State
Cochran, Wicker oppose EPA regulations on coal plant emissions
Meridian Star
Friday, June 5, 2015 4:05 am
Mississippi's U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both
Republicans, announced Thursday their support of legislation designed to
stop proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on carbon
dioxide emissions.
http://www.meridianstar.com/news/cochran-wicker-oppose-epa-regulations-on-coal-plant-emissions/article_cc94151a-0b32-11e5-8e86-1309913f919c.html
Civil rights group to hear concerns about cancer rates in Jackson County
BY KAREN NELSON
Sun Herald
MOSS POINT -- Wendol Lee of Operation Help Civil Rights in Memphis will
meet Saturday with Jackson County residents concerned about the county's
cancer rate.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/06/04/6261334/civil-rights-group-to-hear-concerns.html
Bird flu could impact Mississippi's multi-billion dollar business
WJTV
Mississippi is 5th in the country for producing chicken and eggs with 1.3
billion eggs each year.
Now this multi-billion dollar industry is on the line if a virus were to
hit us here.
http://www.wjtv.com/story/29245580/bird-flu-could-impact-mississippis-multi-billion-dollar-business
Oil Spill
Oil spill money could fund bike lanes in Ocean Springs park
NOAA restoration program trustees offer draft of 10 ideas to use money, 2
are in Mississippi
BY REGINA ZILBERMINTS
Sun Herald
A busy road that runs through Gulf Islands National Seashore's Davis Bayou
in Ocean Springs could soon have a bike and pedestrian lane, funded by
money assessed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/06/04/6261140_oil-spill-money-could-fund-bike.html?rh=1
Closing Arguments Set in Ex-BP Executive Rainey's Trial
NEW ORLEANS — Jun 5, 2015, 4:47 AM ET
By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press
Testimony is over and closing arguments were set for Friday in the federal
trial of a former BP executive charged with lying to investigators about
oil spill calculations he made following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon
explosion.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/closing-arguments-set-bp-executive-raineys-trial-31546321
National
Fracking Has Had No 'Widespread' Impact on Drinking Water, EPA Finds
'Potential vulnerabilities' should be addressed to prevent water
contamination, EPA says after four-year study
Wall Street Journal
Fracking isn't causing widespread damage to the nation's drinking water,
the Obama administration said in a long-awaited report released Thursday.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fracking-has-had-no-widespread-impact-on-drinking-water-epa-finds-1433433850
Fracking Has Not Had Big Effect on Water Supply, E.P.A. Says While Noting
Risks
NY Times
WASHINGTON — A landmark Environmental Protection Agency
report on the impact of hydraulic fracturing has found no
evidence that the contentious technique of oil and gas
extraction has had a widespread effect on the nation's
water supply, the agency said Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/us/epa-hydraulic-fracking-water-supply-contamination.html?ref=earth&_r=0
Major EPA fracking study cites pollution risk but sees no 'systemic' damage
so far
Washington Post
The most extensive government review of U.S. "fracking" practices has found
no evidence of widespread damage to drinking-water supplies, while also
warning of the potential for contamination from the controversial technique
used in oil and gas drilling.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/06/04/fracking/
Federal study: No 'pause' in global warming
The Hill
Federal scientists Thursday disputed the notion that the world's
temperature stopped rising 15 or so years ago.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/244064-federal-study-no-pause-in-global-warming
Opinion
The EPA Fracking Miracle
Andrew Cuomo's ban on drilling is exposed as a fraud.
Wall Street Journal
So even the Environmental Protection Agency now concedes that fracking is
safe, which won't surprise anyone familiar with the reality of
unconventional oil and natural gas drilling in the U.S. But if no less than
the EPA is saying this, then the political opposition doesn't have much of
a case left.http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-epa-fracking-miracle-1433460321
Press Releases
EPA Releases Draft Assessment on the Potential Impacts to Drinking Water
Resources from Hydraulic Fracturing Activities
Assessment shows hydraulic fracturing activities have not led to
widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources and identifies
important vulnerabilities to drinking water resources.
WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing a draft
assessment today on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing
activities on drinking water resources in the United States. The
assessment, done at the request of Congress, shows that while hydraulic
fracturing activities in the U.S. are carried out in a way that have not
led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources, there are
potential vulnerabilities in the water lifecycle that could impact drinking
water. The assessment follows the water used for hydraulic fracturing from
water acquisition, chemical mixing at the well pad site, well injection of
fracking fluids, the collection of hydraulic fracturing wastewater
(including flowback and produced water), and wastewater treatment and
disposal [http://www2.epa.gov/hfstudy/hydraulic-fracturing-water-cycle].
"EPA's draft assessment will give state regulators, tribes and local
communities and industry around the country a critical resource to identify
how best to protect public health and their drinking water resources," said
Dr. Thomas A. Burke, EPA's Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant
Administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development. "It is the most
complete compilation of scientific data to date, including over 950 sources
of information, published papers, numerous technical reports, information
from stakeholders and peer-reviewed EPA scientific reports."
EPA's review of data sources available to the agency found specific
instances where well integrity and waste water management related to
hydraulic fracturing activities impacted drinking water resources, but they
were small compared to the large number of hydraulically fractured wells
across the country. The report provides valuable information about
potential vulnerabilities, some of which are not unique to hydraulic
fracturing, to drinking water resources, but was not designed to be a list
of documented impacts.
These vulnerabilities to drinking water resources include:
water withdrawals in areas with low water availability;
hydraulic fracturing conducted directly into formations containing drinking
water resources;
inadequately cased or cemented wells resulting in below ground migration of
gases and liquids;
inadequately treated wastewater discharged into drinking water resources;
and spills of hydraulic fluids and hydraulic fracturing wastewater,
including flowback and produced water.
Also released today were nine peer-reviewed EPA scientific reports (
www.epa.gov/hfstudy). These reports were a part of EPA's overall hydraulic
fracturing drinking water study and contributed to the findings outlined in
the draft assessment. Over 20 peer-reviewed articles or reports were
published as part of this study [
http://www2.epa.gov/hfstudy/published-scientific-papers].
States play a primary role in regulating most natural gas and oil
development. EPA's authority is limited by statutory or regulatory
exemptions under the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Where EPA's exemptions exist,
states may have authority to regulate unconventional oil and gas extraction
activities under their own state laws.
EPA's draft assessment benefited from extensive stakeholder engagement
conducted across the country with states, tribes, industry,
non-governmental organizations, the scientific community and the public to
ensure that the draft assessment reflects current practices in hydraulic
fracturing and utilizes all data and information available to the agency.
The study will be finalized after review by the Science Advisory Board and
public review and comment. The Federal Register Notice with information on
the SAB review and how to comment on the draft assessment will be published
on Friday June 5, 2015.
For a copy of the study, visit www.epa.gov/hfstudy. ;
To submit comments on the report, see
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/HF%20Drinking%20Water%20Assessment?OpenDocument
