State
Citizen complains about OCH trash in neighborhood
Commercial Dispatch
September 15, 2016 10:09:25 AM
OCH Regional Medical Center has instituted stricter policies and is monitoring how employees dispose of gloves after handling garbage since a complaint was filed with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in regard to stormwater washing non-biohazardous trash into the nearby Plantation Homes subdivision.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=52869
Bottled water company to build $25M factory near Byram, hiring 42
AP
A Minneapolis company will build a $25 million factory to make bottles and fill them with water in Hinds County, hiring 42 people over three years.
Hunters: Deer sightings are declining
Clarion Ledger
In an online poll taken by The Clarion-Ledger Outdoors following the 2015-16 deer season, the majority of responders indicated they were observing fewer deer while hunting. When asked about doe sightings, 62 percent said they saw fewer than what they would consider average. When it came to bucks, 58 percent replied they'd seen fewer.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/2016/09/15/hunters-deer-sightings-declining/90359656/
Oil Spill
Gulf Coast recovery is topic of New Orleans meeting in wake of Deepwater Horizon disaster
The Advocate
More than six years have passed since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 people and dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil, and later this month officials from state and federal agencies responsible for overseeing recovery efforts will talk about progress made to date.
Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging funding for Gulf park hotel
Al.com
Another lawsuit challenging the funding for the new hotel and conference center at Gulf State Park has been dismissed.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/judge_dismisses_lawsuit_challe.html
Regional
Alabama, Georgia declare state of emergency after pipeline spill
Al.com
Gov. Robert Bentley issued an executive order Thursday declaring a state of emergency in Alabama over concerns about fuel shortages in the wake of agasoline pipeline spill that released about 250,000 gallons of gasoline south of Birmingham and shut down a major pipeline connecting refineries in Houston with the rest of the country.
EPA waives summer-grade gasoline requirements for Atlanta, Nashville areas
Reuters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency waived certain requirements for gasoline in the Atlanta and Nashville areas Wednesday after a disruption on Colonial Pipeline in Alabama.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pipeline-operations-colonial-co-epa-idUSKCN11L2I7
National
White House Launches EPA Vapor Intrusion Rule Review
Bloomberg
An EPA final rule to add vapor intrusion to superfund listing criteria now is under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
http://www.bna.com/white-house-launches-n57982077079/
New EPA methane emissions rules get cold shoulder
Houston Chronicle
Congressmen from Texas and other oil and gas producing states on Thursday continued their attack on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce methane emissions.
Company Not Liable for Pre-Ownership Cleanup Costs
Bloomberg
A Pennsylvania company is liable only for response costs incurred after it took ownership of a contaminated site, not for those incurred beforehand, a federal trial court ruled Aug. 30 ( Pa. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v. Trainer Custom Chem. LLC, 2016 BL 282578, E.D. Pa., No. 15-1232, 8/30/16 ).
http://www.bna.com/company-not-liable-n57982077077/
Chemicals In Drinking Water Prompt Inspections Of U.S. Military Bases
NPR
Health workers are piecing together a complicated puzzle in El Paso County, Colo. In January, three cities — Security, Fountain and Widefield — noticed synthetic chemicals known as PFCs in the drinking water.
Lawmakers Probe Tax Incentives Received by Solar-Energy Firms
Under investigation is how companies determine the value of the credits
WSJ
Congressional lawmakers have launched a formal investigation into whether solar-energy companies improperly received billions of dollars in tax incentives from the Obama administration.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-probe-tax-incentives-received-by-solar-energy-firms-1473967056
How Google is helping to crack down on illegal fishing — from space
Washington Post
Illegal and unreported fishing is a multibillion-dollar business around the globe, and one that has proven notoriously difficult to combat. In part, that’s because it involves a constant stream of renegade fishermen being pursued by countries that have only limited resources to carry out a perpetual cat-and-mouse game on the high seas.
http://www.sunherald.com/latest-news/article102119207.html
California to Save More Water for Endangered Fish
Proposal aims to cut farms and cities’ use of water from San Joaquin River and its major tributaries
WSJ
California plans to reduce water for farms and cities from one of its biggest river systems in order to boost the amount of water for salmon and other threatened fish, state officials said Thursday.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/california-to-save-more-water-for-endangered-fish-1473976494
EPA moving regional office to downtown Dallas' Renaissance Tower
Dallas Morning News
The largest tenant in downtown Dallas' landmark Fountain Place tower is moving.
The U.S. General Services Administration said Thursday that it will relocate the regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency to the Renaissance Tower on Elm Street.
Online environmental tool identifies most polluted cities
KYMA
CALEXICO, Calif. – State officials from environmental agencies met with the Imperial Valley community in Calexico on Wednesday to present their new CalEnviroScreen online application. California Environmental Protection Agency Official Lauren Zeise said the application looks at measures of pollution burden and vulnerability in communities.
http://www.kyma.com/online-environmental-tool-identifies-most-polluted-cities/
‘Peecycling': Urine could fertilize your food
WMC
(RNN) - Human urine could fertilize the peas, melons, corn, lettuce, collards, carrots and tomatoes you buy at grocery stores.
Press Releases
COCHRAN, WICKER VOTE FOR PASSAGE OF WATER PROJECTS BILL TO BENEFIT MISSISSIPPI
Senators Add Mississippi Projects to Water Resources Development Act of 2016
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today voted for Senate passage of bipartisan water infrastructure legislation that includes provisions they developed to authorize federal resources for improving waterways, flood control and other projects in Mississippi.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (S.2848 or WRDA) would authorize U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects throughout the country including navigational improvements, flood control, ecosystem restoration and clean water infrastructure. The bill was passed 95-3.
“This legislation is important to the well-being of our state and the entire nation. Army Corps of Engineers activities in Mississippi benefit affect our economy and the safety of our citizens. I’m pleased that this positive and bipartisan bill will extend and expand the ability of the Army Corps to continue this good work,” Cochran said.
“Federal investments in our nation’s water projects pay enormous dividends,” Wicker said. “Better ports and harbors help businesses and workers stay competitive and keep prices down for consumers. Strengthening dams and levees protect our communities from flooding and can help safeguard critical fishing, shrimping, and oyster grounds. Upgrades to local infrastructure give people the confidence to know that they are drinking safe, clean water. This bipartisan legislation attempts to achieve all of those goals by clearing a backlog of critical projects.”
Wicker serves on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which wrote WRDA. Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, serves on the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Army Corps of Engineers and programs authorized in WRDA.
For Mississippi, the Senators concentrated on provisions to expand the ability of the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies to work with state and local officials to improve flood control, inland ports, wastewater infrastructure, conservation, and coastal resilience.
Cochran and Wicker worked to include the following provisions of importance to Mississippi in the Senate-passed legislation:
• Directing the Army Corps to expedite its review of the draft “Integrated Feasibility and Environmental Impact Statement, Pearl River Watershed, Rankin and Hinds Counties MS,” a locally developed flood damage reduction plan designed to provide a permanent solution to Pearl River flooding which continues to pose and imminent threat to the Jackson Metropolitan Area;
• Expanding the Delta Headwaters Project authorization to encompass the entire Yazoo Basin foot hills region, well beyond the 16 small watersheds now authorized. This will allow the Army Corps to work in any watershed within a 15-county area: Holmes, Carroll, Montgomery, Webster, Chickasaw, Calhoun, Grenada, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha, Panola, Lafayette, Tate, DeSoto, Marshall, and Benton;
• Dredging shallow draft ports located on the Mississippi River, such as Natchez, Rosedale, Greenville, Claiborne County, and Vicksburg;
• Authorizing the Army Corps to conduct regional assessments of coastal vulnerabilities and opportunities to increase ocean and coastal ecosystem resilience, which could include shoreline and tidal marsh restoration;
• Increasing the funding authorization for needed environmental infrastructure projects, such as ongoing regional wastewater improvement project in DeSoto County;
• Creating a Gulf Coast Oyster Bed Recovery Plan to address long-term damage to oyster beds caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and floods in 2011 and 2016;
• Updating the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund by highlighting targets for increased funding, extending prioritization for donor and energy transfer ports and emerging harbors, and clarifying that the Corps can maintain harbors of refuge;
• Providing technical assistance for small communities who often lack the resources to comply with and complete the necessary applications to access federal wastewater funding programs.
###
