State
MDEQ discusses Renaissance phase at Purple Creek
Madison County Journal
RIDGELAND — Residents opposed to a Costco on Highland Colony Parkway south
of the Natchez Trace voiced their opposition to the Mississippi Department
of Environmental Quality during a public hearing last week.
http://www.onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/News/Article/MDEQ-discusses-Renaissance-phase-at-Purple-Creek/-3/592/38026
Costco site plan OK'd by board
Madison County Journal
RIDGELAND - The city's Architectural Review Board voted to approve site
plans for the controversial Costco site set to be built south of the
roundabout on Highland Colony, despite opposition from several residents.
http://www.onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/Rotator/Article/Costco-site-plan-OK-d-by-board/-3/593/38023
COSTCO
Northside Sun
WED, 05/25/2016 - 12:23PM BY ANTHONY WARREN
MDEQ to determine fate of wholesale store on parkway
The future of a Costco in Ridgeland is now in the hands of the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ) permit board.
http://northsidesun.com/front-page-slideshow-news/costco
MDEQ: All but 1 section of Mississippi Sound safe for swimming
WLOX
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) -Just in time for the long Memorial Day weekend,
the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality lifted four of five
water contact advisories on Wednesday.
http://www.wlox.com/story/32066185/mdeq-only-one-section-of-the-mississippi-sound-not-safe-for-swimming
MDEQ LIFTS FOUR WATER CONTACT ADVISORIES; ONE STATION UNDER ADVISORY
WXXV
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its
Beach Monitoring Program, lifted four water contact advisories Wednesday
for beach monitoring stations 1, 2, 7A, and 9. Water samples at these
stations show the areas have attained acceptable bacteria levels. There is
currently one station across the Mississippi Gulf Coast under an
advisory—Station 11.
http://www.wxxv25.com/2016/05/25/mdeq-lifts-four-water-contact-advisories-one-station-advisory/
Students celebrate Arbor Day at the Red Hills Mine
May 25, 2016
Choctaw Plaindealer
The fourth grade students of the Choctaw County School District celebrated
Arbor Day Wednesday, April 20, 2016.
…Representatives from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) and Office of Surface Mining (OSM) also volunteered at the Arbor Day
celebration.
http://choctawplaindealer.com/2016/05/25/students-celebrate-arbor-day-at-the-red-hills-mine-2/
Hundreds of dead fish found on Gulfport beach
WLOX
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) -Department of Marine Resource officials are looking
into what caused hundreds of fish to wash ashore in Gulfport Wednesday
night.
http://www.wlox.com/story/32067813/hundreds-of-dead-fish-found-on-gulfport-beach
OCEANA CALLS FOR MANDATORY TURTLE EXCLUDER DEVICES ON SHRIMP BOATS
MPB
A new report by the advocacy group Oceana says a minor change to a
turtle-excluder device used on shrimp boats could reap benefits for Gulf
wildlife, shrimpers and other fishermen.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2016/05/25/oceana-calls-for-mandatory-turtle-excluder-devices-on-shrimp-boats/
City responds to erosion problems
WTOK
Meridian, Miss. City officials in Meridian are responding to concerns
raised by some residents about a creek they say is a hazard.
http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/Creek-problems-City-responds-380860821.html
Solid waste department has changing of the guard
Monroe Journal
WESTVILLE – Like Dan Reese of Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority
said, the garbage business is relentless; it just keeps going from the
first stop to the last stop in rain, storms or sunshine.
http://monroecountyjournal.com/2016/05/20/solid-waste-department-changing-guard/
Health officials ask governor for guidance on budget changes
By Bobby Harrison
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau
JACKSON – The state Department of Health is waiting on "legal guidance"
from Gov. Phil Bryant to determine the impact of changes made during the
2016 session on its budget.
http://djournal.com/news/health-officials-ask-governor-guidance-budget-changes/
Oil Spill
Petitioners opposing Gulfport aquarium call it a 'dolphin prison'
Sun Herald
GULFPORT -- A former dolphin trainer at Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfort
says she has collected more than 91,000 signatures on a petition she hopes
will scuttle the proposed Mississippi Aquarium, which she calls a dolphin
prison.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/article79887327.html
National
White House to Push Companies for More Disclosure on Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
Shareholders also pushing oil giants for more disclosure on impact of
climate-change regulations
WSJ
WASHINGTON—The White House is set to propose a new rule Wednesday that
would push companies with federal contracts to publicly disclose more
information about their impact on climate change, their efforts to address
the issue, and how a warmer planet could affect business operations.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-to-push-companies-for-more-disclosure-on-greenhouse-gas-emissions-1464184983
Exxon, Chevron Shareholders Narrowly Reject Climate-Change Stress Tests
Supporters of proposals see victory in defeat
WSJ
Shareholders at Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. narrowly voted down
resolutions calling for stress tests to determine the risk that efforts to
curb climate change pose to their businesses.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-chevron-shareholders-narrowly-reject-climate-change-stress-tests-1464206192
Senate votes to block USDA catfish inspections
The Hill
The Senate voted Wednesday to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) from inspecting catfish, as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle
clashed over the program.
http://thehill.com/regulation/legislation/281222-republicans-feud-over-catfish-inspections
Long missing frog, turtle species making return to Yosemite
AP
FRESNO, CALIF.
A type of frog made famous by Mark Twain will soon be hopping and swimming
through California's Yosemite National Park after a decades-long absence,
officials said Wednesday.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article79974782.html
Fuel-Economy Debate Comes to a Head
Car makers fear U.S. mileage report could lead to cars that can't find a
market
WSJ
Auto makers and U.S. environmental regulators are headed for a clash over
tougher fuel-economy standards due to take effect in six years.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fuel-economy-debate-comes-to-a-head-1464123751
The war over Chesapeake Bay
The government just paid this family to pull up productive farmland—in a
huge scheme that stretches the limits of the law, but just might help save
a jewel.
Politico
LANCASTER, Pa. — Linn Moedinger's farm has been in his family for 10
generations, dating back to 1711, 150 acres of rich fields and meandering
streams nestled in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. As long as the
family has owned it, it's been a working farm; today Moedinger leases the
fields to a neighbor who grows corn, wheat and soybeans. The family relies
on the crop income to keep up the historic farmhouses they call home.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/05/obama-chesapeake-bay-restoration-000127
Opinion
Salter: Delta Council's focus practical, political
Clarion Ledger
CLEVELAND - At face value, it's still a day of Matlock meets Betty
Crocker at a lawn party fish fry. Southern traditions — real and
imagined, it seems — still hang in the air on the campus of Delta
State University as thick as the humidity.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/05/25/sid-salter-delta-councils-focus-practical-political/84864740/
Press releases
EPA and NIH Award $25.5 Million to Help Improve Environmental Conditions in
Disadvantaged Communities
Harvard, Boston University, Johns Hopkins, University of New Mexico,
University of Arizona, and University of Southern California will receive
funding to create research centers
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), are funding research centers at five
universities to work with local communities to better understand ways to
improve environmental conditions for vulnerable populations.
"Exposures to harmful contaminants in low-income communities is an ongoing
problem in our country," said Michael Slimak, director of EPA's sustainable
and healthy communities' research program. "With the support of these
centers of excellence, EPA is working to address this issue and protect
human health."
Environmental health problems are more likely to occur in communities that
have ongoing exposure to multiple sources of pollution. These communities
are usually economically disadvantaged with limited access to quality
healthcare.
Each university will establish a center of excellence on environmental
health disparities research, which will conduct multidisciplinary research
to mitigate and prevent health disparities driven by environmental causes.
This research will focus on understanding the relationships between
biological, chemical, environmental, genetic and epigenetic, and social
factors.
The following universities received funding:
· Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston University
School of Public Health, Boston, Mass., "Disparities in Exposure and
Health Effects of Multiple Environmental Stressors across the Life
Course," for studying how housing may affect birth weight, childhood
growth trajectories, and risk of death from cardiovascular disease,
and whether improved urban housing may benefit health.
· Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., "Comparing Urban and Rural
Effects of Poverty on COPD," for comparing urban and rural effects of
poverty on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the
impact of improved dietary intake on preventing or mitigating disease
progression.
· University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, N.M.,
"Center for Native American Health Equity Research," for examining
how contact with metal mixtures from abandoned mines affects rural
Native American populations through exposures related to inadequate
drinking water infrastructure, reliance on local foods, and other
uses of local resources to maintain their traditional lifestyle and
culture.
· University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., "Center for Indigenous
Environmental Health Research," for working with indigenous
populations to examine chemical contamination of traditional foods,
water, air, and household environments, while increasing
environmental health literacy.
· University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., "Maternal and
Developmental Risks from Environmental Social Stressors," for
studying how environmental factors may contribute to childhood
obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy in Hispanic and
Latino communities.
The new centers, funded by five-year grants, are an expansion of a
successful pilot program originally started by EPA and the National
Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. EPA's contribution to
this research partnership will be $7.5 million, with $18 million from three
institutes at the NIH (NIMHD, NIEHS, and NICHD).
Information about these grants:
https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/currently-funded-grantees-centers-excellence-environmental-health-disparities
Information about EPA's health research: https://www.epa.gov/healthresearch
