State
Jury selection in Gulf oil spill fraud case against lawyer
GULFPORT, MISS.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin for the federal trial of a San Antonio attorney and others accused of helping to inflate his client list for BP oil spill litigation.
Mikal Watts, two non-attorney members of his law firm and four contract field workers are going on trial Monday in federal court in Gulfport, Mississippi.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article90230252.html
Regional
Calcasieu salinity project gets $16 million from oil spill fines
By
on July 15, 2016 at 3:36 PM
A project to control salinity in the Calcasieu River basin will receive $16 million from fines related to the BP oil spill for engineering and design work on Aug. 1, Louisiana state and U.S. Department of Treasury officials announced Friday. This first payment represents about half the money sought for engineering and design of the project, with construction expected to cost another $261.3 million.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2016/07/calcasieu_salinity_project_get.html
National
High temperatures, 'corn sweat' form dangerous heat dome over U.S.
(CNN)The dog days of summer are hitting hard this year, and forecasters warn that some of the hottest temperatures of the season may sear a large portion of the United States this week.
Very high humidity is expected to accompany the heat, especially in the Midwest, and that moisture -- combined with the high temperatures -- will create what's known as a "heat dome" over most of the country. Only the Northwest will be spared.
Those conditions could be deadly. Forecasters say the heat index, which measures what the temperature really feels like when you add in the humidity -- the summer equivalent of the winter wind chill -- will likely reach the dangerous category, increasing the risks of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and death.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/weather/extreme-weather-heat-dome/index.html
Court rejects greens’ challenge to natural gas export facility
By Timothy Cama - 07/15/16 04:10 PM EDT
A federal appeals court Friday rejected environmentalists’ challenge to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility under construction in Maryland.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/287962-court-rejects-greens-challenge-to-natural-gas-export-facility
BP plc (ADR)'s (BP) Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Related Cost Could be Higher
The company’s charges related to the disaster could be higher than previously anticipated Published By: Myrna Salomon on July 18, 2016 08:17 am EST
Problems keep on worsening for London-based oil major BP plc. (ADR) (NYSE:BP). The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill still seems to be tailing the company’s back. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the company now is a victim of yet another charge related to the detrimental oil spill.
Robbie Wilbur
Communications Director
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Post Office Box 2261
Jackson, Mississippi 39225
rwilbur@mdeq.ms.gov
601-961-5277 (office)
601-421-5699 (cell)
@MDEQ
