State
Rodents blamed for levee breach into the Bogue Chitto River
Daily Leader
A contractor with the city of Brookhaven believes a rodent could be the reason 6 million gallons of stormwater and sewage from the wastewater treatment plant’s storage lagoon leaked into the Bogue Chitto River. After the leak was discovered Friday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued an advisory for the segment of the river that stretches from Brookhaven to almost the state line.
http://www.dailyleader.com/2016/09/17/rodents-blamed-for-levee-breach-into-the-bogue-chitto-river/
Sewage spills into river
By Clay Russell | Enterprise-Journal | Posted: Sunday, September 18, 2016 8:00 am
A levee breach at Brookhaven’s wastewater treatment plant has led to a water contact advisory for the Bogue Chitto River from Brookhaven to the state line.
http://www.enterprise-journal.com/news/article_db7a2894-7d50-11e6-bae8-eff34366e4aa.html
Sewage dump affects river in Mississippi, Louisiana
Water warnings issued for Bogue Chitto
AP
BROOKHAVEN, Miss — A levee breach at a wastewater treatment plant in Brookhaven, Mississippi, has dumped six million gallons of diluted sewage into the Bogue Chitto river. That prompted water quality warnings along that river, which is popular for recreational use, from southwest Mississippi into southeast Louisiana.
http://www.wapt.com/article/sewage-dump-affects-river-in-mississippi-louisiana/3533050
Sewage spilled into Bogue Chitto River
Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has issued a water contact advisory for the Bogue Chitto River following a sewage spill. According to MDEQ, a levee at a Brookhaven wastewater treatment plant was breached and released 6 million gallons of stormwater-diluted sewage into the river.
MDEQ Issues Water Contact Advisory for Bogue Chitto River
WLBT
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has issued a water contact advisory for a segment of the Bogue Chitto River beginning in Brookhaven. The advisory extends from Highway 84 in Brookhaven to the Mississippi-Louisiana stateline south of Dillon’s Bridge near the community of Lehr.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/33114800/mdeq-issues-water-contact-advisory-for-bogue-chitto-river
Water contact advisory in place for fishing, swimming in Bogue Chitto River until further notice
WDSU
Franklinton, L.a. —Louisiana state health officials are warning residents to stay away from the Bogue Chitto River after approximately 6 million gallons of sewage water spilled into the east branch of the river from a Mississippi levee breach Friday.
6 million gallons of sewage released into Bogue Chitto River
WWL
Officials are warning Louisiana residents to stay out of the Bogue Chitto River this weekend
http://www.wwl.com/pages/22880131.php?contentType=4&contentId=18952118
St. Tammany residents urged to avoid Bogue Chitto River after 6 million gallons of sewage spills into waterway
The Advocate
Louisiana health officials and St. Tammany Parish leaders are urging residents and visitors to avoid the Bogue Chitto River after approximately 6 million gallons of stormwater-diluted sewage spilled into it upriver in Brookhaven, Mississippi.
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_fc03b57c-7dc2-11e6-bbb3-6ffa3372bdc8.html
More options for Hattiesburg wastewater treatment?
Hattiesburg American
About nine months ago, Hattiesburg City Council seemed to have pulled the trigger on a possible solution for Hattiesburg's wastewater woes. Council voted 4-1 to go with a land application system to get the city in compliance with permit levels established in August 2015 by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Hazardous waste day offers safe disposal
Daily Corinthian
Saturday is the time to turn in old chemicals, electronics, tires and other hazards for proper disposal.
http://www.dailycorinthian.com/view/full_story/27271970/article-Hazardous-waste-day-offers-safe-disposal?
ABERDEEN CITY WIDE CLEAN UP DAY
WCBI
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI)— Many are familiar with the saying, “presentation is everything”. On Saturday the City of Aberdeen takes it to a new level.
http://www.wcbi.com/video-aberdeen-city-wide-clean-day/
Kemper's second gasifier makes syngas using lignite
Meridian Star
Mississippi Power has announced it has started producing syngas using the second gasifier at the Kemper County energy facility.
Regional
Man-made oyster reefs tested in St. Bernard as marsh protection
Times-Picayune
A half-dozen employees of newly-renamed Cycle Marine wrestled concrete ringsinto the shallow water in front of wetlands ringing Eloi Bay on the southeastern edge of the Biloxi Marsh of St. Bernard Parish on Friday (Sept. 16).
In Zika-Stricken Miami, Aerial Pesticide Spray Adds to Fears
AP
In the only U.S. city confirmed to have mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, some residents say they'd rather be bitten than be exposed to droplets of chemicals sprayed from planes to kill the bugs.
Ala. gas pipeline leak could cause price hikes, shortage
USA Today
Gasoline prices are creeping up in several states in the Southeast due to a prolonged pipeline outage following a gasoline leak in Shelby County, Ala.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/09/16/alabama-gasoline-pipeline-spill/90480992/
Ominous Dead Zone grows in Gulf of Mexico
Caller-Times
Most residents of the gulf coast are familiar with the ominous Dead Zone, an area of the northern Gulf of Mexico with no or little dissolved oxygen that kills or cannot support marine life. Studies have indicated it has been around since the 1970s, at least.
Mosaic kept sinkhole secret for three weeks because there was 'no risk to public'
WFTS
MULBERRY, Fla. - The company that kept secret a massive sinkhole that drained a 215 million gallon radioactive pond into an underground aquifer said it didn’t go public with the crisis for three weeks because it found “no risk to the public.”
National
Most states on track to meet emissions targets they call burden
Reuters
LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON(Reuters) - The 27 states challenging Obama’s Clean Power Plan in court say the lower emissions levels it would impose are an undue burden. But most are likely to hit them anyway.
EPA study: Roundup pesticide ‘not likely to be carcinogenic’
The Hill
Roundup, the country’s most widely-used pesticide, is probably not carcinogenic to humans, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in an evaluation released Friday
Toxic algae turns up in more than 40 California lakes, waterways
AP
OAKLAND, Calif. – Toxic algae has shown up in more than 40 state lakes and waterways from Los Angeles to the northern reaches of California, the highest count in state history.
Drone Use for Environmental Monitoring May Grow Under Rule
Bloomberg
The use of drones for environmental monitoring in the U.S. is expected to grow now that the first rule for governing their non-recreational use is in effect, but more work is ahead for regulating them, participants in a webinar said Aug. 30.
http://www.bna.com/drone-environmental-monitoring-n57982077078/
Opinion
National Estuaries Week provides hope for a healthy Mobile Bay
Al.com
By Jill Mastrototaro, is a policy specialist with the National Wildlife Federation. She works in Alabama and Mississippi to ensure meaningful restoration in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. She can be reached at mastrototaroj@nwf.org or 517 Cobblestone Court #2, Madison, MS 39110.
Estuaries are the lifeblood of the Gulf of Mexico. Places like Mobile Bay, where water from five major rivers mix with the saltier water of the Gulf, are critical nursery grounds for most of the fish and shellfish that Alabamians like to catch and eat—everything from blue crabs to redfish.
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/09/national_estuaries_week_provid.html
Kemper power plant bad for Miss. Power customers: Column
Clarion Ledger
The Kemper County Energy Facility by Mississippi Power and the Southern Co. are putting an undue hardship on the 23 southern Mississippi counties through higher electric rates.
Press Releases
USDA to Unveil New Three-Year Gulf Area Ag lands Restoration Strategy
Jackson, Miss. – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will announce a new three-year restoration strategy that will guide conservation investments on agricultural lands in the Gulf of Mexico region, part of USDA’s ongoing effort to improve water quality and help coastal ecosystems heal following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. USDA’s Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, Robert Bonnie, will make the announcement at a working forest near Carriere, Mississippi on September 19.
Through the Gulf of Mexico Initiative Restoration Strategy, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) plans to provide assistance to help agricultural producers plan and implement conservation
practices on millions of acres over the next three years.
WHAT: Release of USDA’s Gulf of Mexico Initiative Restoration Strategy
WHO: Robert Bonnie, USDA’s Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment
Homer Wilkes, Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Team Director
Kurt Readus, Natural Resources Conservation Service, State Conservationist for Mississippi
Wesley Kerr, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Area 3 Conservationist for Mississippi
Joe Pettigrew, Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District Chairman
Jim Currie, Private Landowner, Previous Program Participant
WHEN: Monday - September 19, 2016 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: 27020 Road 221, Picayune, MS 39466
Media are asked to RSVP with Kavanaugh Breazeale at 601.966.8320 or email robert.k.breazeale@ms.usda.gov .
Advance copies of the embargoed restoration strategy are available upon request.
