State
DeSoto's air quality under discussion
DeSoto Times
By ROBERT LEE LONG
Published: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 1:05 AM CDT
DeSoto County is gathering facts and preparing its case to seek air quality
attainment status from the federal Environmental Protection Agency after
being listed in non-attainment status along with Crittenden County, Ark.
Shelby County, Tenn., and Fayette County, Tenn.
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2015/04/21/news/local/doc553592e75acf5021470065.txt
Florence company to being mapping sewer system
Vicksburg Post
A Florence company is expected to begin the first phase of 10-year project
to assess, evaluate, replace and upgrade the city's sewer system as part of
a consent decree between the city and the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/2015/04/21/florence-company-to-being-mapping-sewer-system/
All clear after chemical release at DuPont
Sea Coast Echo
By Dwayne Bremer
Apr 21, 2015, 18:03
The DuPont DeLisle plant on Tuesday accidentally released 1,000 pounds of
chemicals into the atmosphere, officials said Tuesday.
http://www.seacoastecho.com/article_8743.shtml#.VTeXgSG6eUm
Smokestack 'burps' hazardous chemical at DuPont plant
BY WESLEY MULLER
Sun Herald
DELISLE -- Authorities responded to a hazardous chemical released into the
air Tuesday morning at the DuPont chemical plant.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/04/21/6187588_chemical-accidentally-released.html?rh=1
Proposed Pearl River dam project making waves on the Coast
WLOX
Tuesday morning, the Commission on Marine Resources heard from both sides
of a controversial flood control project in Jackson. That project involves
building a dam on the Pearl River.
http://www.wlox.com/story/28862050/proposed-pearl-river-dam-project-making-waves-on-the-coast
Council votes against mayor's emergency declaration
Clarion Ledger
The Jackson City Council has voted down Mayor Tony Yarber's new
infrastructure emergency declaration.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/04/21/jackson-city-council-emergency-declaration/26162447/
Hub City to roll out recycling bins over 5-week period
Hattiesburg American
The Big Blues are on the way to Hattiesburg customers.
Residents enrolled in the city's curbside recycling service should
find new, 65-gallon cans delivered to their driveways over the next
five weeks.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/hattiesburg/2015/04/21/hattiesburg-distribute-blue-recycling-cans/26140141/
Events celebrating Earth Day in South Mississippi
WLOX
Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. It's a chance to show how important the
environment is for you. People across the coast will join people worldwide
by spending their day raising environmental awareness.
http://www.wlox.com/story/28865954/celebrating-earth-day-in-south-mississippi
USM researching new ways of detecting radiation in air
WDAM
University of Southern Mississippi researchers are working on developing
safer and more accurate ways to detect radiation in the air. They're using
lasers and a vacuum chamber to determine atmospheric changes due to
radiation.
http://www.wdam.com/story/28863688/usm-researching-new-ways-of-detecting-radiation-in-air
Archives department backs off text message guidelines
By Robbie Ward
Daily Journal
JACKSON – Text messages of public officials may qualify as public records,
just not easily or readily accessible to the public.
Mississippi Department of Archives and History officials have backed off
efforts to set guidelines for local governments to maintain text messages
of Mississippi public officials. This announcement comes a year after the
state Ethics Commission ruled the electronic communications qualify as
public records when they deal with government business.
http://djournal.com/news/archives-department-backs-off-text-message-guidelines/
Mississippi state Capitol getting makeover
Clarion Ledger
The state Capitol is getting an $8.7 million renovation, its first
major overhaul since a $19 million restoration project from 1979-82.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/04/21/mississippi-state-capitol-getting-makeover/26153593/
Oil Spill
FIVE YEARS LATER: MISSISSIPPI FISHERMEN SAY THEY'RE STILL STRUGGLING
Posted by Evelina Burnett
MPB
Mississippi Gulf Coast fishermen say that five years after the BP oil
spill, life has not returned to normal. In the third part of a week-long
series, MPB's Evelina Burnett looks at how the disaster affected the
coast's Vietnamese fishing community.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2015/04/22/five-years-later-mississippi-fishermen-say-theyre-still-struggling/
DMR remains active in post-oil spill restoration projects
WLOX
Five years after the BP oil spill, the Department of Marine Resources
remains active in both assessing the damage and planning restoration
projects.
http://www.wlox.com/story/28863564/dmr-remains-active-in-post-oil-spill-restoration-projects
Appetite For Gulf Seafood Is Back, But The Crabs And Oysters Aren't
NPR
In 2010, just after the BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, seafood
restaurants were bombarded with questions from concerned diners: "How bad
is the spill?" "Is this from the Gulf?" "Is it safe?" Demand for Gulf
seafood tanked.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/04/20/399645484/appetite-for-gulf-seafood-is-back-but-the-crabs-and-oysters-arent
5 Years After BP Oil Spill, Experts Debate Damage To Ecosystem
NPR
At the Gulf State Park Pier in Orange Beach, Ala., Wetzel Wood casts his
fishing line into the rough surf of the Gulf of Mexico. He pulls his bait,
a cigar minnow, through the water just beyond where the waves break for the
shore.
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/21/401288698/five-years-after-bp-oil-spill-experts-debate-damage-to-ecosystem
BP Said to Seek Bids for $2 Billion in U.S. Infrastructure
Bloomberg
BP Plc is seeking buyers for as much as $2 billion of U.S. pipelines and
storage terminals, according to people familiar with the matter, making the
U.K. energy giant the latest looking to offload some of its non-drilling
infrastructure.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-21/bp-said-to-seek-bids-for-2-billion-in-u-s-pipeline-operations
National
Utilities need more time for Obama climate rule, federal office says
The Hill
Utilities will need more time to comply with the Obama administration's new
climate rule, the organization responsible for electricity reliability said
Tuesday.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/239524-reliability-group-utilities-need-more-time-for-climate-rule
At Everglades, Obama to warn of damage from climate neglect
The Associated Press
April 22, 2015 at 7:16 AM
WASHINGTON -- With swampy wetlands and alligators as his backdrop,
President Barack Obama will use a visit to Florida's Everglades to warn of
the damage that climate change is already inflicting on the nation's
environmental treasures -- and to hammer political opponents he says are
doing far too little about it.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/04/obama_florida_everglades.html#incart_river
Why Earth Day's creator might not celebrate Earth Day
Washington Post
Soledad O'Brien, former CNN news anchor extraordinaire, was met with a
puzzling situation last Saturday. She was co-hosting a massive Earth Day
extravaganza on the National Mall. She was standing in front of a crowd she
estimated at 250,000 people. She had a microphone. But she was talking and
nobody was listening.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/22/why-earth-days-creator-might-not-celebrate-earth-day/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3
Opinion
Why States Should Boycott the Federal Clean Power Plan
Better for states not to comply with the EPA's plans than to go along and
absolve the feds of accountability for the mess.
Wall Street Journal
By KENNETH C. HILL
April 21, 2015 7:33 p.m. ET
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) set off a firestorm
recently when he advised states not to comply with the Environmental
Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. Yet that advice isn't as radical as
his detractors make it sound. As a state public utilities commissioner who
deals with the effects of federal regulations on a regular basis, I also
recommend that states not comply.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-states-should-boycott-the-federal-clean-power-plan-1429659225
