State
Mississippi Power plants Daniel and Watson face new pollution, water limits
BY PAUL HAMPTON
Sun Herald
Two Mississippi Power plants will be affected by a rule finalized Wednesday
by the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/09/30/6442451_mississippi-power-plants-daniel.html?rh=1
Federal, state agencies, Chevron report on incident that released fumes in
Pascagoula
BY KAREN NELSON
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA -- At a U.S. Coast Guard press conference Wednesday, officials
said all readings on air monitors at the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery and
throughout the community are indicating zero for key hazardous chemicals
"as they are related to" the Sunday failure of a storage tank.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/09/30/6441814/chevron-moves-ahead-with-repairs.html
Chevron Pascagoula refinery empties flooded storage tank, gas odor air
monitoring expands to Alabama
Mississippi Press
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Chevron Pascagoula refinery leaders say the
flooded storage tank that let gas vapors escape into the community has been
emptied, and air monitoring has expanded to south Alabama as wind
conditions have changed.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2015/09/chevron_pascagoula_refinery_em.html#incart_river
Chevron Refinery Leak Resolved
WXXV
The Chevron refinery in Pascagoula has emptied the tank with the damaged
roof successfully and safely.
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/local/story/Chevron-Refinery-Leak-Resolved/mhLZojLNqUWteUwgC-6onQ.cspx
Demolition continues at Hercules plant
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -The Hercules Plant in Hattiesburg is undergoing a
major project.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said parts of the site
are being demolished, including warehouses.
http://www.wdam.com/story/30155723/demolition-continues-at-hercules-plant
MDEQ study will release non-toxic dye into Leaf River next week
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -Next week, parts of the Leaf River from Hattiesburg
to Beaumont will lose its familiar color and will turn bright red. But
state officials said there is no need to worry.
http://www.wdam.com/story/30156433/mdeq-study-will-release-non-toxic-dye-into-leaf-river-next-week
County Gets Grant for Hazardous Waste Collection
Picayune Item
http://www.picayuneitem.com/2015/10/county-gets-grant-for-hazardous-waste-collection/
Local county gets solid waste assistance
WTVA
CLAY COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) -- Clay County is getting a local solid waste
enforcement officer thanks to funds provided by the Mississippi Department
of Environmental Quality.
http://www.wtva.com/news/Local_county_gets_solid_waste_assistance.html
Corps extends public comment period on damming Pascagoula River tributaries
BY KAREN NELSON
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA -- The deadline has been fast approaching for anyone wanting to
comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a twin-lake project in
George County that would entail damming major tributaries to the Pascagoula
River -- Big and Little Cedar creeks.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/09/30/6442022/corps-extends-public-comment-period.html
Barnett Reservoir dangerously low
Clarion Ledger
Months of little rain have left Ross Barnett Reservoir below normal
pool and dangerous to boaters who aren't careful.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/2015/09/30/barnett-reservoir-boating-drought/73077794/
Renew Our Rivers Cleanup
WXXV
300 tons of debris have been removed from South Mississippi waterways
thanks to Mississippi Power's Renew Our Rivers program.
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/local/story/Renew-Our-Rivers-Cleanup/SLcgh2iiE0eQXWpZJuTVtg.cspx
New Mapping System Available to the Public
Natchez Democrat
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2015/10/01/new-mapping-system-available-to-public/
HUNTING SEASON: TO BAIT, OR NOT TO BAIT?
MPB
As bow-hunting season opens today, hunters are already talking about a
controversial new law coming in a month. Starting November 1st, deer can be
killed directly over bait - meaning deer feeders can be placed in plain
view of a hunter's stand, as long as it's at least 100 yards away.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2015/10/01/hunting-season-to-bait-or-not-to-bait/
Total of 19 geese, ducks killed in Pascagoula for public health reasons,
USDA says
Mississippi Press
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A total of 13 Canada geese and six Muscovy ducks
have been killed in Pascagoula due to overpopulation and public health
concerns related to their ample amounts of feces, according to the USDA.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2015/09/total_of_19_geese_ducks_killed.html#incart_river
Oil Spill
Jackson got Deepwater Horizon payment
Clarion Ledger
Jackson has netted $958,000 from a Deepwater Horizon claim although
the city was more than 150 miles from where any oil washed ashore.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/09/30/jackson-gets-deep-horizon-payment/73086650/
Regional
Mosaic agrees to $1.8 billion settlement over fertilizer waste in
Louisiana, Florida
Times-Picayune
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? One of the world's largest fertilizer makers is
settling a massive hazardous waste lawsuit for nearly $2 billion to help
clean up pollution and upgrade leaky facilities in Florida and Louisiana,
according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/10/mosaic_agrees_to_18_billion_se.html#incart_most_shared-environment
Bradenton South Florida Museum to unveil world's largest fossilized poop
collection
Bradenton Herald
BRADENTON -- The world's largest collection of fossilized poop will be
unveiled Saturday at the South Florida Museum for National Fossil Day.
http://www.bradenton.com/2015/09/29/6015262_bradenton-south-florida-museum.html?rh=1
National
EPA drops water pollution rules
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving forward with new rules
to reduce water pollution around the country.
http://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/255492-epa-drops-water-pollution-rules
Wyoming judge blocks federal oil, gas drilling rules pending lawsuit
AP
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? A judge has blocked new nationwide regulations for
oil and gas drilling on federal lands while a lawsuit moves forward.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/09/wyoming_judge_blocks_federal_o.html#incart_river
Analysts See 100 Billion-Cubic Feet Add to U.S. Natural-Gas Inventories
Government report is scheduled for release on Thursday
WSJ
Analysts expect government data scheduled for release Thursday to show
natural-gas inventories last week rose about on par with their five-year
average increase for that time of the year.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/analysts-see-100-billion-cubic-feet-add-to-u-s-natural-gas-inventories-1443643895
No government shutdown: House sends bill to Obama
AP
WASHINGTON ? Just hours before a midnight deadline, a bitterly divided
Congress approved a stopgap spending bill Wednesday to keep the federal
government open ? but with no assurance there won't be yet another shutdown
showdown in December.
http://www.gulflive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/no_government_shutdown_house_s.html#incart_river
Opinion
Salter: Tenn-Tom political, engineering feat
Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE ? Stretching some 234 miles, the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway connects the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers and is the
heart of a 1,300-mile navigable water system that links the Ohio
River to the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/09/30/salter-tenn-tom-political-engineering-feat-stennis-whitten/73054566/
Press Releases
Wicker: Cost of Power to Explode Under Obama's Air Agenda
Miss. Senator Questions EPA Official on So-Called 'Clean Power Plan'
WASHINGTON ? U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today questioned Janet
McCabe, a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Office of Air and Radiation, about the Administration's so-called
"unprecedented outreach effort" with states during the development of the
Clean Power Plan. Wicker's comments were made during a Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee hearing regarding the economic implications of
the President's air agenda.
"Holding two internet-based seminars and a few discussions on
state-specific information does not constitute an 'unprecedented outreach
effort,'" Wicker said. "Officials at Mississippi's Department of
Environmental Quality have told me that the EPA used regional data to
impose requirements on the states and did not equip them with the tools to
do the job. EPA should have used state-specific information, rather than
larger regional data, because the requirement is going to be placed on the
states and not on some regional governance."
The President's Clean Power Plan, which was unveiled in August 2015, would
impose strict carbon dioxide emission standards on power plants. Wicker was
joined by Mississippi's entire congressional delegation in sending a letter
to EPA, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the White House
Office of Management and Budget calling for an investigation into whether
carbon dioxide reduction goals associated with the Clean Power Plan are
achievable at a reasonable cost ? specifically for Mississippi. A final
version of the rule is expected to be released on October 1.
"Even those who agree with the goal of the President's clean air agenda are
saying that the EPA's plan cannot work for Mississippi. One power
association in the state would have to double its total assets to comply
with the renewable energy requirements. This is a regulation coming at
states and consumers that is going to explode the cost of power and be
unachievable for people who are trying to do the right thing."
The Center for Regulatory Solutions released a report this morning stating
that an additional reduction in ozone standards, as proposed by the Clean
Power Plan, would not have an effect on asthma rates. The report quotes
Roger McClellan, former chairman of EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory
committee, as saying: "The EPA and the environmental lobby claim a stricter
ozone standard is needed to reduce asthma cases. But these claims rely on
much higher ozone levels from decades ago. Recent history does not support
this claimed connection. In fact, for well over a decade, asthma cases have
increased by millions while ozone concentrations have declined."
http://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=96b4d9ce-00c2-43ac-8309-9a868cd8a85b
Wicker, Cochran Encourage Public Comment on Restore Act Rule
One-Month Public Comment Period for Rule Governing BP Oil Spill Funds for
Mississippi, Gulf Coast States
WASHINGTON ? U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Thad Cochran,
R-Miss., today encouraged Mississippians to actively participate in a
month-long public comment period on a proposed rule regarding the
distribution and use of settlement funds derived from the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill.
Pursuant to the RESTORE Act of 2012, which Wicker and Cochran helped write,
the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council has issued a proposed
regulation to implement the law's Spill Impact Component. The regulation,
when finalized, will set the formula for allocating Gulf Coast Restoration
Trust Fund monies to Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Florida.
"It is important for Mississippians to take advantage of their ability to
comment during this month-long review period of the RESTORE Act rule,"
Wicker said. "This funding formula affects economic and ecological recovery
projects that are beneficial to Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states."
"The public review and comment period is an important step in moving the
restoration process forward. It is a key time for Mississippians to review
the proposed rule to determine that it will truly help our state recover
from the Deepwater Horizon disaster," Cochran said.
By law, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council must develop a formula
for the distribution of funding under the Spill Impact Component of the
law. In general, the proposed regulation is based on affected shoreline in
each state, coastal county population, and distance to the BP Deepwater
Horizon platform that exploded on April 10, 2010.
Under this proposed rule Mississippi would receive an estimated 19.07
percent of the allocation from the Trust Fund for the Oil Spill Impact
Component.
The proposed rule from the Federal Register is available here:
http://1.usa.gov/1h89Vjf
The public has until midnight Oct. 28, 2015, to comment on the rule.
Comments can be submitted electronically tofrcomments@restorethegulf.gov or
by mailing them to Gulf Coast Ecosystems Restoration Council, Hale Boggs
Federal Building 500 Poydras St., Suite 1117, New Orleans, La. 70130. All
material submitted will become part of the public record.
http://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2015/9/wicker-cochran-encourage-public-comment-on-rule-governing-bp-oil-spill-funds-for-mississippi-gulf-coast-states
EPA Announces National Limits to Reduce Toxic Pollutants Discharged into
Waterways by Steam Electric Power Plants
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized
a rule that will reduce the discharge of toxic pollutants into America's
waterways from steam electric power plants by 1.4 billion pounds annually,
as well as reduce water withdrawal by 57 billion gallons per year,
resulting in an estimated benefit of $463 million per year to Americans
across the country. Toxic pollutants include mercury, arsenic, lead, and
selenium, which can cause neurological damage in children, lead to cancer,
and damage the circulatory system, kidneys, and liver.
"Today, EPA is setting the first national limits to protect public health
and reduce toxic pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, lead and selenium
released into America's waterways by steam electric power plants," said EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy. "These cost-effective, achievable limits will
provide significant protections for our children and communities across the
country, including minority and low-income communities, from exposure to
pollutants that can cause neurological damage in children, cancer, and
other serious health problems."
The final Steam Electric Effluent Limitation Guidelines are strong but
reasonable? based on technologies that are readily available and broadly
used in the industry today, reinforcing the ongoing trend towards cleaner,
more modern plants. The standards provide flexibility in implementation
through a phased-in approach, allowing plant owners to pursue integrated
strategies to meet these requirements.
Each year, steam electric plants discharge:
● Nearly 65,000 pounds of lead and 3,000 pounds of mercury,
leading to lowered IQs among children exposed to these pollutants via
drinking water or by eating contaminated fish;
● 79,200 pounds of arsenic, increasing the risk of cancer and
other health effects, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, and neurological
disorders, in people exposed to these pollutants through drinking water and
by eating contaminated fish;
● 225,000 lbs of toxic selenium, resulting in fish kills and other
damage to fish, including organ damage, decreased growth rates,
reproductive failure, and harm to people, including damage to the kidney,
liver, and circulatory system;
● 30,400,000 pounds of nitrogen and 682,000 pounds of phosphorus,
leading to over enrichment and water quality problems.
About 23,600 miles of rivers and streams are damaged by steam electric
discharges, including arsenic, mercury, lead, boron, cadmium, selenium,
chromium, nickel, thallium, vanadium, zinc, nitrogen, chlorides, bromides,
iron, copper and aluminum. Steam electric power plant discharges occur
upstream or close to 100 public drinking water intakes and in proximity to
nearly 2,000 public wells across the nation.
Toxic metals do not break down in the environment and can contaminate
sediment in waterways and impact aquatic life and wildlife, including
large-scale die-offs of fish. Steam electric power plants account for about
thirty percent of all toxic pollutants discharged into streams, rivers and
lakes from permitted industrial facilities in the United States. Due to
their close proximity to these discharges and relatively high consumption
of fish, some minority and low-income communities have greater exposure to,
and are therefore at greater risk from, pollutants in steam electric power
plant discharges.
There are approximately 1,080 steam electric power plants in the U.S. There
are 134
plants that will have to make new investments to meet the requirements of
this rule. The new requirements do not apply to plants that are oil-fired
or smaller than 50 megawatts.
The effective date of the rule will be 60 days after publication in the
Federal Register.
For more information:
http://www2.epa.gov/eg/steam-electric-power-generating-effluent-guidelines-2015-final-rule
Tractor Supply Company Agrees to Implement Company-Wide Compliance Program
to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
Department of Justice today announced a settlement with Tractor Supply
Company Inc. and Tractor Supply Company of Texas L.P., that resolves
allegations that the companies imported and sold more than 28,000
all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles and engines that did not
comply with federal Clean Air Act certification and emission information
labeling requirements. Under the settlement, Tractor Supply Company will
implement a compliance plan to prevent future violations and mitigation
projects to reduce air pollution. Tractor Supply Company will also pay a
$775,000 civil penalty.
"Emissions from vehicles and engines can cause serious health and
environmental problems, so it's imperative that importers and vendors
ensure their products comply with federal clean air standards," said
Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance. "It is also critical that we ensure a level playing
field for companies that follow the law -- that is a cornerstone of our
environmental enforcement programs."
"We will take strong action to ensure that foreign-made vehicles and
engines that are imported and sold in the U.S. comply with the same Clean
Air Act requirements that apply to domestically-made products," said
Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden, for the Department of Justice's
Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Under this settlement,
Tractor Supply Company will not only pay a civil penalty and mitigate the
potential adverse environmental effects of having sold noncompliant
vehicles and engines, but will also take steps to ensure future imports and
sales of its vehicles and engines meet Clean Air Act standards."
The Clean Air Act requires that every vehicle and engine sold in the United
States be covered by a valid, EPA-issued certificate of conformity, which
manufacturers obtain by certifying that vehicles meet applicable federal
emissions standards for various pollutants. EPA and the Justice Department
alleged that from 2006 to 2009, Tractor Supply Company imported from China
and sold in the U.S. over 28,000 vehicles and engines, representing at
least 10 vehicle and engine models, that varied from the certificates of
conformity that had been submitted to EPA.
The vehicles had adjustable carburetors that were not described in the
applications for certification, were produced by different manufacturers
than the ones specified in the applications, were manufactured prior to the
dates of the certificates of conformity, had model names that were not
identified on the certificates of conformity, or were significantly more
powerful than described. Some engines were incorrectly certified as
non-road engines rather than as recreational vehicles and some, like
certain of the vehicles, were significantly more powerful than described in
the allegedly applicable certificate of conformity. The Department of
Justice and EPA also alleged that the emission control information labels
on certain vehicles did not comply with federal regulations, and that
Tractor Supply Company provided an incomplete and inaccurate response to
EPA's information request.
The settlement requires Tractor Supply Company to implement a rigorous
corporate compliance plan that requires regular vehicle and engine
inspections, emissions and catalyst testing, staff training and reporting
for five years. Tractor Supply Company will also mitigate potential adverse
environmental effects of equipment already sold to consumers, which is
estimated by EPA to be up to 23.5 tons of excess hydrocarbon and nitrogen
oxide emissions and 12.2 tons of excess carbon monoxide emissions.
Motorcycles, recreational vehicles and spark-ignited engines emit carbon
monoxide, a gas that is poisonous at high levels in the air even to healthy
people and is especially dangerous to people with heart disease. These
machines also emit hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which contribute to
the formation of ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog. Exposure to
even low levels of ozone can cause respiratory problems and repeated
exposure can aggravate pre-existing respiratory diseases.
This settlement is part of an ongoing effort by the EPA to ensure that
importers of vehicles and engines comply with the requirements of the Clean
Air Act and that retailers exercise due diligence in ensuring that their
products comply fully with the regulations. In a similar case settled with
The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack (Pep Boys) in 2010, EPA required
implementation of a similarly extensive corporate compliance plan.
Tractor Supply Company is a national rural lifestyle retail supply chain.
The company has stores in 49 states and its headquarters is in Tennessee.
The settlement, lodged Sept. 30, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and
approval by the federal court.
To read the consent decree, go to
http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees
