State
Halcon fracking south of Osyka
Enterprise-Journal
By Bernell McGehee | Posted: Sunday, July 31, 2016 8:00 am
Last week was busy for companies with wells here in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. Both Halcon Resources and Goodrich Petroleum made major announcements and had some news more pertinent to the TMS alone.
http://www.enterprise-journal.com/news/article_48ff9670-56cc-11e6-aa70-1772cb2f6609.html
Wastewater study bids on tap for Monday's county meeting
Commercial Dispatch
July 30, 2016 10:01:52 PM
Alex Holloway - aholloway@cdispatch.com
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is expected to move forward in the next step of a wastewater study for the industrial park.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=51860
MDEQ lifts three water contact advisories, but there are still three areas swimmers should avoid
WLOX
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) -The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality lifted three of six water contact advisories for the Mississippi Sound Friday afternoon. MDEQ said it's now safe to swim in waters off Lakeshore Beach from Silver Slipper Casino eastward to Poinset, Pass Christian Central Beach from Henderson Avenue to Heirn Avenue, and Biloxi East Beach from Dukate eastward to Kuhn Street.
Volunteers needed for Mississippi oyster gardens
WLOX
PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -Oyster gardening is coming to Mississippi.
The Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium discussed the hands-on project at the Pascagoula River Audubon Center on Saturday.
http://www.wlox.com/story/32580394/volunteers-needed-for-mississippi-oyster-gardens
Authorities investigating possible ammonia leak in downtown Biloxi
WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -Firefighters in Biloxi are working to stop an ammonia leak in the downtown area.
http://www.wlox.com/story/32583781/authorities-investigate-possible-ammonia-leak-in-downtown-biloxi
Pascagoula natural gas plant could restart by year’s end
AP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi natural gas processing plant heavily damaged by a June 27 explosion could restart operations before the end of the year.
http://wjtv.com/2016/07/30/pascagoula-natural-gas-plant-could-restart-by-years-end/
Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran wins Mississippi Green award
Sun Herald
GULFPORT
Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran was named Mississippi’s Green Mayor of the Year on Friday and Bay St. Louis shared the honor of Scenic Community of Mississippi with Laurel during the 2016 Celebration of Trees.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/article92701407.html
MEMA starting disaster reserve program
Published 6:25 pm Saturday, July 30, 2016
PPM Consultants adds Hess
MBJ
Jere “Trey” Hess, former Chief of the Groundwater Assessment and Remediation Division for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, has accepted a position as Director of Brownfields and Economic Development with PPM Consultants in Jackson.
http://msbusiness.com/2016/07/ppm-consultants-adds-hess/
Taylor appointed to MDWFP Commission
Winston County Journal
The Commission on Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks swore in its newest member, Robert Taylor, at its July 20 meeting.
http://winstoncountyjournal.com/taylor-appointed-to-mdwfp-commission/
Analysis: Income tax and roads loom in tax and budget review
AP
JACKSON, MISS.
As legislative leaders' plan to review taxes and spending kicks off this week, it's still unclear what results the effort might produce.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article92610277.html
Oil Spill
BP able to see beyond Deepwater at last
The Telegraph
In a New Orleans court in 2013, a letter was read out from BP, the British oil giant. Tensions had been bristling for a while in what would soon become one of the toughest stand-offs with the US government in corporate history, but this was a real show of defiance from the FTSE 100 company.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/30/bp-able-to-see-beyond-deepwater-at-last/
15 projects proposed for RESTORE funding
Panama City News Herald
PANAMA CITY — A diverse list of projects proposed to receive oil spill funds is expected to boost the local economy, improve fisheries and benefit the environment.
http://www.newsherald.com/news/20160730/15-projects-proposed-for-restore-funding
Santa Rosa Sound water-quality projects get funding
Pensacola News Journal
The health and preservation of Santa Rosa Sound received a boost from the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners last week when the board voted to direct future funding from "pot three" of the RESTORE Act toward water quality projects.
Plan released for downtown fish hatchery
Pensacola News Herald
Updated designs for the $18 million fish hatchery and research center planned for downtown Pensacola were presented last week.
http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2016/07/30/fish-hatchery-designs-unveiled/87743910/
Regional
DEQ working to clean up Tunica Bayou by getting septic systems working
The Advocate
Flowing 8 miles from the state line between Louisiana and Mississippi to the Mississippi River north of Baton Rouge, Tunica Bayou has a problem.
Although it meets federal water quality criteria for boating, fishing, and wildlife and fishery habitat, it doesn’t meet the criteria for swimming because of failing septic systems.
TVA says it won't dig up existing coal ash ponds
AP
CHATTANOOGA, TENN.
TVA is closing and capping 10 coal ash ponds at power plants in Tennessee and Alabama, against the urging of environmentalists who want the ash dug up and removed.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article92820112.html
Anger, suspicions remain after water vote
Tallahassee Democrat
People suspicious of Gov. Rick Scott’s environmental agenda were hardly surprised last week when the Environmental Regulation Commission signed off on controversial new limits for toxic compounds that can go into Florida’s surface waters.
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/07/30/anger-suspicions-remain-after-water-vote/87749528/
Amid latest oil spill, Hilcorp Energy targeted by oyster growers
Times-Picayune
Even as Hilcorp Energy Co. works to clean up a spill of as much as 4,200 gallons of oil in the Plaquemines Parish marsh, the company is the target of a new lawsuit alleging it smothered oyster leases in the same area when it dug access channels to one of its Barataria Bay wells. Oyster growers say the Houston-based company used a process called "prop washing," in which tugboat propellers churn the waterbottoms to deepen existing channels.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2016/07/oyster_growers_sue_hilcorp_for.html
NOAA: Mass die-off at marine sanctuary off Louisiana, Texas
AP
Federal scientists say a massive die-off is taking place on a coral reef of a national marine sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico.
'Dead zone' mapping cruise canceled for first time in 27 years
Times-Picayune
The eight-day research cruise aimed at mapping the size of the summertime "dead zone" along Louisiana's coast has been cancelled for the first time in 27 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 187-foot ship Nancy Foster encountered engine trouble, agency officials announced Friday (July 29).
TVA wants public comment on solar facility assessment
AP
KNOXVILLE, TENN.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking for public comment on a draft environmental assessment for a proposed purchase agreement with a planned solar generating facility in McNairy County.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article93009392.html
With huge bill due to Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana to ask feds to forgive debt for new levees
The Advocate
Louisiana soon will be asking the rest of the nation for some love -- about $3.5 billion worth.
National
Court sides with greens on EPA boiler rule
The Hill
A federal appeals court Friday agreed with environmental groups and tossed out part of a contentious air pollution rule for boilers for an improper exemption within the regulation.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/289814-court-sides-with-greens-on-epa-boiler-rule
Boiler Emissions Ruling a Win for Environmental Groups
Bloomberg
A federal appeals court sided with environmental organizations in identifying several legal flaws in the Environmental Protection Agency's emissions standards for boilers, while also rejecting several industry challenges to key aspects of the rule ( U.S. Sugar Corp. v. EPA, 2016 BL 245584, D.C. Cir., No. 11-1108, 7/29/16 ; Am. Forest & Paper Ass'n v. EPA, 2016 BL 245584, D.C. Cir., No. 11-1125, 7/29/16 ; Am. Chemistry Council v. EPA, 2016 BL 245584, D.C. Cir., No. 11-1141, 7/29/16 ).
http://www.bna.com/boiler-emissions-ruling-n73014445642/
States Sue VW Over Dieselgate, On Top Of Earlier Settlements
Forbes
A cover-up of “defeat devices” Volkswagen AG used to cheat on diesel emissions tests was “orchestrated and approved at the highest levels of the company, up to and including former CEO Martin Winterkorn,” according to an announcement from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Texas joints suit over EPA energy sector emissions rules
AP
Texas is again suing the Environmental Protection Agency, this time over oil and gas sector emissions standards.
http://valleycentral.com/news/local/texas-joints-suit-over-epa-energy-sector-emissions-rules
6 Michigan state workers charged in Flint water crisis
AP
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan attorney general's office on Friday charged four current and two former state employees with misconduct in office and other crimes stemming from the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint.
