State
Coast Guard, local agencies respond to potential diesel fuel discharge near Columbus
WTVA
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - The Coast Guard is responding to a potential diesel fuel discharge in the Tennessee Tombigbee River near Columbus.
DeSoto wastewater work forges ahead
DeSoto Times-Tribune
DeSoto County's $150 million wastewater treatment system is often seen as the catalyst behind the explosive growth in Mississippi's fastest-growing county.
Three PRCUA Board members stepping down
Picayune Item
During Thursday’s meeting of the Pearl River County Utility Authority, three members of the Board of Directors indicated they would be stepping down.
To those who served on the UA Board, I commend you
Picayune Item
More than 12 years ago I sat in on the first meeting of a newly formed organization, as mandated by then Governor Haley Barbour.
Spillway- Reservoir Clean Up
WJTV
Ridgeland, MISS. (WJTV)- Good citizens come together to help clean the reservoir after leaders hint at potential closure near the Spillway. The group picked up trash and even planted trees early Saturday morning.
Mississippi ranks 9th in solar growth in second quarter
Daily Journal
Mississippi ranked ninth in the country in solar power growth in the second quarter by adding 92.9 megawatts, thanks largely to projects brought online by utilities.
City utility to close power plant in Mississippi Delta
AP
GREENWOOD, MISS.
One of Mississippi's city-owned electric utilities will close its power plant in May.
Greenwood Utilities says the Henderson Station plant, more than 50 years old, is no longer economically viable.
Hunting in decline according to national survey
Clarion Ledger
According to a national survey performed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, about 2.2 million fewer people hunted in 2016 when compared to their 2011 survey.
State Government
Sen. Gollott is now longest-serving member ever of the Mississippi Legislature
Clarion Ledger
He’s the ironman of the Mississippi Legislature.
And, it’s now official.
Oil Spill
First study on humans and oil spill dispersants shows link to compromised health
Sun Herald
A new study shows that dispersants used to clean up the BP oil spill in 2010 may have been damaging to the health of some who were exposed to the chemicals.
Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette area People in Business for Sept. 24, 2017
The Advocate
The Water Institute of the Gulf has named Alyssa Dausman as vice president for science and as chief scientist of the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana, effective Oct. 2.
Regional
Carp, clams and crested floating-hearts: Louisiana on alert for invasive species
Times-Picayune
Hurricane Harvey flushed thousands of people from their homes in southeast Texas. It might also have flushed common carp, Asian clams and a flower called the crested floating-heart across the Texas boarder into Louisiana.
The Amazonian apple snail may be our grossest invasive species yet
Al.com
Everything about our next invasive species could probably be summed up with the word "gross." From its huge size (as large as a softball) to the thousands of slimy pink egg cases it leaves behind, to the parasites it carries to its impact on native wildlife, there's very little to like about these inching invaders from South America.
Duke Energy reverses, will disclose coal ash disaster maps
AP
RALEIGH, N.C. — The country's largest electric company says it will publish federally mandated maps that it previously refused to publish, showing what could happen to neighboring properties if a coal-ash pit burst.
Environment notebook
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Keogh, Spencer rise in U.S. groups
Two Arkansas environmental leaders have risen in leadership positions at national environmental groups.
National
Agencies Recover 900-Plus Waste Containers Floated Away by Harvey
They come from different places and contain a range of chemicals; many are 55-gallons drums
WSJ
Cleanup crews in Texas have recovered 980 containers of oil or other potentially hazardous material that floated away in the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday.
Trump faces next climate hurdle
Pledge to overturn basis for regulating carbon emissions faces legal obstacles
Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump, three months after he pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords, faces another critical decision in how far he is willing to go to undo federal efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Green, industry groups file appeals to save EPA greenhouse gas rule
The Hill
An environmental group and two chemical companies filed appeals Friday of a court decision that overturned an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule restricting the use of certain greenhouse gases.
EPA removes climate references from truck efficiency website
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed some climate change references from a website about a trucking industry efficiency program.
Montana set to take over deadly asbestos cleanup site
AP
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The cleanup of a northwest Montana community where health professionals say hundreds of people have been killed by asbestos exposure entered a new phase Thursday as officials turn their focus to keeping residents safe over the long term.
Researcher: Tweaking farming practices could have big water quality impact
Iowa Ideas panelists disagree about whether Iowa's nutrient reduction strategy is working
Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — Ending two farming practices would reduce harmful nitrates in Iowa’s rivers and streams by 10 to 20 percent in just one year, predicted Chris Jones, a University of Iowa research engineer speaking at the Iowa Ideas conference Friday.
Opinion
Why all the secrecy around this rare brain tumor?
Editorial – Sun Herald
“Something’s not right.”
That’s the haunting assessment of Angel Myers, whose daughter has a rare, terminal brain tumor. She’s talking about Ocean Springs, where two other children have died from the tumor.
Analysis: Do regulators hear praises of Mississippi Power?
AP
It's beginning to sound like 2010 again at the Public Service Commission.
Business and government leaders have streamed into rate proceedings over Mississippi Power Co.'s Kemper County power plant, supporting the utility's position.
Press Releases
LSU Researchers awarded final round of BP Oil Spill Grants
BATON ROUGE, La. (LOCAL 33) (FOX 44) - LSU scientists will continue their work on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on southeastern Louisiana marsh ecosystems under the umbrella of the Coastal Waters Consortium, or CWC.
CWC was just awarded $4.8 million over the next two years beginning in January 2018, announced by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, GoMRI, this week. The Principal Investigator of the award is Nancy Rabalais, LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Professor and Shell Endowed Chair in the College of the Coast & Environment. The grant will be administered by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, or LUMCON, where Rabalais also holds a Distinguished Research Professor position. LUMCON Associate Director of Science Brian Roberts will continue biogeochemical measurements of oiled and unoiled sites, and dose-dependent treatments of marsh ecosystems.
A large contingent of LSU scientists will participate in the consortium’s work, including LSU College of the Coast & Environment faculty R. Eugene Turner, Edward B. Overton, Michael Polito, Guilio Mariotti, Dubravko Justić and Haosheng Huang, as well as LSU AgCenter faculty Sabrina Taylor and Philip Stouffer, along with scientists from several other U.S. universities. The group was successful in being one of eight funded consortia among a field of 23 submissions.
CWC researchers will bring to conclusion nine years of post-Deepwater Horizon oil effects on Louisiana coastal marshes, the degradation of oil contaminants and oil biomarkers in relation to shoreline erosion, vegetation change and productivity, effects on natural resources and biogeochemical characterization of the marshes including the flux of greenhouse gasses. High-resolution coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical-sediment-wave models will identify drivers affecting oil transport and fate in morphologically complex deltaic environments and within Barataria Bay that were heavily oiled. Marsh mesocosms will be continued to test controlled dosing of oil impacts comparable to field observations on vegetation, soil, biogeochemistry, microbes, oil degradation, organisms and predator-prey responses.
Additionally, three LSU researchers were among the 23 individuals whose sole-investigator projects were funded from a field of 163 proposals. They include LSU Department of Environmental Sciences Professor Aixin Hou and LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Assistant Professor Jun-Hong Liang in the College of the Coast & Environment, and LSU College of Engineering Professor Wanjun Wang.
UM Rosenstiel school scientists awarded over $14 million to advance oil spill science
UM scientists continue to advance scientific understanding of Deepwater Horizon oil spill
MIAMI - Researchers at the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science were awarded $12 million in two research consortium grants from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) to support research on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the environment. UM Rosenstiel School was the only research institution to receive two of the eight highly competitive research consortia grants awarded by GoMRI in its final two-year funding cycle. Three awards totaling $2.5 million were also given to individual researchers at the school.
"We are thrilled that GoMRI recognizes the importance of the groundbreaking research led by Rosenstiel School researchers through their continued investment in the science of oil spills," said UM Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar. "The scientific teams can continue their critical research to further our understanding of the impacts of oil spills from all perspectives."
The research grants were awarded two UM Rosenstiel School-based research consortia CARTHE (Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment) and RECOVER (Relationships of Effects of Cardiac Outcomes in fish for Validation of Ecological Risk).
Under the leadership of UM Rosenstiel School Professor Tamay Özgökmen, CARTHE, which consists of 19 principal investigators from 12 institutions, received $6 million to continue the necessary research to predict the fate of oil released into the environment to help inform and guide response teams in the event of future oil spills.
Since 2011, CARTHE has led four major observational experiments. The most recent, SPLASH (Submesoscale Processes and Lagrangrian Analysis on the SHelf), examined how ocean currents transport oil and other particles across the continental shelf and on shore. The study bridged the gap between the offshore observations from GLAD (Grand LAgrangian Deployment) and LASER (LAgrangian Submesoscale ExpeRiment) and the coastal observations from SCOPE (Surfzone Coastal Oil Pathways Experiment). In addition, complementary laboratory studies have led to new insights into oil plume dynamics and the effects of oil at the ocean surface. CARTHE research has been summarized in some 148 publications in 49 different peer-reviewed journals, and resulted in three patent applications to date.
During this third phase of CARTHE, which supports research through 2019, the research team will focus on analyzing the vast amount of unprecedented data that has been collected in the Gulf of Mexico and publishing new findings in high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals.
"I like to think of GoMRI, a 10-year, 1000 scientist, $500 million project, as the 'moon mission' for the ocean," said Özgökmen, director of CARTHE. "We are honored to continue to do our part to support this successful mission. Much of our success relied on our focused effort to conduct two large coordinated experiments per funding cycle to be able to deliver more than what we have promised, thanks to the vision and generous support from GoMRI. We deeply understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for oceanographic science to make rapid progress through massively collaborative work and want to capitalize on it on all fronts."
The research consortium, RECOVER, led by UM Rosenstiel School Professor Martin Grosell received a $6 million research award to conduct further studies on the impacts and toxic effects of crude oil on ecologically and commercially valuable fish that reside in the Gulf of Mexico. The RECOVER team, which consists of 10 principal investigators from five institutions, will continue their studies at the molecular, cellular, organ and whole animal level for two important Gulf of Mexico fishes, the coastal redfish and the pelagic mahi-mahi. Based on findings from RECOVER's past and ongoing work, this new research award will include a heavy emphasis on how oil exposure affects animals in their natural habitats.
Previous landmark studies by RECOVER consortium members showed that fish embryos and larvae exposed to crude oil during early development results in malformation of hearts, impaired eye development and reduced ability to smell important environmental cues, which likely results in mortality or reduced performance in later life stages. RECOVER recently tagged wild mahi-mahi with pop-up satellite tags and found that they perform extensive migrations of up to 100 kilometers per day. Researchers plan to compare the migrations and survival of oil exposed and non-exposed wild mahi-mahi in the Gulf of Mexico.
"There is still much to learn about the impacts of crude oil on fish, and being able to address the remaining uncertainties from many angles in a larger and coordinated manner will further advance our understanding of the impacts of past and future oil spills," said Grosell. "This level of funding provides a rare opportunity to examine scientific problems in a truly comprehensive manner and we are grateful that GoMRI has chosen to invest in our important research in this area."
Individual and small team awards were provided to Research Professor Vassiliki Kourafalou, lead investigator: Southeastern Gulf of Mexico Processes Affecting Basin-Wide Connectivity and Hydrocarbon Transport: The Role of Mesoscale Eddies and Upwelling Near Cuba, Associate Professor Danielle McDonald, lead investigator: The Impact of DWH Oil Exposure on the Vertebrate Stress Response and Professor Helena Solo-Gabriele, lead investigator: Beach Exposure and Child Health Study (BEACHES).
The awards are part of a $50 million research investment by GoMRI to support research on the impacts of oil, dispersed oil, and dispersant on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and public health to be carried out from 2018 through 2019. Eight consortia and 23 individual grants were awarded for this current round of funding.
"It is definitely high-pressure work, but I believe that when we look back in a few years, it will be also deeply satisfying to know we helped advance scientific knowledge of oil spills," said Özgökmen, who as director of CARTHE received three highly competitive research grants and was part of GoMRI throughout its life cycle.
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