State
City failed to prove change, residents claim in Costco zoning lawsuit
Madison County Journal
Panola County may soon have a new sand and gravel mining operation following Monday’s meeting of the Panola County Land Commission who approved a 490 acre area west of Old Panola Road just south of the Tate County line.
http://www.panolian.com/2017/03/17/gravel-mine-okayed/ Red Creek survey is underway Stone County Enterprise
Experts in the scientific community may overwhelmingly agree on the existence and factors causing climate change, but a new analysis suggests that most Americans aren’t swayed by scientific knowledge on the issue.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article140274288.html Latest Threat to U.S. Oil Drillers: The Rocketing Price of Sand The market for a key ingredient in fracking is again surging WSJ
For the last couple of weeks, I've been watching, with considerable interest, the spirited dialog on global warming in the Northside Sun. As an MD, I'd like to introduce an important yet neglected topic into the conversation: the considerable impact of a changing climate on human health.
http://northsidesun.com/opinion-columns/global-warming-will-bring-many-health-problems#sthash.CoNAqZQw.dpbs Press Releases
MDEQ and MDMR Warn Boaters Away from Round Island Marsh Restoration Project (JACKSON, Miss.)
– The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) are warning boaters to stay clear of the Round Island Marsh Restoration construction project near Pascagoula due to loose materials that could be dangerous if walked on.
The initial phase of marsh creation at Round Island is expected to be completed this weekend. A sand berm was created and filled with dredge spoils from the Pascagoula Channel as the initial step in creating a new marsh habitat for the Mississippi Coast. The majority of the material in the area is very loose, and although there are areas that appear to be solid surfaces, it is where the top material is crusted over and remains very dangerous underneath. All of the area inside of the berm can be very dangerous and is not intended for public use at this time. Round Island remains an active construction site and is posted as such (Danger – Construction Area – Keep Out). Until the material inside of the berm dries out and can hold the weight of a person, public access to the island is off limits.
The $8 million sand berm is being funded as part of the $21 million project from Round Two of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund awarded to Mississippi and announced by Governor Phil Bryant in November of 2014. NFWF’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund was created as part of the settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice, BP, and Transocean to resolve certain criminal charges against both companies in relation to the spill.
The Round Island project is part of NFWF’s Utilization of Dredge Material for Marsh Restoration Project which identifies Beneficial Use (BU) material from dredging activities and then finds suitable sites to receive that BU material to restore marsh in areas that have seen degradation over the past decades and especially where affected by the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The overall project includes plans for sites in all three coastal counties.
A unique situation developed in the Mississippi Sound which presented a perfect opportunity for Mississippi to increase the marsh acreage adjacent to Round Island. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers added the Port of Pascagoula to its list of sites to be dredged, and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources had previously obtained the appropriate permits for construction adjacent to Round Island. Through a Memorandum of Understanding the state, local, and federal agencies designed a plan for MDEQ, with oversight aid from MDMR, to construct a protective berm adjacent to Round Island, within the boundaries of the MDMR permit.
For information about this and other restoration efforts in Mississippi, access
www.restore.ms.
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WFU names former EPA official to lead graduate
Wake Forest University has appointed alumnus and former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official Stan Meiburg (’75) as director of graduate programs in sustainability.
Meiburg served as Acting Deputy Administrator for the EPA from 2014 to 2017, capping a 39-year career with the agency.
He is known for leading efforts to protect the nation’s air and water, clean up hazardous and toxic waste sites, build collaborative relationships with state and tribal environmental programs, and promote sound management in EPA.
At Wake Forest, he will lead
the master of arts in sustainability program and associated dual degree and certificate programs. He will work with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (CEES). Meiburg will join Wake Forest on July 1.
Meiburg joined the EPA in 1977 in Washington, D.C., and later served as deputy regional director of the EPA’s Atlanta office and as the deputy regional administrator in Dallas, Texas. He was only the second person in the agency’s history to serve as deputy regional administrator in more than one region. From 1985 to 1990, he served with the EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards in Research Triangle Park.
“Leading sustainability graduate programs at Wake Forest is a fabulous opportunity,” said Meiburg, who earned his B.A. in political science from Wake Forest in 1975 and then earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University. “I want to help educate and train the next generation of environmental professionals, something I very much enjoyed at EPA. I hope to provide insights from my own experience about the public policy space in which environmental sustainability operates.”
He is particularly pleased to return to his alma mater.
“Time and time again I have seen the value of a liberal arts education,” Meiburg said. “Wake Forest has a unique opportunity in its sustainability programs to reach across a wide variety of disciplines and skills, from the divinity school to the law school to the business school to the medical school.”
“Sustainability is an overarching framework that is relevant to any calling that students pursue, whether it be public service, the private sector, or with non-profit organizations. It is an interest we all share.”Stan Meiburg
Meiburg received numerous awards for his work at EPA, including recognition as a Distinguished Federal Executive in 2012 and as a Meritorious Federal Executive in 1997. Other accolades include EPA’s Gold Medal in 1990 for his work on the Clean Air Act Amendments and a Silver Medal in 1983 for work on state-federal relations.
He envisions developing collaborations between Wake Forest’s sustainability programs and other partners within North Carolina and across the Southeast.
Miles Silman, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Professor of Conservation Biology and director of CEES who chaired the national search committee, said Meiburg is the perfect person to grow and expand Wake Forest’s sustainability programs. “He has led one of the largest organizations in government with 15,000 employees and an $8 billion budget. He wants to take all he’s learned in government service and the relationships he’s developed in the private sector and bring it to academia to create the next generation of leaders in sustainability.”
Launched in 2014, the master’s in sustainability is an innovative and distinctive one-year, 30-credit-hour program allowing students to assume leadership roles in sustainability. Further extending the program’s reach, two dual-degree options with the School of Divinity and School of Law are offered. Wake Forest also offers a graduate certificate in sustainability. As an interdisciplinary program, core courses and electives are taught by faculty from multiple departments as well as the School of Law and the School of Business.
While at the EPA, Meiburg engaged with sustainability graduate students through the Wake Forest Office in Washington, which connects students and faculty with alumni, parents and friends working in D.C.
“We are excited about the future of sustainability on our campus, and the homecoming of Stan Meiburg,” said Brad Jones, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Wake Forest.
“Stan Meiburg brings a compelling vision, deep knowledge of environmental policy and national leadership experience.”Rogan Kersh, Wake Forest University provost and public policy expert
“We expect his impact on sustainability education to extend beyond graduate programs to benefit Wake Forest as a whole,” said Kersh.
http://news.wfu.edu/2017/02/02/wfu-names-former-epa-official-to-lead-graduate-programs-in-sustainability/programs in sustainability
