State
Lamar officials, residents celebrate spray field vote
Hattiesburg American
A Thursday night vote in Hattiesburg City Hall was cause for celebration in Lamar County.
Lamar County happy with Hattiesburg wastewater decision
WDAM
LAMAR COUNTY, MS (WDAM) -Lamar County supervisors are calling Hattiesburg's redirection of its wastewater plans a victory for their county.
http://www.wdam.com/story/32402497/lamar-county-happy-with-hattiesburg-wastewater-decision
Daughter of vibrio victim hopes to keep others from same fate
WLOX
HANCOCK COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -“I hope nobody else gets this stuff,” Ronald “Griz” Winnert said in a video provided by his daughter, Brandy Miller. “You go fishing one day and you get this.”
http://www.wlox.com/story/32412125/daughter-of-vibrio-victim-hopes-to-keep-others-from-same-fate
| Flesh-eating bacteria case confirmed in Hancock By Geoff Belcher |
The Mississippi State Department of Health this week confirmed one reported case this summer of Vibrio vulnificus bacterial infection in Hancock County which apparently led to a Bay St. Louis man having his leg amputated.
http://www.seacoastecho.com/article_9965.shtml#.V4OSwfmU2Uk
Columbus landfill near capacity
July 8, 2016 11:43:38 AM
Commercial Dispatch
Alex Holloway
A boundary-marking error has left more than five acres of rubbish outside the permitted area at the Columbus landfill.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=51398
Recycling returns to the county
Oxford Eagle
A recycling drop-off location on Highway 7 is now open again after being closed for more than a year.
Pascagoula natural gas plant still closed after June 27 fire
AP
JACKSON, Mississippi — A Mississippi natural gas processing plant rocked by explosions on June 27 remains offline.
Rodeo sharks cause biggest controversy in 69 years
Clarion Ledger
A $20,000 prize for a state record-breaking tiger shark drew more criticism than the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo has ever seen.
Oil Spill
How, where will the Legislature spend $750M from BP?
Clarion Ledger
The issue of how — and where — to spend $750 million in BP oil disaster settlement payments is likely to bring fierce battle in the Mississippi Legislature for years to come.
Regional
Presence of chemical in LaPlace’s air increases cancer risk, environmental officials say
The Advocate
LAPLACE – The approximately 43,000 people living in St. John the Baptist Parish share an unenviable distinction of having the highest potential risk of cancer in the state due to industrial releases into the air.
Underwater Oil-Well Bolts Are Failing, Causing Alarm
Massive bolts used to secure gear deep in the Gulf of Mexico have corroded and sometimes snapped
WSJ
General Electric Co., oil drillers and U.S. regulators are scrambling to determine why massive bolts used to connect subsea oil equipment keep failing, prompting costly shutdowns and raising safety concerns about hundreds of wells in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-worries-over-subsea-oil-well-gear-1467970202
National
EPA Removal of Civil Penalty Shield Triggers Utility Lawsuit
Bloomberg
The Environmental Protection Agency's decision to remove a provision that shielded utilities from being penalized for excess emissions caused by unavoidable equipment malfunctions drove a power industry trade association to sue the agency ( ARIPPA v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 16-1168, statements filed 7/8/16 ).
http://www.bna.com/epa-removal-civil-n73014444005/
Nearly All U.S. Coal Plants Now Comply With The EPA Mercury Rule That Was Shot Down By Supreme Court
Forbes
Nearly all U.S. coal plants have come into compliance with the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard—which the Supreme Court last year ruled is illegal—and only a small percentage have closed, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration.
Another Inconvenient Truth: It’s Hard to Agree How to Fight Climate Change
NY Times
By just about any measure, the movement to battle climate change has grown so large that the truths of Al Gore’s decade-old movie now seem more mainstream than inconvenient.
Opinion
City made right choice to back out of Lamar County
Hattiesburg American
Hattiesburg’s handling of its wastewater disposal problem would read like a comedy of errors if there was anything funny about it.
Old MacDonald Had a . . . Climate Offender
Worried about carbon from crops, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to regulate America’s farms.
WSJ
By BRUCE E. DALE
July 10, 2016 4:51 p.m. ET
A basic fact about agricultural products such as grains and oilseeds is that the carbon in them, called biogenic carbon, came from the atmosphere. Biogenic carbon will return to the atmosphere when these products are consumed, such as when human beings eat bread and then breathe out the carbon dioxide resulting from the breakdown of bread in the body. Biogenic carbon therefore cannot contribute to climate change.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/old-macdonald-had-a-climate-offender-1468183862
Analysis: Budget woes reach beyond Mississippi
AP
JACKSON - “Gloomier and more uncertain.”
The words don’t inspire confidence, but analysts are using them to label the outlook for state budgets across the country.
Press Releases
COCHRAN URGES DOE TO BROADEN RENEWABLE TIMBER STANDARD
Energy Dept. Policy Excludes Federal Purchase of Lumber from 3.4 Million Acres of Mississippi Forests
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today reported his support for changes to a federal policy that restricts federal agencies from purchasing lumber products produced on millions acres of forests in Mississippi.
Cochran has signed a bipartisan letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to request that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revise its forest certification standards. The DOE standard, currently restricted to only lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), is used to promote federal purchases of sustainable timber products.
“The reliance on a single standard unfairly disregards other sustainable forestry standards that would make more Mississippi timber products eligible for federal projects,” Cochran said. “Revising this restrictive policy would promote sustainable forestry and new jobs in states like Mississippi with significant forested land.”
DOE reliance on the FSC standard overlooks similar certifications by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or American Tree Farm System (ATFS). There are a combined 3,425,619 certified acres of SFI or ATFS land in Mississippi, compared to only 480,000 FSC certified acres.
“Across the United States, there are more than 82 million acres of forestland certified to either SFI or ATFS standards. We are proud that our states have nearly 23 million acres combined that are certified to one of these two standards. There is no basis – scientific or otherwise – for excluding products from these forests for federal use,” the letter said.
“At a time when it is broadly appreciated that wood is one of the most environmentally friendly materials for building construction, it is important for your agency to take action to encourage, not limit, the use of responsibly sourced wood in government construction,” the letter to Moniz said.
The letter, led by Senators Angus King (I-Maine.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), was also signed by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
The text of the letter to Moniz is available here:
Dear Secretary Moniz:
We are writing to express our concern regarding the position of the Department of Energy Office of Sustainable Environmental Stewardship that states only lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and not lumber certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), would be suitable for federal purchasing.
As you may know, this determination by DOE was subsequently relied upon by the Environmental Protection Agency in their September 25, 2015 publication of Interim Recommendations for standards and ecolabels used by federal agencies.
Other federal agencies recognize a variety of forest certification regimes and therefore we encourage you to revisit your agency’s position on lumber and consider adding recognition for wood products that have taken steps to provide certainty about their sustainability of the product. This includes those certified to SFI and ATFS standards.
Just like those forests certified to the FSC standard, ATFS and SFI certified forests provide a renewable timber resource, clean water, wildlife habitat, and thousands of jobs in the forest sector and related industries. Across the United States, there are more than 82 million acres of forestland certified to either SFI or ATFS standards. We are proud that our states have nearly 23 million acres combined that are certified to one of these two standards. There is no basis – scientific or otherwise – for excluding products from these forests for federal use.
We urge your agency to consider the position of the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the US Forest Service and has vast expertise in forest management. USDA, in its BioPreferred Program, recognizes and supports all forest certification standards.
We further encourage you to consider the recent announcement by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to recognize products certified to SFI and ATFS standards within its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems. We understand that one of DOE’s criteria for “priority products” is that they contribute to LEED points for existing buildings and new construction. With this change by USGBC, products certified by SFI and ATFS meet this criterion.
At a time when it is broadly appreciated that wood is one of the most environmentally friendly materials for building construction, it is important for your agency to take action to encourage, not limit, the use of responsibly sourced wood in government construction.
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