State Government
No tickets remain for opening weekend of state's new museums
Daily Journal
JACKSON – People wanting to tour Mississippi’s two new museums during the opening weekend, Dec. 9-10, in Jackson are out of luck if they do not already have admission tickets.
Oil Spill
BP money is ‘not the solution’ for Mississippi Coast’s struggling economy, CEO says
Sun Herald
BILOXI
He painted a picture of a “decade lost” since Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill, with fewer jobs, slow growth in wages and a widening economic gap between South Mississippi and the rest of the state and the country.
Second Gulf State Park pedestrian bridge installed
WALA
GULF SHORES, AL (WALA) -Gulf State Park visitors now have a way to get safely across Beach Boulevard in Gulf Shores. A new pedestrian bridge was installed Monday night. It's the second one put up in the past month.
Regional
Exxon Will Pay $2.5 Million for Pollution at Gulf Coast Plants
NY Times
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Exxon Mobil will pay $2.5 million in fines for flaring gases at eight plants along the Gulf Coast. Agency officials said the announcement was evidence of the Trump administration’s commitment to enforcing the nation’s environmental laws.
ExxonMobil to spend $300 million on air pollution control in Baton Rouge, Texas to settle Clean Air Act violation
The Advocate
ExxonMobil has agreed to pay a penalty and improve pollution control at three Baton Rouge plants as part of a settlement with federal authorities who accused the company of violating the Clean Air Act.
Groundwater Commission investigating how much water BR Water Company pumps from aquifer in EBR but sells to Ascension customers
The Advocate
Running up to deadline, officials spent Tuesday in a scramble to figure out how much water Baton Rouge Water Company pumps in East Baton Rouge and sells to customers in Ascension Parish.
National
Pruitt Bars Some Scientists From Advising E.P.A.
NY Times
WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stripped a half-dozen scientists and academics of advisory positions Tuesday and issued new rules barring anyone who receives E.P.A. grant money from serving on panels that counsel the agency on scientific decisions.
Scott Pruitt blocks scientists with EPA funding from serving as agency advisers
Washington Post
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency upended the agency’s key advisory groups on Tuesday, announcing plans to jettison scientists who have received EPA grants.
Utility Touts Electrification to Meet California Climate Goals
Southern California Edison releases vision for how the state can comply with new law that requires greenhouse gas emissions to be cut 40% by 2030
WSJ
California can meet its ambitious goals for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, but it will require a massive shift to electric vehicles, car charging stations and renewable energy, one of the state’s biggest power companies says in a new analysis.
EPA, Colorado reach $21 million-plus settlement with Denver-based oil and gas company for smog-causing pollution
The settlement stems from regulators’ findings that PDC’s roughly 650 oil and gas tank batteries in the Denver area were leeching volatile organic compounds
Denver Post
A Denver-based oil and gas company has reached a $21 million-plus settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators for leaking smog-causing pollutants into the air from its operations sites around the city dating back roughly four years.
DEQ finalizes new rule to make safer dioxane standard more permanent
MLive
ANN ARBOR, MI - One year after issuing emergency rules to establish safer dioxane exposure standards in Michigan, the state's Department of Environmental Quality has finalized a more permanent rule.
Virginia reaches major ozone benchmark, environmental agency says
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Summer this year was “the cleanest ground-level ozone season” in Virginia in at least 20 years, the state Department of Environmental Quality announced Tuesday.
Guidelines for Farmer Air Emission Reporting released
KCRG
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has released guidance to help farmers report air emission releases from animal waste on farms.
EPA: Water at Puerto Rico Superfund site is fit for consumption
CNN
Water drawn from wells at a hazardous waste site in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico meets federal drinking water standards and is fit for consumption, the US Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release on Tuesday.
Opinion
Calling on the Coast’s best to help create jobs and boost our economy
Editorial – Sun Herald
Press Releases
Administrator Pruitt Issues Directive to Ensure Independence, Geographic Diversity & Integrity in EPA Science Committees
10/31/2017
Contact Information:
WASHINGTON (October 31, 2017) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a new directive today to ensure that any advisors serving on an EPA Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) are independent and free from any real, apparent, or potential interference with their ability to objectively serve as a committee member.
“Whatever science comes out of EPA, shouldn’t be political science,” said Administrator Pruitt. “From this day forward, EPA advisory committee members will be financially independent from the Agency.”
The directive explains that: members shall be independent from EPA, which shall include a requirement that no member of any of EPA’s federal advisory committees be currently in receipt of EPA grants, either as principal investigator or co-investigator, or in a position that otherwise would reap substantial direct benefit from an EPA grant. This principle would not apply to state, tribal or local government agency recipients of EPA grants. An accompanying memorandum issued by EPA Administrator Pruitt explains the directives to improve the independence and integrity of EPA’s FACs in ways that advance the Agency’s mission.
According to EPA calculations, in just the last three years, members of three of EPA’s 22 FACs – the Science Advisory Board (SAB), Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) – received upwards of $77 million in direct EPA grant funding while concurrently serving on these committees.
Today, Administrator Pruitt also announced his plan to appoint new leadership and new members to SAB, CASAC and BOSC. In the spirit of cooperative federalism, Administrator Pruitt intends to appoint members that will significantly increase geographic diversity and state, tribal, and local government participation on the committees. A list of members will be posted in coming days.
The directive focuses on the importance of the following areas pertaining to EPA FACs:
1. Strengthen Member Independence: Members shall be independent from EPA, which shall include a requirement that no member of an EPA federal advisory committee be currently in receipt of EPA grants, either as principal investigator or co-investigator, or in a position that otherwise would reap substantial direct benefit from an EPA grant. This principle shall not apply to state, tribal or local government agency recipients of EPA grants.
2. Increase State, Tribal and Local Government Participation: In the spirit of cooperative federalism and recognition of the unique experience of state, tribal and local government officials, committee balance should reflect prominent participation from state, tribal and local governments. Such participation should be appropriate for the committee’s purpose and function.
3. Enhance Geographic Diversity: Given the range of environmental and public health considerations across the country, membership should be balanced with individuals from different states and EPA regions. Emphasis should be given to individuals from historically unrepresented or underrepresented states and regions.
4. Promote Fresh Perspectives: To encourage and promote the inclusion of new candidates with fresh perspectives and to avoid prolonged and continuous service, membership should be rotated regularly.
“Strengthening independence from EPA, increasing state, tribal and local government participation, and adding geographic diversity and fresh perspectives will improve the integrity of EPA’s scientific advisory committees,” said EPA Administrator Pruitt.
To read the full directive please visit here. To read the full memo please visit here.
Under Agreement with the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency, ExxonMobil to Reduce Harmful Air Pollution at Eight U.S. Chemical Plants
10/31/2017
Contact Information:
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) announced a settlement today with Exxon Mobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Oil Corp., (ExxonMobil) that will eliminate thousands of tons of harmful air pollution from eight of Exxon’s petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Texas and Louisiana. The settlement resolves allegations that ExxonMobil violated the Clean Air Act by failing to properly operate and monitor industrial flares at their petrochemical facilities, which resulted in excess emissions of harmful air pollution.
ExxonMobil will spend approximately $300 million to install and operate air pollution control and monitoring technology to reduce harmful air pollution from 26 industrial flares at five ExxonMobil facilities in Texas—located near Baytown, Beaumont, and Mont Belvieu—and three of the company’s facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Once fully implemented, the pollution controls required by the settlement are estimated to reduce harmful air emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by more than 7,000 tons per year. The settlement is also expected to reduce toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by more than 1,500 tons per year.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is also a signatory of today’s settlement, which resolves alleged violations of Louisiana law at ExxonMobil’s three plants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“This settlement means cleaner air for communities across Texas and Louisiana, and reinforces EPA’s commitment to enforce the law and hold those who violate it accountable,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “As this agreement shows, EPA is dedicated to partnering with states to address critical environmental issues and improving compliance in the regulated community to prevent future violations of the law.”
“This settlement will improve air quality in Texas and Louisiana by eliminating thousands of tons of harmful air pollution each year,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “The agreement, which requires Exxon to reduce emissions from its facilities in Texas and Louisiana, demonstrates the Justice Department’s continuing efforts, alongside EPA and our state partners, to protect the American public from these harmful pollutants by bringing sources of air pollution into compliance with the Clean Air Act.”
“LDEQ is always happy to cooperate with our federal partners in investigating environmental violations,” said Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Secretary of the LDEQ. “This settlement will benefit the entire state of Louisiana, and the Beneficial Environmental Projects included in the settlement will enhance LDEQ’s surveillance and enforcement capabilities.”
These pollutants can cause significant harm to public health. VOCs are a key component in the formation of smog or ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates the lungs, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Chronic exposure to benzene, which EPA classifies as a carcinogen, can cause numerous health impacts, including leukemia and adverse reproductive effects in women.
Flares are devices used to combust waste gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere during certain industrial operations. Well-operated flares should have high “combustions efficiency,” meaning they combust nearly all harmful waste gas constituents, like VOCs and hazardous air pollutants, and turning them into water and carbon dioxide. The agreement is designed to improve Exxon’s flaring practices. First, it requires Exxon to minimize the amount of waste gas that is sent to the flares. Second, Exxon must improve the combustion efficiency of its flares.
In order to minimize the waste gas sent to the flares, Exxon will create waste minimization plans for each facility. At four of the facilities, Exxon will operate flare gas recovery systems which minimize the amount of waste gas sent to the flares by recovering and recycling the gases before they are sent for combustion in a flare. The flare gas recovery systems will allow ExxonMobil to reuse these gases as a fuel at its facilities or a product for sale. In order to improve combustion efficiency, ExxonMobil must also install and operate instruments and monitoring systems to ensure that gases that are sent to flares are efficiently combusted. ExxonMobil will perform air quality monitoring that is designed to detect the presence of benzene at the fence lines of four of the covered plants, and pay a civil penalty of $2.5 million.
Today’s settlement also requires ExxonMobil to spend $1 million on a supplemental environmental project to plant trees in the City of Baytown. The trees will provide a natural buffer to reduce airborne pollutants from the chemical plants to nearby communities.
The LDEQ will receive $470,000 of the $2.5 million total civil penalty, and ExxonMobil will perform two state “beneficial environmental projects,” including purchasing a $1.5 million mobile air quality monitoring vehicle for LDEQ’s use.
The consent decree, lodged in the Southern District Court of Texas, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. The consent decree will be available for viewing at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
