State
Oil leak yards away from a national forest in Franklin County
WJTV
Before Thursday, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality officials
say they weren't aware of an oil leak that's been saturating the ground for
decades.
http://wjtv.com/2015/08/08/oil-leak-yards-away-from-a-national-forest-in-franklin-county/
EMA director stresses earthquake plan
By Ray van Dusen
Monroe Journal
Although earthquakes are rare in Northeast Mississippi, recent tremors in
Madison and western Alabama earlier this summer helped shake up more
discussion about their potential.
http://djournal.com/news/ema-director-stresses-earthquake-plan/
NEW STATE RETIREES WAITING FOR CHECKS WANT ANSWERS
MPB
Brenda Scott with the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees says they are
getting a lot of calls from new retirees who haven't received their checks.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2015/08/10/new-ms-state-retirees-wants-answers-about-check-delays/
Oil Spill
Louisiana fishing on the verge of full recovery
WWL
It appears the Louisiana fishing industry has just about passed the
setbacks caused by the BP oil disaster of 5 years ago.
http://www.wwl.com/Louisiana-fishing-on-the-verge-of-full-recovery/21835044
Attorney General's office has paid more than $38 million to law firms
working on BP settlement
New Orleans Advocate
Jefferson Parish public school teachers may be getting cash bonuses. New
Orleans — if one councilwoman has her way — will be paving more of its
famously pockmarked streets. Coastal restoration efforts of various kinds
will get a shot in the arm.
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/12938582-172/lawyers-to-take-a-bite
Mud Wrestling: As BP money flows, a bitter fight over Louisiana coast will
escalate
WVUE
PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA (WVUE) -The power of the Mississippi River is on
display on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, where the river plowed
through its banks.
http://www.fox8live.com/story/29745904/mud-wrestling-as-bp-money-flows-a-bitter-fight-over-louisiana-coast-will-escalate
Regional
How to Save a Sinking Coast? Katrina Created a Laboratory
In the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's losses have
overshadowed the restorative steps it has taken.
NY Times
NEW ORLEANS — Ten years ago, the neighborhood hard by the
17th Street canal in this city was water-blasted. The
surges from Hurricane Katrina swept into the canal, broke
through its flood walls and forced homes off their
foundations. Much of New Orleans remained steeped in
brackish filth for weeks until the sodden city could be
drained.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/science/louisiana-10-years-after-hurricane-katrina.html?_r=0
National
Industry, States Set to Fight EPA Greenhouse Gas Rules
Lawsuits would challenge rules requiring significant cuts in power-plant
carbon emissions
WSJ
WASHINGTON—Industry representatives and a group of state attorneys general
are preparing to file lawsuits soon to challenge Obama administration rules
requiring significant cuts in power-plant carbon emissions.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/industry-states-set-to-fight-epa-greenhouse-gas-rules-1439164067
Climate fight shifts to courts
The Hill
States, energy companies and business groups are preparing to sue the Obama
administration over its new climate rule, viewing it as their bet shot at
stopping the regulations while President Obama is still in office.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250628-obama-climate-fight-shifts-to-courts
Colorado Spill Impact Widens
Officials estimate about three million gallons of wastewater spilled into
the Animas River
WSJ
Authorities scrambled to assess the impact of a toxic surge of wastewater
from an abandoned gold mine in southwestern Colorado during a botched
cleanup by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/colorado-spill-impact-widens-1439163937
What the EPA was doing when it sent yellow sludge spilling into a Colorado
creek
Washington Post
The whole point of the project was to make Colorado's water safer.
Instead, while working to clean a mine in the San Juan mountains last
Wednesday, workers with the Environmental Protection Agency unintentionally
made the problem worse.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/10/what-the-epa-was-doing-when-it-sent-yellow-sludge-spilling-into-a-colorado-creek/
Thousands of mines with toxic water lie under the West
AP
DENVER – Beneath the western United States lie thousands of old mining
tunnels filled with the same toxic stew that spilled into a Colorado river
last week, turning it into a nauseating yellow concoction and stoking alarm
about contamination of drinking water.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/10/thousands-mines-with-toxic-water-lie-under-west/?intcmp=hplnws
13 Years and Counting: Anatomy Of An EPA Civil Rights Investigation
NBC
SANTA FE, New Mexico — On June 26, 2014, Deborah Reade got a certified
letter from the Environmental Protection Agency that was nearly a decade in
the making.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/thirteen-years-counting-anatomy-epa-civil-rights-investigation-n405201
Opinion
BILL CRAWFORD: Bryant, state move toward contract reform
August 8, 2015
Gov. Phil Bryant continues to take seriously the reform of public
contracting in Mississippi.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/08/08/6357634/bill-crawford-bryant-state-move.html
What Is Nature Worth to You?
NY Times
THE United States government recently announced an $18.7
billion settlement of claims against the oil giant BP in
connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in
April 2010, which dumped millions of barrels of oil into
the Gulf of Mexico. Though some of the settlement funds
are to compensate the region for economic harm, most will
go to environmental restoration in affected states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/what-is-nature-worth-to-you.html
Press Releases
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|USDA Invests $63 Million to Support 264 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects|
| Nationwide |
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| |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Funding supports solar and other renewable energy projects to create jobs and promote |
| energy independence |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|Resending REAP new release. Technical issue with the link to the project announcement |
|list has been resolved. |
| |
| |
|WASHINGTON, August 7, 2015 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $63 |
|million in loans and grants for 264 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects |
|nationwide that USDA is supporting through its Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).|
| |
| |
|"This funding will have far-reaching economic and environmental impacts nationwide, |
|particularly in rural communities," Vilsack said. "Investing in renewable energy and |
|energy efficiency projects supports home-grown energy sources, creates jobs, reduces |
|greenhouse gas pollution and helps usher in a more secure energy future for the |
|nation." |
| |
| |
|These REAP projects are expected to generate and/or save 207.8 million kilowatt hours |
|(KWh) of energy – enough to power more than 13,600 homes for a year. |
| |
| |
|For example, Bradley Phillips, owner of A.B. Phillips & Sons Fruit Farm, is receiving |
|an $18,000 grant to install a photovoltaic solar system on his farm in the village of |
|Berlin Heights, Ohio. The system will generate nearly 13,000 kilowatt hours of |
|electricity annually. Phillips grows apples, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, |
|cherries and grapes on a farm that has been in his family for more than a century. |
| |
| |
|Blue Sky Poultry, Inc., of Bainbridge, Ga., has been selected for a $16,094 grant to |
|install a solar array on the roof of the poultry houses. The array is expected to |
|generate 36,300 kWh of electricity per year. |
| |
| |
|Stokes Farms, LLP, of Chatfield, Minn., is receiving a $19,750 grant to install a 10 kW|
|wind turbine. When operational, the project is expected to generate 30,000 kWh of |
|electricity per year. |
| |
| |
|Lakeview Biodiesel, LLC will use a $3.3 million loan guarantee to help acquire a |
|Missouri biodiesel plant and make improvements to bring it online to produce enough |
|biodiesel to run approximately 16,500 vehicles annually. |
| |
| |
|In North Carolina, South Winston Farm, LLC is receiving a $4 million loan guarantee to |
|finance a 7 megawatt solar array system that is expected to generate enough energy to |
|power 994 households per year. |
| |
| |
|Funding for the projects announced today is contingent upon the recipients meeting the |
|terms of the grant or loan agreement. |
| |
| |
|Here are two examples of how REAP has helped rural businesses: |
| |
| |
| · In 2014, Mt. Abram, a ski area in western Maine, finished installing an 803-panel|
| solar photovoltaic system that was financed with a $235,000 REAP grant. Mt. Abram|
| is the first solar-powered ski area in the state and the second-largest |
| solar-powered ski area in the country. The solar array will generate 280,000 kWh |
| in energy each year and meet about 70 percent of the resort's power needs. |
| |
| |
| · Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Progress Solar in North Carolina in |
| September 2014 to highlight a $3.4 million REAP loan guarantee the company |
| received to install a solar array. Today, the 46-acre farm produces enough solar |
| energy to power 540 average-sized homes each year. |
| |
| |
|Eligible agricultural producers and rural small businesses may use REAP funds to make |
|energy efficiency improvements or install renewable energy systems, including solar, |
|wind, renewable biomass (including anaerobic digesters), small hydroelectric, ocean |
|energy, hydrogen, and geothermal. |
| |
| |
|The next application deadline for REAP grants is November 2, 2015. USDA will issue a |
|notice of available funding with more details on how to apply in the coming weeks. REAP|
|was created by the 2008 Farm Bill and was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. |
| |
| |
|Since the start of the Obama Administration, USDA has supported more than 9,600 |
|renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide through REAP. During this |
|period, the Department has provided more than $291 million in grants and $327 million |
|in loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small business owners. |
| |
| |
|President Obama's plan for rural America has brought about historic investment and |
|resulted in stronger rural communities. Under the President's leadership, these |
|investments in housing, community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have |
|empowered rural America to continue leading the way – strengthening America's economy, |
|small towns and rural communities. |
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