State
No resolution in sight for dam at Long Creek Reservoir Meridian Star
Now that Mississippi Power has announced it is stopping work to get the Kemper County plant operational on lignite coal, the clock starts ticking Thursday on a quick process to resolve the issues surrounding the energy facility.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article159182924.html Families take precautions while swimming at the reservoir WAPT
Turtles head back to ‘newly renovated home’
Daily Comet
Three environmental groups have said they intend to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for "failing to ensure that Mississippi and Alabama have measures to prohibit conflicts of interest on state boards that approve and enforce Clean Air Act pollution permits."
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/07/environmental_groups_to_sue_ov.html Baton Rouge Water Company says industry needs to stop drawing water from aquifer The Advocate
Researchers have been working for years to develop methods to turn
food wasteinto a viable and economic energy source. Americans waste up to 40% of the food produced each year for domestic consumption and capturing the energy from that waste could help power the electric grid of the future.
http://time.com/4842131/food-waste-climate-change-energy/ Opinion
Wyatt Emmerich: Several deserve credit for pushing against Kemper plant Commercial Dispatch
The announcement that Southern Company was throwing in the towel on Kemper's lignite gasification came as no surprise. The project was doomed from the start. Scaling up an experimental plant by a factor of 100 is engineering malpractice. Coal gasification, a technology that has been around for 80 years, has never been cost feasible. Trying to do it with low-grade lignite borders on the absurd.
http://www.cdispatch.com/opinions/article.asp?aid=59111 Mississippi Public Service Commission served the people well Sun Herald
President Trump is having a hard time getting legislation through Congress, but his Administration is moving fast to roll back Barack Obama’s pen- and-a-phone lawmaking. The latest example, which barely registered in the press, is the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last week to rescind the unilateral rewrite of the Clean Water Act.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pruitts-clean-water-break-1499030184 Press Releases
USDA/NRCS Assists Farmers to Improve Water Quality in Mississippi River Basin Jackson, Miss. – The United States Department of Agriculture / Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) has made funding available through the Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI)
o assist landowners and farmers with improving the water quality of the Mississippi River and its
tributaries. The MRBI funds are channeled through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
and help farmers adopt conservation systems that improve water quality control, soil erosion,
and enhance wildlife habitat.
NRCS will accept applications for the MRBI through July 21, 2017. The specific areas in Mississippi
are the Beaver Bayou-Mound Bayou, Burrell Bayou, Tommie Bayou/Brook Bayou, Christmas Lake Bayou,
Stillwater Bayou and Long Lake in Bolivar, Washington and Sunflower Counties.
“NRCS is working with landowners and farmers through the MRBI to improve water quality in watersheds
within the Mississippi River Basin which helps to deliver water quality benefits to communities in
Mississippi," stated Kurt Readus, NRCS state conservationist for Mississippi.
Known as “America’s River,” the Mississippi River is North America’s largest river and the second
largest watershed in the world. It flows over 2,300 miles through America’s heartland to the Gulf
of Mexico and provides drinking water, food, industry, and recreation for millions of people.
It is the main stem of a network of inland navigable waterways 12,350 miles in length and is a
globally significant migratory flyway and home for over 325 bird species.
Through the MRBI, NRCS and partners work with producers and landowners to implement voluntary
conservation practices that improve water quality, restore wetlands, enhance wildlife habitat and
sustain agricultural profitability and viability of cropland. These conservation practices will serve to
help control nutrient runoff, prevent erosion and provide essential wildlife habitat.
Research has shown that MRBI conservation programs on croplands in the Mississippi River Basin
have reduced the amount of soil loss per acre and reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus flowing
to the Gulf of Mexico.
Landowners and producers interested in participating in MRBI may apply at their local USDA service
center/NRCS Office. NRCS financial-assistance programs offer a continuous sign-up however,
applications received by July 21, 2017 will be considered for funding in this ranking period.
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