State
Arkansas Business Journal
Employees from the Center for Toxicology & Environmental Health LLC of North Little Rock arrived in Houston on Aug. 27, two days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall.
...Its customers include manufacturers, transporters and the end users of chemical products, and it also works for government agencies other than FEMA, including the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
“So when there is a chemical release in the state of Mississippi, if the responsible party is not already a client of ours and asks us to respond, the state of Mississippi sends us out,” Goad said.
PSC TO DISCUSS KEMPER PLANT IN EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY
MPB
There's still no final settlement between the state and Mississippi Power as to who will pick up part of the tab for the Kemper County Energy Facility. As MPB's Mark Rigsby reports, the plant was to become a shining example of clean coal technology, but was not cost-effective in the end.
Crawford resident receives award for 40 years of service to NWS
Commercial Dispatch
For 40 years, Esta Hayden has taken rainfall records at her home just west of Crawford. Recently, the National Weather Service honored her for it.
Oil Spill
BP Files for New York IPO of Pipeline Assets
British oil company seeks to raise up to $100 million from offering based on U.S. pipeline network
WSJ
LONDON— BP BP 0.68% PLC is moving forward with plans to float some of its vast network of U.S. pipelines in a move that would spin out cash from the company’s infrastructure assets across America.
Regional
EPA grants pollution waiver to Florida utilities after Irma
AP
State and federal environmental regulators issued a blanket waiver on Monday for Floridaelectricity companies to violate clean air and water standards without penalty for the next two weeks.
From swamp to table, this meal could help save Louisiana's coast
Times-Picayune
Nutria have contributed to Louisiana coastal erosion with their appetite for plant roots that bind wetlands together. So Cavan restaurant executive chef Nathan Richard wants us to control the population by developing our own appetite -- for nutria.
National
China to U.S.: Please stop sending us your junk
CNN
For decades, shipping containers have been loaded with American scrap and waste and dispatched to China for recycling.
Hurricanes Add to Problems for Oil Bulls
Harvey and Irma will hurt energy demand in large areas of the South, even as drilling continues and crude in storage is abundant
WSJ
The havoc wreaked by major summer storms stands to deepen a global crude-supply glutthat has depressed oil prices for more than three years.
Inside the Government Program That Pays to Rebuild Neighborhoods After a Storm
Congress has approved more than $50 billion in disaster recovery funding from the Community Development Block Grant program since 1993
WSJ
When superstorm Sandy hit Toms River, N.J., in 2012, the damage went beyond homes and businesses. The resulting drop in property values—about $2 billion all told—also blew a huge hole in the budget of the coastal New Jersey township.
Amendment to EPA funding bill would strip agency of power to enforce Chesapeake cleanup plan
Baltimore Sun
A bill to fund the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal programs from December through September 2018 would strip the agency of its power to enforce a Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, under a provision approved in the House of Representatives.
Press Releases
COCHRAN INCLUDES ALLUVIAL AQUIFER RESEARCH CENTER FUNDING IN AG APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Committee passes Bill Important to Producers, Ag Research, Rural Development, Water Use Research in Mississippi
Delta Council
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved FY2018 research funding in the amount of $1M to support the establishment of the Alluvial Aquifer Research Center in Stoneville. "We thank Chairman Cochranfor his dedicated support of our region and attention to issues imperative to the life of agriculture and sustainable water resource research and management, while meeting the federal budget agreement on spending," stated Bowen Flowers, Chairman of the Delta Council Soil and Water Resources Committee.
ADEQ Seeking Input on Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Plan
NORTH LITTLE ROCK—The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is seeking public input on the development of a plan to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in Arkansas.
The State of Arkansas is poised to receive $14,647,709.09 as a result of two partial consent decrees resulting from a settlement with Volkswagen Automotive Group and associated legal entities for violations of the federal Clean Air Act. Volkswagen sold approximately 500,000 model year 2009–2015 vehicles equipped with two-liter diesel engines and approximately 80,000 model year 2009–2016 vehicles equipped with three-liter diesel engines. The subject vehicles were equipped with defeat devices used to decrease emissions of NOx during emissions testing, but allowed much higher NOx emissions during on-road use. NOx contributes to the formation of ozone which is a respiratory irritant and the primary ingredient of smog.
Eligible mitigation actions under terms of the consent decrees include:
· Replacement or repowering of large freight and port drayage trucks
· Replacement or repowering of school buses, shuttle buses, and transit buses
· Replacement or repowering of pre-Tier 4 freight switchers
· Repowering of eligible ferries and tugs
· Ocean going vessel shorepower
· Replacement or repowering of local freight trucks
· Replacement or repowering of airport ground support equipment
· Replacement or repowering of forklifts and port cargo handling equipment
· Light duty zero emission vehicle supply equipment
· Use of funds for Diesel Emission Reduction Act projects
While the primary goal of the emissions reduction projects will be to reduce NOx emissions, other benefits will include reductions of other pollutants, economic development, and increased penetration of alternative fuel-powered vehicles. All projects completed using trust fund money will serve to improve air quality throughout Arkansas and improve the lives and health of all Arkansans.
