State
Forrest supervisors discuss wastewater treatment
Hattiesburg American
The contention regarding a new wastewater system for Hattiesburg has only intensified since December, when Hattiesburg City Council voted 4-1 to choose a land-application system over a mechanical solution.
MDEQ gives approval for Costco build
Madison County Journal
RIDGELAND — The proposed Costco on Highland Colony Parkway in Renaissance Phase III received the green light from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality last week to proceed with construction. http://onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/News/Article/MDEQ-gives-approval-for-Costco-build/-3/592/38207
He was fishing on a seawall when water splashed — now he awaits a prosthetic leg
Sun Herald
A well-known Bay St. Louis mechanic has contracted the state’s first confirmed case of vibrio vulnificus.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/hancock-county/article87931932.html
DAUGHTER SPEAKS ON FATHER CONTRACTING VIBRIO
WXXV
A Bay St. Louis man is recovering after losing part of his leg to vibrio. He contracted the flesh eating bacteria about three weeks ago.
http://www.wxxv25.com/2016/07/06/daughter-speaks-father-contracting-vibrio/
Flesh-eating bacteria easy to avoid, just swim in the Gulf, not bays says expert
Al.com
The flesh-eating bacteria lighting up news reports all along the Gulf Coast has been around forever and is almost entirely avoidable if you know where to swim, said the nation's leading expert on the deadly bacteria.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/flesh-eating_bacteria_easy_to.html
County earns competitive recycling grant from MDEQ
Funds will be used to purchase a vehicle, raise public awareness about recycling
Clarksdale Press-Register
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has awarded Coahoma County with a $42,246 competitive to help increase awareness about recycling and also
purchase a truck for the recycling program. City economic develop-er Mac Crank said he wrote the grant for the county, since the popula- tion of the city wasn’t quite large enough to
qualify for it.
“We had to write the grant for the county rather than for the city. The city isn’t big enough to qualify for the dollar amount we needed to get this done, but the county population is large
enough to ask for enough funding to accomplish everything we wanted to accomplish,” Crank said. He said some of the grant money is ear- marked for promotional materials, including
helping locals under- stand what the local city/county recycling program can—and can’t—do.
“There’s a component in there for a public awareness program, that allows (recycling manag-er Marc Taylor) to talk to people and distribute materials and basically do programs convey why
recycling is important and how it works here, because there are some things we can do and some things we can’t do right now,” Crank said. He said that Taylor will mostly use the truck—
until recently, she’s had to use whatever city trucks were available. “The main deal is to get a truck is both func-tional, because (Taylor) does pick stuff up around different loca-tions, but there’s money
in there to have a wrap put on it, so it will also be a rolling billboard, so it will be a promotional vehicle, too,” Crank said. “It will have Clarksdale/Coahoma County recycling graph-ics, although we haven’t
decided on a final look yet.”
He said having a truck just for recycling will help Taylor get recy-clables from businesses or other locations to the bins without having to wait until another truck is available. “What she’s been doing
is sharing whatever vehi-cles are available in the city to do her pickup, she’s been in the middle of it, and it will be more efficient,” Crank said. Crank said that money is available now and has to be used by the end of
the fiscal year, which is June 30, 2017.
Mark Williams, admin-istrator of solid waste programs at MDEQ, said they award grants for a variety of different things counties or municipalities need to sustain or grow recy-cling programs. “The grants are award-
ed for a variety of things to help solve waste prob-lems, so it really depends on what the primary issues are locally,” Williams said. “Sometimes we buy chip-pers, sometimes we help purchase recycling con-tainers, sometimes we
help set up staging loca-tions for appliances for things folks things. …Sometimes we help with collection vehicle, and that’s what this vehicle was to help with a collection of recyclables to get those back to the recycling facility. Also, it will
help them expand and include some facilities that aren’t currently being serviced by the recycling program.” With the purchase of the truck, the recycling program will be able to go into county schools and some other locations it doesn’t go into right now.
Williams said they don’t purchase vehicles for recycling programs “arbitrarily” – only when it’s shown that it will help sustain local recycling efforts. “…It has to be associated with managing waste and waste problems,” Williams said. “It’s not necessarily common-
place, but certainly here, the county and city have committed to building a strong recycling program and harvesting the materials that can be put back in manufacturing, and that’s the goal of the state is to reduce waste and really dispose of waste only as a last
resort.”
In addition, the county was awarded a non-competitive grant for just over $10,000 to help increase public awareness. That money has to be spent by the end of the year. Crank said they apply for two grants every year, one competitive and one non-competitive,
and this year, was awarded both. “That money’s avaiable now, so we’re going to be getting into it pretty quick,” Crank said, adding that since the grant was written for the county, the funds will be managed by county administrator Daniel Vassel’s office.
Williams said MDEQ was glad to help Coahoma County, noting that rural areas sometimes have the hardest time getting their communities involved. “We’re proud to be a part of that effort and help Coahoma County and communities up there get involved and get their recycling to the
facility,” Williams said. “It’s so hard in rural areas, and they’ve been committed to this and we’re excited to see their ongoing commitment.”
http://www.pressregister.com/news/article_03c56ad6-438e-11e6-b0cf-d300156aafd4.html
County awarded MDEQ grant
Pontotoc Progress
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) awarded Pontotoc County a solid waste assistance grant of $15,497 that will be used by the county to clean up illegal dump sites.
http://djournal.com/pontotoc/2016/07/07/county-awarded-mdeq-grant/
Bruce Board wants dilapidated building on square addressed soon
Calhoun County Journal
…Mayor Pope discussed several issues related to the town’s lagoon, first getting permission to have the hay baled on the spray field.
He then explained the town has had contact with MDEQ related to violations at the lagoon.
“We’ve started to address the MDEQ violations,” Pope said. “We’ve worked to make the necessary repairs MDEQ cited. We’ve done a lot of things to get it where it needs to be. We still have so much sludge in there, we may need to buy some more aerators.”
Pope said MDEQ has acknowledged the town’s effort to address the problems and said they will come retest when everything is fixed.
http://www.calhouncountyjournal.com/bruce-board-wants-dilapidated-building-on-square-addressed-soon/
Grenada's Browns Creek water contact advisory lifted
WTVA
(JACKSON, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) lifted a water contact advisory Wednesday that had been issued June 23 for a segment of Browns Creek in Grenada.
http://www.wtva.com/news/Grenadas_Browns_Creek_water_contact_advisory_lifted.html
Lafayette County supervisors accept Baptist trust report
Oxford Eagle
…In other matters, the Paris community will soon be getting a new Dollar General after the board approved two variances and site plan approval upon contingencies from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The store will be located near County Road 4011.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2016/07/06/lafayette-county-supervisors-accept-baptist-trust-report/
Proposed nuisance animal hunting regs cause confusion
Clarion Ledger
In its June meeting, the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks voted in favor of a proposal which included language to regulate hunting of nuisance animals on US Forest Service lands. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Wildlife Bureau director Chad Dacus said some people misinterpreted the changes, and that has caused confusion.
PERS loses money on investments
Oxford Eagle
By Steve Wilson
Mississippi Watchdog
A report by the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi shows the state’s pension fund lost money in the past year, which could further damage PERS’s already weakened bottom line.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2016/07/06/pers-loses-money-on-investments/
Oil Spill
Project to help LSU researchers share information about Gulf of Mexico’s health via traveling art museum
The Advocate
Art and the great diversity of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico will come together in one place through a recently funded project to study how fish were impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010.
Regional
Florida may spend millions battling stinky algae blooms
AP
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Amid a growing outcry — and national headlines — about a massive algae bloom fouling Florida's southern beaches and rivers, Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday promised to dedicate millions more to battle the problem.
National
‘Un-American’ charge ignites hearing on EPA rules
The Hill
A House Republican on Wednesday accused the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of acting in an “un-American” way, leading to a tense shouting match at a committee hearing.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/286667-un-american-charge-ignites-hearing-on-epa-rules
EPA rules would hurt North Dakota effort to curb flaring, Helms says
Bismarck Tribune
WASHINGTON – North Dakota’s top oil regulator told members of a House subcommittee Wednesday that proposed federal regulations would harm the state’s ability to reduce natural gas flaring.
Permits Not Needed for Disposal Into Wells, Court Told
Bloomberg
Disposal of pollutants into underground wells does not require a Clean Water Act discharge permit regardless of whether the effluent containing the pollutants reaches the ocean, Maui County, Hawaii, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ( Haw. Wildlife Fund v. Cnty. of Maui, 9th Cir., 15-17447, brief 7/1/16 ).
http://www.bna.com/permits-not-needed-n57982076581/
Jury Awards $5.1 Million in Case Against DuPont
Lawsuit alleged company’s discharging of chemical into river led to man’s cancer
AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio — DuPont acted with malice by dumping chemical-tainted water from its West Virginia plant into the Ohio River, a federal jury said Wednesday in awarding $5.1 million in compensatory damages to a man who developed cancer.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/jury-awards-5-1-million-in-case-against-dupont-1467840856
New regs for Thursday: Tow boats, emissions, opioids
The Hill
Engines: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving forward with new rules for stationary compression ignition internal combustion engines.
These engines typically face strict environmental standards, but operators will be allowed to override the emissions control system during emergency situations in order to “protect human life,” the agency wrote.
The new rule goes into effect in 60 days.
http://thehill.com/regulation/286637-new-regs-for-thursday-tow-boats-emissions-opioids
Opinion
The E.P.A.’s Civil Rights Problem
NY Times
An oil refinery in a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Beaumont, Tex. A hazardous waste disposal site in Chaves County, N.M., a largely low-income, largely Hispanic area. Two power plants in Pittsburg, Calif., where most of the residents are from minorities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/07/opinion/the-epas-civil-rights-problem.html?_r=0
A Chance for a Catfish Vote
Failing to repeal would set up a WTO showdown that the U.S. could lose.
WSJ
Will the U.S. House of Representatives get to vote this summer on repealing the notorious catfish program that has become a byword for Washington waste and protectionism? This should be an easy call, especially after the Senate voted for repeal in May, but a group of Southern lawmakers are pressuring Speaker Paul Ryan to keep the issue off the floor. Even for Congress in an election year, this is an especially fishy case of special-interest pleading.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-chance-for-a-catfish-vote-1467834756
Press Releases
Longleaf Pine Forests and Ecosystems Across the Southeast Receive $4.3 Million in Funding for Restoration Activities
21 Projects in Eight States to Benefit from Longleaf Stewardship Fund
Washington, D.C. (July 6, 2016) — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced that 21 projects across the historical longleaf pine range will receive $4.3 million in grants to support the restoration of the longleaf ecosystem and advance the objectives of the Range-Wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine. These projects ultimately will restore more than 14,800 acres and enhance more than 230,000 additional acres of longleaf pine habitat, while leveraging more than $5.3 million in additional funds from grant partners.
http://www.nfwf.org/whoweare/mediacenter/pr/Pages/lsf_16-0706.aspx
