State
Jackson County wants $500,000 skimmer boat DEQ is giving away
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA
Mississippi DEQ called Jackson County and offered Emergency Management a $500,000 oil skimmer boat, at no cost.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/jackson-county/article100340072.html
Could oil and gas production put us at risk for quakes?
WLBT
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook seven states on Saturday and the blame for several recent quakes in the Central U.S. has been pinned on oil and gas production.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/33033429/could-oil-and-gas-production-put-us-at-risk-for-quakes
Council lowers water, sewer rates; adopts millage
Hattiesburg American
The water and sewer rate hikes recently established to help pay for a new wastewater system for Hattiesburg are about to drop — significantly.
County awarded two-year, $115K waste tire grant
DDT
With the City of Greenville collecting an average of about 800 tires off the streets each month, a little help goes a long way.
When the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) recently awarded Washington County a $115,000 two-year waste tire grant to continue the local waste tire collection program for small quantity generators of waste tires, it not only benefited the county, it also benefited the City of Greenville.
http://www.ddtonline.com/news/article_527d2eaa-7441-11e6-9150-d7a9592588da.html
LATEST BUZZ ON HONEY BEE POPULATION DECLINE
WCBI
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- More than 45 million bees are killed after the spraying of pesticide in South Carolina over the weekend. The goal was to kill mosquitoes, as more cases of Zika emerge.
http://www.wcbi.com/latest-buzz-honey-bee-population-decline/
KEMPER COUNTY PLANT ON @ISSUE
MPB (audio)
The power plant being constructed by Mississippi Power in Kemper County is meant to usher in a new energy era. The energy utility started the immense project with the endorsement of Republican Governor Haley Barbour and Democratic President Barack Obama.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/mississippiedition/mississippi-edition-monday-september-6th/
No cost increase or delays in Kemper plant’s July report
Sun Herald
July was a good report to the Public Service Commission on the status of the Kemper County energy plant, said Jeff Shepard, spokesman for Mississippi Power, with no cost increase and no change to the anticipated end-of-October start date.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article100253707.html
Mississippi bumps up to 19 West Nile virus cases this year
AP
JACKSON, MISS.
Mississippi health officials are confirming four new cases of West Nile virus, bringing the state's total to 19 cases this year.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/health/article100165337.html
Oil Spill
Bay Long oil leak caused by federal BP spill restoration contractor
Times-Picayune
It's one of those ironies that Louisiana may have to get used to: the 5,250-gallon spill of crude oil discovered Monday in Bay Long, part of Barataria Bay, was caused by a contractor working on a project aimed at restoring the effects of the BP oil spill, federal officials confirmed Tuesday (Sept. 6).
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2016/09/bay_long_spill_caused_by_feder.html
On Grand Isle shoreline protection plan, Jefferson seeks advice
Times-Picayune
Jefferson Parish is seeking public input on a plan to use as much as $13.3 million of BP oil disaster money to build breakwaters north and south of Grand Isle. Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island was significantly affected by the 2010 disaster, with oil and dead animals washing up on the beach for several years and some nearby waters not reopened for fishing until December 2014.
Regional
Marsh restoration closes nearly half of refuge hunting area
AP
NEW ORLEANS
A two-year marshland restoration project has closed nearly half the area usually open for hunting in the nation's largest urban national wildlife refuge just ahead of hunting season, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article100172727.html
Fresh water flooding into Lake Maurepas, Pontchartrain, reducing salinity level
The Advocate
The historic flooding last month across much of south Louisiana may have a small silver lining: It likely provided a boost to a strip of land that helps provide a defense against storm surge for parts of Livingston, Ascension and even East Baton Rouge parishes.
National
EPA Shuts Down 17 Wells in Osage Nation After Oklahoma Quake
AP
Federal regulators have shut down 17 wastewater disposal wells in the Osage Nation of northeastern Oklahoma following a weekend earthquake that matched the state's strongest on record, state officials confirmed Tuesday.
Because the wells are located on tribal land, Oklahoma regulators have no jurisdiction over oil- and gas-producing facilities in the region.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/epa-shuts-17-wells-osage-nation-oklahoma-quake-41904536
Geologist Sees Clues, and Further Dangers, in Puzzle of Oklahoma’s Earthquakes
NY Times
Scientists and regulators agree that earthquakes like the 5.6-magnitudetremor that struck Oklahoma on Saturday, and thousands of smaller ones in recent years, have been spurred by the disposal of millions of tons of wastewater that is pumped to the surface, and then injected back into the ground, during oil and gas production. The shock last week tied a record set in 2011 in Prague, Okla., for the strongest such tremor in the state’s history.
Tribal Protest Spurs Halt to Pipeline in North Dakota
Standing Rock Sioux says one area of the project contains sacred sites
WSJ
A federal judge said Tuesday that construction would temporarily halt on a portion of a $3.8 billion oil pipeline in North Dakota where tensions have flared between Native American protesters and law enforcement.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/tribal-protest-spurs-halt-to-pipeline-in-north-dakota-1473204387
Americans Drive to a New Record in Gasoline Consumption
It took nearly nine years for total fuel use to surpass its prerecession peak
WSJ
Americans fueled up this summer at levels not seen since the recession began almost nine years ago, new data shows.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/09/07/americans-drive-to-a-new-record-in-gasoline-consumption/
