Mississippi Press
April M. Havens
ESCATAWPA, Mississippi -- Plant Victor Daniel's new scrubber project is
about 60 percent complete, leaders said Friday, and construction is moving
along as scheduled.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/08/mississippi_powers_plant_danie.html#incart_river
PSC's Brandon Presley calls in-state nuclear waste dump a 'harebrained
scheme'
by MBJ
NETTLETON — Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley has reached out to
President Barack Obama, Mississippi's congressional delegation and other
Washington leaders in an attempt to block any federal government attempts
to dispose of the nation's nuclear waste in Mississippi.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/08/19/presley-calls-state-nuclear-waste-dump-harebrained-sheme/
Federal charges dropped against Shumate after guilty plea
by Associated Press
GULFPORT — Federal prosecutors, apparently satisfied with a guilty plea in
state court, dropped charges yesterday against a former Mississippi
Department of Marine Resources manager.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/08/21/federal-charges-dropped-shumate-guilty-plea/
Oil Spill
JILL MASTROTOTARO: A new way to collect ideas for restoring the Gulf
BY JILL MASTROTOTARO
A Sun Herald ForumAugust 21, 2014
Mississippi's coastal residents know that our coast has serious restoration
needs. An annual erosion rate of 200 acres a year is decimating our
coastline. Decades of development have intensified water-quality problems.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/08/21/5756572/jill-mastrototaro-a-new-way-to.html?sp=/99/728/
Feds ordered to pay nearly $1 million in BP oil spill trial costs
Jennifer Larino
The Times-Picayune
The federal government must help pay nearly $1 million in court costs
related to the ongoing civil trial of BP and its role in the 2010 Deepwater
Horizon rig explosion and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal judge in New
Orleans ordered this week.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/feds_ordered_to_pay_nearly_1_m.html
Why the job market actually improved after the BP oil spill
Economists forgot that government response to a disaster can be a stimulus.
Washington Post
In the months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of
Mexico in 2010, much of America watched the "spill cam," a live feed that
showed oil flowing into the Gulf. From his office next door to the White
House, Joseph Aldy was watching economic data – specifically, unemployment
claims from Louisiana. They were his first indication that the dire
predictions of job losses following the spill weren't coming true.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/08/22/why-the-job-market-actually-improved-after-the-bp-oil-spill/
Conservationists team up to buy ranch with oil spill funds
AP
HOUSTON – A sprawling private ranch in southeast Texas will be
converted into a state park with the assistance of a fund created in
the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Foundation announced Thursday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/money/business/2014/08/23/conservationists-team-buy-ranch-oil-spill-funds/14517969/
Regional
TVA board votes to retire Memphis coal plant
AP
MEMPHIS – The Tennessee Valley Authority's board voted Thursday to
retire the coal-fired Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis and replace it
with a natural-gas facility, marking another step by the nation's
largest utility to reduce its reliance on coal.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/money/business/2014/08/21/tva-board-votes-retire-memphis-coal-plant/14424699/
Louisiana Republicans hold hearing to blast potential EPA ozone rule
The Hill
Three Republican members of Louisiana's congressional delegation held a
hearing Friday in Lake Charles, La., to criticize potential forthcoming
regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce
allowable ozone levels.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/215795-louisiana-republicans-hold-hearing-to-blast-potential-epa-ozone
Judge rules for Fish and Wildlife Service in frog habitat case
by Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge has ruled that U.S. Fish and Wildlife
officials were within the law when they declared thousands of acres in
Louisiana and Mississippi as "critical habitat" for the endangered dusky
gopher frog.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/08/24/judge-rules-fish-wildlife-service-frog-habitat-case/
National
Toxic air pollution has dropped dramatically, EPA tells Congress
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency has made "substantial" progress in
reducing toxic air pollution since 1990, reducing many pollutants by more
than half, regulators told Congress Thursday.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/215675-toxic-air-pollution-has-dropped-dramatically-epa-tells-congress
Manufacturers target 3 states in campaign against ozone rules
The Hill
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is targeting Colorado,
North Carolina and Kentucky in an ad campaign against potential new ozone
rules that the group said could be the most costly regulations ever.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/215681-manufacturers-target-3-states-in-campaign-against-ozone-rules
EPA opens environmental crimes office in North Dakota for bigger presence
in oil patch
Published August 22, 2014
Associated Press
WILLISTON, N.D. – The Environmental Protection Agency's law enforcement
arm has opened an office in Bismarck so that it will have a bigger presence
in the North Dakota's booming oil patch.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/08/22/epa-opens-environmental-crimes-office-in-north-dakota-for-bigger-presence-in/
Opinion
Cessation of lake draining welcome development
Meridian Star
We were glad to hear that Long Creek Reservoir will not be totally drained
and that the city of Meridian is trying to locate the estimated $500,000
needed to make repairs to a leaky dam.
http://www.meridianstar.com/opinion/article_da1a280c-2b3e-11e4-ae84-0019bb2963f4.html
SUN HERALD | Editorial: Public agencies should be audited each and every
year
As another former employee of the Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources heads off to prison for embezzlement, Mississippi taxpayers
remain inexcusably vulnerable to the theft of public revenue.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/08/23/5758437/sun-herald-editorial-public-agencies.html?sp=/99/728/
Press Releases
EPA Report Shows Progress in Reducing Urban Air Toxics Across the United
States
WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released
the Second Integrated Urban Air Toxics Report to Congress - the final of
two reports required under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to inform Congress of
progress in reducing public health risks from urban air toxics.
"This report gives everyone fighting for clean air a lot to be proud of
because for more than 40 years we have been protecting Americans –
preventing illness and improving our quality of life by cutting air
pollution - all while the economy has more than tripled," said EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy. "But we know our work is not done yet. At the
core of EPA's mission is the pursuit of environmental justice - striving
for clean air, water and healthy land for every American; and we are
committed to reducing remaining pollution, especially in low-income
neighborhoods."
Using national emissions and air quality data, the Urban Air Toxics Report
shows the substantial progress that has been made to reduce air toxics
across the country since the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
- A 66 percent reduction in benzene;
- A nearly 60 percent reduction in mercury from man-made sources like
coal-fired power plants;
- An 84 percent decrease of lead in outdoor air, which slows brain
development in children;
- The removal of an estimated 1.5 million tons per year of air toxics like
arsenic, benzene, lead and nickel from stationary sources and another 1.5
million tons per year (about 50 percent) of air toxics from mobile sources.
This is significant because air toxics (also referred to as hazardous air
pollutants or HAPs) are known or suspected of causing cancer and can damage
the immune, respiratory, neurological, reproductive and developmental
systems;
- And, approximately 3 million tons per year of criteria pollutants, like
particulate amtter and sulfur dioxide, have been reduced from cars and
trucks as co-benefits of air toxics reductions.
Reducing toxics is a top priority for EPA, and even with this progress, we
continue to improve our understanding of them, so we can effectively reduce
remaining risks, particularly in overburdened communities. EPA's Plan EJ
2014, is making sure environmental justice is addressed in programs and
policies across the agency. EPA is working closely with state, local and
tribal agencies to promote area-wide and regional strategies to address air
toxics and support a number of community-based programs that help
communities understand, prioritize and reduce exposures to toxic pollutants
in their local environment. For example, in Indianapolis, we are working
with partners on the ground through an EPA grant for the "Building Lead
Safe Communities" Project in the Martindale-Brightwood and Nearwest
neighborhoods. We're addressing the risk of toxic lead exposure in children
through outreach efforts and compiling block level soil lead data,
identifying hotspots utilizing air sampling and developing synergistic
local solutions.
Additionally, recent EPA actions will further address toxic pollution in
communities. Since 2005, EPA has taken steps to address air emissions from
stationary sources that include major reductions from boilers, power
plants, and Portland cement facilities. For example, the 2011 Mercury and
Air Toxics Standards will prevent about 90 percent of the mercury in coal
burned in power plants from being emitted to the air. The 2007 Mobile
Source Air Toxics rule is projected to reduce toxics emitted from highway
vehicles and nonroad equipment, which are known or suspected to cause
cancer or other serious health and environmental effects, by 330,000 tons
in 2030, including 61,000 tons of benzene, and VOC emissions (precursors to
ozone and PM2.5) by over one million tons. We expect reductions in air
toxics from cars and trucks to grow to 80 percent by the year 2030 as we
get newer, cleaner vehicles on the road. The proposed updates to emission
standards for petroleum refineries would reduce emissions from the 150
petroleum refineries across the U.S., many of which are located near
communities. It would also reduce emissions of chemicals such as benzene,
toluene and xylene by 5,600 tons per year. These efforts, along with the
implementation and adoption of new and existing national rules for
stationary and mobile sources of pollution, will improve public health for
all Americans by providing further reductions in air toxics.
More information on the report: http://www2.epa.gov/urban-air-toxics
