State
Ensuring sustainable water supply for Delta's farmers
Is the long-standing draw on the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer sustainable?
Delta Farm Press
Farmers in the Mississippi Delta have never really had to worry about the availability of ground water. Even when Mother Nature held back precipitation for extended periods, challenging dryland production, wells readily pumped seemingly endless volumes of water to farming irrigation systems.
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/irrigation-systems/ensuring-sustainable-water-supply-deltas-farmers
Action Report: Talley Disposal Landfill Investigation
WLOX
VANCLEAVE, MS (WLOX) -Waste Pro runs Talley Disposal landfill, is known as a C&D construction debris landfill that also includes vegetative debris such as lawn trimmings.
http://www.wlox.com/story/34416772/action-report-talley-disposal-landfill-investigation
EPA uses Superfund money to clean bankrupt recyling business
Picayune Item
A local recycling business was recently cleaned of all contamination by the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.picayuneitem.com/2017/02/epa-uses-superfund-money-to-clean-bankrupt-recyling-business/
New wastewater plant advances; trouble for Jackson
Clarion Ledger
Jackson lost another legal battle in January in its attempts to prevent neighboring jurisdictions from building their own wastewater treatment facility, which would result in a $5 million loss to the city each year.
Jackson hires consent decree manager
Northside Sun
An international firm was recently brought on to manage Jackson’s $400 million sewer consent decree, but thanks to the efforts of the Jackson City Council, local consultants could soon be back at the decree’s helm.
http://northsidesun.com/news/jackson-hires-consent-decree-manager#sthash.ieGLa6I3.dpbs
Council approves debris-monitoring contract
Hattiesburg American
A special-called meeting of Hattiesburg City Council on Thursday set the stage for council members to approve a contract for debris-monitoring assistance in the aftermath of the Jan. 21 EF3 tornado.
Tanker overturns in Tupelo, blocks traffic for 12 hours
Daily Journal
TUPELO – A bad address in a GPS navigator is being blamed for an overturned tanker that blocked traffic to the southern end of Veterans Boulevard for most of Thursday.
http://djournal.com/news/tanker-overturns-tupelo-blocks-traffic/
MDOT commissioner calls lack of funding a 'crisis'
WLOX
HATTIESBURG, MS (WLOX) -The Mississippi Department of Transportation is facing a funding "crisis" with public safety at stake. That was the message delivered Thursday morning by Southern District Transportation Commissioner Tom King.
http://www.wdam.com/story/34411483/mdot-commissioner-calls-lack-of-funding-a-crisis
State employees could lose civil service protection
Daily Journal
JACKSON – The Mississippi House passed sweeping legislation Thursday by a narrow 62-57 margin that would remove civil service protection for most state employees.
http://djournal.com/news/state-lift-civil-service-protection-agencies/
Another state budget cut looming
Mississippi Today
Another mid-year budget cut may be needed after Mississippi missed its projected revenue collection total for the eighth straight month in January.
http://mississippitoday.org/2017/02/02/another-state-budget-cut-looming/
Oil Spill
Fairhope hopes a share of $160 million in BP Restore Act money
WALA
FAIRHOPE, AL (WALA) -In a five-year plan, $160 million dollars in BP Restore Act money is up for grabs in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The first round of projects is now being vetted through the Gulf Coast Restoration Council. Fairhope is hoping for nearly seven million dollars in funding.
http://www.fox10tv.com/story/34415107/fairhope-hopes-a-share-of-160-million-in-bp-restore-act-money
Regional
Weathersbee: Insight into the threats to Memphis' water supply
Commercial Appeal
Recently, Brian Waldron had to rise to a tough task.
Waldron, director of the University of Memphis Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research, had to explain to a group of citizens led by state Sens. Lee Harris and Brian Kelsey, how breaches in certain spots along the Memphis Sand Aquifer were allowing surface water to seep into the groundwater supply.
Federal utility, environmental groups close pollution trial
AP
NASHVILLE, TENN.
The Tennessee Valley Authority finished a four-day trial Thursday in which environmental groups accuse the utility's power plant outside Nashville, Tennessee, of illegally polluting the Cumberland River with coal ash.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article130271684.html
National
Senate Panel Approves Trump EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt
GOP Chairman suspended rules to approve nominee, who advances to a vote by the full Senate
WSJ
WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans voted Thursday to advance President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, the latest nominee of the new administration the GOP is sending to the Senate floor despite near-universal Democratic opposition.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-panel-approves-trump-epa-nominee-scott-pruitt-1486052220
Senate Republicans suspend committee rules to approve Scott Pruitt, Trump’s EPA nominee
Washington Post
Senate Republicans on Thursday again used their majority to suspend committee rules and push through another Trump administration nominee, Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, bypassing Democrats who for the second day had refused to show up for a vote on his nomination.
GOP senators move Trump EPA pick ahead as Dems boycott vote
AP
WASHINGTON - Republicans suspended Senate committee rules Thursday to muscle President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency toward confirmation after Democrats boycotted a vote.
Court revives suit over government pesticide approvals
AP
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court Thursday revived a sweeping lawsuit accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of endangering scores of protected species by approving toxic pesticides without required consultation with wildlife officials.
EPA illegally yanked mercury rule after Trump inauguration: lawsuit
Reuters
As U.S. President Donald Trump takes aim at what he considers an excess of federal regulations, a new lawsuit accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of illegally rescinding a rule to reduce the discharge of mercury from dental offices, mere hours after Trump took office.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-lawsuit-trump-idUSKBN15G58B
Congress does away with Obama coal mining rule
The Hill
The Senate passed a resolution Thursday ending an Obama-era coal rule, giving President Trump his first opportunity to undo an environmental rule from the previous administration.
Obama's reg tab: $890B, study finds
The Hill
President Obama issued more than $890 billion worth or regulations during his tenure in the White House, according to a new study from the center-right American Action Forum (AAF).
http://thehill.com/regulation/317545-obamas-reg-tab-890b-study-finds
Utah is the land of ski runs, pristine parks and a really bad smog problem
LA Times
The air hung heavy in the valley like damp, dirty cotton balls stagnating in a frigid bowl.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-utah-smog-2017-story.html
Opinion
Update on PERS
Northside Sun
More than 100,000 Mississippians rely on state retirement checks averaging $22,607 a year, so the annual report on the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) is big news.
http://northsidesun.com/opinion-editorials/update-pers#sthash.GIU2SFtj.dpbs
THE TIME HAS COME FOR PROCUREMENT AND BIDDING REFORM
Northside Sun
There is a way to save hundreds of millions of dollars in state expenditures without costing a dime and vastly improving our state’s business climate. We just need the political will to do it.
http://northsidesun.com/opinion-columns/time-has-come-procurement-and-bidding-reform
Press Releases
Scientists report on latest Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts
LSU scientists will present new research at the 2017 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference in New Orleans next week. These experts will be among hundreds of oil spill-related researchers from academia, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations and industry, who will share the latest oil spill and ecosystem scientific discoveries, innovations, technologies and policies on Feb. 6-9.
LSU faculty will lead an important session, where key information on how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has affected coastal ecosystems will be presented. Multi-year Signatures of the DWH Oil Spill in Coastal Systems will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 8, and led by LSU Boyd Professor R. Eugene Turner and Shell Oil Endowed Chair Nancy Rabalais in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences in the LSU College of the Coast & Environment, along with LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources Associate Professor Sabrina Taylor.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted various ecological communities differently over time. The scientists will present their findings in two parts. In Part I, the scientists will present research on marsh erosion, stability, microbes and vegetation. In Part II, they will share information on how specific ecological communities and animals that live on land and in shallow water have responded as well as the implications for the larger picture as depicted in food web studies. All of these findings affect how we prepare to avoid, minimize and mitigate activities on the coast.
Conference participants will focus on applications and practical uses of scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico. The four-day conference will consist of 23 scientific sessions with nearly 350 oral presentations and 260 poster presentations. A searchable database of abstracts for oral and poster presentations and the full conference schedule will be available on online. Click here to view the conference schedule at a glance.
Scientific talks by LSU researchers on Wednesday include:
12:00 - 12:15 p.m.
Sustained Impacts on Louisiana Salt Marsh Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by Brian Roberts, adjunct professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
3:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Reconciling the disconnect between individual- and population-level responses to contamination in Seaside Sparrows by Phil Stouffer, professor of conservation biology, School of Renewable Natural Resources
4:45 - 5:00 p.m.
Weathering of the Macondo Oil during six years in Louisiana's coastal Marshes by Ed Overton, emeritus professor, Department of Environmental Sciences
5:00 - 5:15 p.m.
A Computationally-Efficient Spatially-Distributed Model for Wave-Driven Marsh Edge Retreat by Giulio Mariotti, assistant professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
5:15 - 5:30 p.m.
Effects of Mississippi River Diversions on Hydrodynamics and Surface Oil Transport in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico by Dubravko Justi?, Distinguished Professor & Texaco Distinguished Professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/lsu-sro020217.php
