State
City says consent decree deadline will be met
Northside Sun
Jackson city leaders say they expect to meet a February deadline associated with the city’s $400 million sewer consent decree.
http://northsidesun.com/news/city-says-consent-decree-deadline-will-be-met#sthash.ZVtOrh4U.dpbs
Sewer system repairs to be more than $1M
Vicksburg Post
The cost to begin repairs on Vicksburg’s sewer system is expected to run over $1 million, city officials learned Tuesday.
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/2017/02/23/sewer-system-repairs-to-be-more-than-1m/
Tornado debris removal nearing final phase in Petal
WDAM
PETAL, MS (WDAM) -The cleanup in Petal from the deadly Jan. 21 tornado is entering its final phase for the city.
http://www.wdam.com/story/34589734/tornado-debris-removal-nearing-final-phase-in-petal
Jackson water stakeholders meet
WLBT
PEARL, MS (Mississippi News Now) -Major water outages are expected in the city of Jackson next month. A 48-inch water line will have to be turned off to make repairs.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/34587911/jackson-water-stakeholders-meet
Don Christy to lead YMD Water Management District
Delta Farm Press
Don Christy, a Jackson, Miss., native who has spent much of his career working on water-related issues across the Southeast, has been named the new executive director of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Water Management District.
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/water/don-christy-lead-ymd-water-management-district
Cat Island set to grow, but prospects dim for Biloxi amusement park
Sun Herald
GULFPORT
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann on Thursday took members of the Gulfport Rotary Club on a aerial tour of Cat and Deer islands, showing where a sand renourishment project will expand Cat Island this summer.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article134623199.html
County garbage pickup stinks
Daily Leader
The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors has heard complaints from residents about Waste Pro, and on Tuesday Waste Pro heard from the board.
http://www.dailyleader.com/2017/02/23/county-garbage-pickup-stinks/
Oil Spill
Changes weighed for Deepwater Horizon plan
News4Jax
Money from the Deepwater Horizon disaster settlement may be used to market Northwest Florida and for broad economic development projects, under changes to a pair of bills before the House Select Committee on Triumph Gulf Coast.
http://www.news4jax.com/money/changes-weighed-for-deepwater-horizon-plan
National
Kushner, Ivanka Trump Pushed to Remove Words Critical of Climate Deal From Executive Order
President plans to issue orders aimed at rolling back Obama climate agenda soon
WSJ
WASHINGTON—At the request of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, language critical of a global climate deal was struck from an executive order that Mr. Trump is planning to sign soon, according to multiple people familiar with the move.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-pushed-to-remove-language-critical-of-climate-deal-from-executive-order-1487889272
With electricity out, new EPA chief reached out to lobbyist
AP
When a summer thunderstorm knocked out power to Scott Pruitt's home three years ago, the then-attorney general of Oklahoma reached out to a lobbyist for American Electric Power.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/electricity-epa-chief-reached-lobbyist-45680285
VW exec pleads innocent in diesel case
USA Today
DETROIT -- Oliver Schmidt, a key figure in the government's investigation into Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal, pleaded not guilty in federal court here.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/02/24/vw-exec-pleads-innocent-diesel-case/98343292/
Pruitt, EPA Working on Ways to Speed Up New Chemical Review Process
Bloomberg
A backlog of chemicals needing EPA approval has doubled in the past eight months—a jam chemical manufacturers say is significant to an industry that depends on creating new products.
https://www.bna.com/pruitt-epa-working-n57982084332/
More Households Will Struggle to Pay Water, Sewer Bills: EPA
Bloomberg
The number of households that are unable to pay their sewer and water bills could more than double in the next 10 years, an Environmental Protection Agency official said Feb. 22.
https://www.bna.com/households-struggle-pay-n57982084256/
Landowners say EPA botched cleanup, now they want a shot
AP
OPPORTUNITY, Mont. (AP) - George Niland wonders whether he should wear a respirator when he mows his lawn. Serge Myers laments not being able to garden in his backyard. Rob Phillips puzzles over why his 22 acres have been marked as an unblemished island surrounded by a sea of contamination.
http://www.wlox.com/story/34591880/landowners-say-epa-botched-cleanup-now-they-want-a-shot
Groups Sue EPA to Protect Wild Salmon From Climate Change
Reuters
U.S. fishing and conservation groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, seeking to protect wild salmon threatened by rising water temperatures attributed in part to climate change in two major rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-02-23/groups-sue-epa-to-protect-wild-salmon-from-climate-change
Researchers ask: Can people look to maps to avoid storms?
Al.com
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
"We didn't know it was coming."
April Taylor heard that again and again, and she didn't understand it.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/technology/article134446559.html
Opinion
Red State rural America is acting on climate change
AP
President Donald Trump has the environmental community understandably concerned. He and members of his Cabinet have questioned the established science of climate change, and his choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has sued the EPA many times and regularly sided with the fossil fuel industry.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/02/red_state_rural_america_is_act.html#incart_river_index
