State
Keith Huber Corp. of Gulfport is new member of enHance
Sun Herald
Keith Huber Corp. of Gulfport is a new associate member for Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality's enHance program for the 2016 class.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article73870462.html
Water Works Renews Its enHance Membership
Natchez Democrat
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2016/04/24/water-works-renews-its-enhance-membership/
Haworth in Bruce honored by MDEQ
Calhoun County Journal
Sandy Wright with Haworth, MDEQ Executive Director Gary Rikard and Eugenia
Bassillio of Haworth during the award presentation honoring the Bruce
company for its local conservation efforts.
http://www.calhouncountyjournal.com/haworth-in-bruce-honored-by-mdeq/
Water advisories not enough to scare away visitors to Harrison County beach
WLOX
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) -Water in six different areas of Harrison County
beaches are unsafe to swim.
http://www.wdam.com/story/31803980/water-advisories-not-enough-to-scare-away-visitors-to-harrison-county-beach
Lawsuit: Ex-Madison County engineer overbilled
Clarion Ledger
Madison County has sued former county engineer Rudy Warnock and his
firm, alleging he is delaying projects by withholding designs and
other documents.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/25/lawsuit-former-madison-county-engineer-overbilled/83510502/
MEMA budget cuts: Counties will 'suffer' after disaster
Clarion Ledger
With 33 tornadoes already on the books this year, the Legislature
has cut the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency's budget again.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/25/disasters-increasing-mema-funds-cut-half/83499828/
Forrest, Lamar counties host 'Right Way to Throw Away Day'
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -Hundreds of Forrest County residents got rid of
their hazardous household waste in an environmentally-friendly way
Saturday.
http://www.wdam.com/story/31800518/forrest-lamar-counties-host-right-way-to-throw-away-day
Moss Point middle schoolers get up close with environment for Earth Day at
Audubon Center
Mississippi Press
MOSS POINT, Mississippi -- Well over 100 Moss Point middle school students
had an opportunity to get up close and personal with native plants, fish,
birds and even snakes during a Friday visit to the Pascagoula River Audubon
Center in recognition of Earth Day.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2016/04/moss_point_middle_schoolers_ge.html#incart_river_index
Blue Planet's 'big day'
DeSoto Times-Tribune
The good earth is constantly spinning on its axis as the Blue Planet
twinkles among the billions and billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
http://www.desototimes.com/news/blue-planet-s-big-day/article_0f3696d8-0b2b-11e6-910d-abdde9594ae7.html
OHS now LEED green building certified
Oxford Eagle
The Oxford School District celebrated Earth Day in a big way today: school
district officials announced that Oxford High School has been awarded LEED
Silver under the LEED for Schools Rating System established by the U.S.
Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification
Institute.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2016/04/25/ohs-now-leed-green-building-certified/
Gulfport resident representing Coast at UN climate summit
Sun Herald
Kathy Egland of Gulfport is representing South Mississippi on Friday at a
climate summit hosted by the United Nations in New York.
http://www.sunherald.com/latest-news/article73317077.html
Mississippi's national parks have $206M economic impact
Sun Herald
A new National Park Service report shows that 6.4 million visitors to
national parks in Mississippi spent $194.2 million in the state in 2015.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article73870082.html
Oil Spill
Researchers Study Effects Of BP Oil In Gulf Fish
WGCU
Local scientists are studying the long-term effects of the 2010 BP
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It's part of an
international research project. It's been six years since more than
three-million barrels of oil poured into the gulf.
http://news.wgcu.org/post/researchers-study-effects-bp-oil-gulf-fish
BP Results Still Hurt by Gulf of Mexico Spill
Energy giant reports second consecutive quarterly loss, overshadowing
progress on cost cuts
WSJ
LONDON— BP PLC's fatal blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 continues to
haunt the company, helping to drag its quarterly earnings into a second
consecutive loss and overshadowing the British oil giant's progress on cost
cuts.
BP on Tuesday said its earnings took a $917 million hit in the first
quarter related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers
and caused a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster that changed
the course of the British oil giant and cost the company $56.4 billion to
date.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bp-reports-first-quarter-pretax-loss-1461651961
Regional
Oil company agrees to pay $715,000 for Atchafalaya basin spills
Times-Picayune
A Louisiana oil company agreed Friday to pay $715,000 in fines and expenses
for spilling crude oil three times in the Atchafalaya River basin. The
agreement settles alleged violations of federal Clean Water Act and oil
spill prevention rules, and of Louisiana pollution laws, by ORB Exploration
LLC of Lafayette.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2016/04/oil_company_agrees_to_pay_7150.html#incart_river_index
Anglers benefit most from Louisiana decision to fast-track diversions
Times-Picayune
The state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority announced this
week it will pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers an extra $1.5 million to
fast-track permits related to construction of sediment diversions on either
side of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish.
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2016/04/anglers_benefit_most_from_loui.html#incart_river_index
Settlement provides $50.8 million to protect Ocoee River in Tennessee
AP
BENTON, Tenn. — The federal government said a subsidiary of Occidental
Petroleum Co. has agreed to spend $40 million to protect the Ocoee River
in southeastern Tennessee.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/apr/22/company-agrees-pay-508-million-protect-ocoee-river-tennessee/361700/
National
EPA smog rule 'unachievable,' opponents say
The Hill
The Obama administration's new ozone rule fails to consider sources of
ozone pollution that are beyond states' control, opponents of the rule said
in court.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/277487-epa-smog-rule-unachievable-opponents-say
Long-Term Costs of Cutting Emissions Grow Hazy
Economic costs of hitting near-term targets appear modest, but modeling
grows less reliable further out
WSJ
The world's top officials just signed an agreement to slow the buildup of
planet-warming greenhouse-gas emissions. They have yet to grapple with the
cost of implementing it.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/long-term-costs-of-cutting-emissions-grow-hazy-1461515943
Coal Country's top lawyer takes on Obama's EPA
The Hill
Patrick Morrisey led something of a victory rally the day after the Supreme
Court shocked Washington and the energy industry by pausing President
Obama's landmark climate rule for power plants.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/277294-coal-countrys-top-lawyer-takes-on-obamas-epa
Missing Pesticide Data Frustrates Scientists
Bloomberg
Scientists on a panel convened by the Environmental Protection Agency to
look at new human health studies of a widely used insecticide expressed
frustration at the agency's lack of access to the studies' underlying data.
http://www.bna.com/missing-pesticide-data-n57982070249/
US Sen. John McCain calls for criminal probe into mine spill
AP
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain on Friday called for a criminal
investigation into actions by the Environmental Protection Agency that led
to a mine spill polluting rivers in three Western states last summer.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/350f835aed364f888cabc20f740a3c18/us-sen-john-mccain-calls-criminal-probe-mine-spill
Concern Grows Over Tainted Drinking Water
Vermont, New Hampshire and New York expand efforts to find out how much of
a potentially toxic chemical is in drinking water
WSJ
Officials in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York are expanding their
efforts to find out how much of a potentially toxic chemical ended up in
drinking water, from private wells to public water systems.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/concern-grows-over-tainted-drinking-water-1461606220
Press Releases
OP-ED: Take a Bite Out of Food Waste this Earth Day
By EPA Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney
This year's Earth Day theme, "Feed People, Not Landfills" is a powerful
reminder about the importance of preventing food waste. Did you know the
average family throws away $1,600 a year on wasted food—equating to over
400 pounds per person? In 2013, more than 37 million tons of food waste was
generated. Put another way: 31 percent of the available food supply went
uneaten.
Everyone can help reduce food waste, and the benefits—social, economic and
environmental—are great.
Wasted food is a social problem: In 2013, 14.3 percent of U.S. households
were food insecure at some time during the year. That is 48 million
Americans, of which 16 million are children, living in food insecure
households. Wholesome, nutritious food should feed people, not landfills.
Wasted food is an economic issue: It is estimated that at the retail and
consumer levels in the United States, food loss and waste totals $161
billion dollars.
Wasted food is an environmental problem: Food is the largest stream of
materials in American trash. Rotting food in landfills releases methane, a
powerful greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
So what can you do to help your family reduce food waste, save money and
reduce your environmental impact? Most people don't realize how much food
they throw away every day — from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce.
EPA's Food: Too Good to Waste Toolkit (
https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-implementation-guide-and-toolkit
) can help you figure out how much food is really going to waste in your
home and what you can do to waste less.
By making small shifts in how you shop for, prepare, and store food, you
can save time and money, and keep the valuable resources used to produce
and distribute food from going to waste!
When you can't prevent wasted food, divert it from landfills. Nutritious,
safe and untouched food can be donated to food banks to help those in need.
Compost food scraps rather than throwing them away.
To spread EPA's message about the importance of preventing food waste, I
plan to observe Earth Day this year at the Mississippi Valley State
University's campus in Itta Bena, Miss., close to where I was born and
raised in Greenville, where I will share information about EPA's Food
Recovery Challenge.
As part of the Food Recovery Challenge, organizations pledge to improve
their sustainable food management practices and report their results. Any
business or organization can join as a participant or endorser. Learn more
at:
https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-frc
After the program at MVSU, volunteers from the local Boys & Girls Club will
gather to plant a community food garden. Gardens are a powerful driver of
change in the communities they serve because they provide access to fresh,
healthy food along with beautiful places for residents to gather and work
toward positive goals.
I encourage you to serve at an Earth Day event in your community and start
doing what you can today and every day to reduce food waste. Small steps
add up—if we all do our part.
Let's commit ourselves, our families, and our communities to work toward a
brighter environmental future for our state, the Southeast region, the
nation and the planet.
