State
NO NEW POULTRY ORDINANCE
WCBI
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) -Monroe County Supervisors say a proposed poultry plan won’t fly.
In a 3-2 vote the Board decided to keep the existing chicken industry ordinance.
The new rules would have increased the distance between chicken houses and homes or businesses, beyond what is required by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Magnolia gets funds for sewage lagoon repairs
Enterprise-Journal
Magnolia officials have been awarded a $450,000 grant that the city will use to make repairs to its sewage lagoons in order to comply with environmental regulations.
The Community Development Block Grant awarded through the Mississippi Development Authority buys the city time to carry out repairs it must make under an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
State Government
Analysis: Mississippi budget practices receive mixed grades
AP
A nonpartisan group that evaluates state government budget practices is giving mostly midlevel marks to Mississippi.
Lamar confirmed by Senate for U.S. Attorney for the Northern District
Oxford Eagle
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Oxford native Chad Lamar as the new chief federal prosecutor for the northern half of Mississippi.
Oil Spill
50 years later, Apollo 4 capsule reaches Infinity Science Center
Sun Herald
Fifty years ago this week, the unmanned Apollo 4 mission blasted off at Kennedy Space Center, and now the command module has found a new place in history at Infinity Science Center in Hancock County.
30 miles outside Pensacola, Gulf Shores is running a modern fish hatchery
PNJ
Debate has swirled in Pensacola over the location of a planned Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fish hatchery, but 30 miles away, Alabama has been quietly operating a new, modern saltwater hatchery in Gulf Shores.
Regional
Toxic solvent from dry-cleaners found in Memphis Sand aquifer
Commercial Appeal
Investigators at a Memphis hazardous waste site discovered "elevated levels" of a toxic dry-cleaning solvent in the aquifer supplying the city with drinking water, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said.
Is Ouachita Parish toxic? Yes, says EPA
Monroe News Star
Ouachita Parish is the 29th most toxic county in America, and Louisiana ranks as the fifth most poisonous environment among states, according to a Forbes report using Environmental Protection Agency data.
State plan to cut haze tilts toward status quo
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A proposed state plan to reduce haze in Arkansas and Missouri would eliminate the heftiest requirements of the current in-place federal plan.
U of L receives $6.7 million to create Superfund research center
Louisville Business Journal
The University of Louisville received a $6.7 million grant from the federal government to research how environmental pollution affects health.
NC Officials Will Take Action After Recent Chemical Spill
AP
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality says a spill resulting in an increase of toxic chemical levels in a river hadn't been reported by a chemical company until regulators approached.
NC DEQ scientist tapped as Trump adviser. Now he’s on investigative leave.
News & Observer
RALEIGH
Two Department of Environmental Quality employees who were first and second in command during former Gov. Pat McCrory’s Republican administration have been suspended with pay from the state agency under the new Democratic administration.
National
CO2 Emissions Were Flat for Three
Years. Now They’re Rising Again.
NY Times
BONN, Germany — Industrial emissions of carbon dioxide are projected to rise to record highs in 2017 after a three-year plateau, scientists said Monday.
EPA is taking more advice from industry — and ignoring its own scientists
Washington Post
When the Environmental Protection Agency this week proposed repealing tighter emissions standards for a type of freight trucks, it cited research conducted by Tennessee Tech University but underwritten by the biggest truck manufacturer challenging the rule.
20 states, 50 cities sign pledge to abide by Paris agreement even if US withdraws
The Hill
A coalition of U.S. cities, states, companies and universities said on Saturday that they still plan on meeting the commitments of the Paris climate accord, despite President Trump's announcement earlier this year that the U.S. would withdraw from the deal.
$300 Billion War Beneath the Street: Fighting to Replace America's Water Pipes
NY Times
Bursting pipes. Leaks. Public health scares.
America is facing a crisis over its crumbling water infrastructure, and fixing it will be a monumental and expensive task.
House approves bill to expand hydropower
AP
WASHINGTON
The Republican-controlled House has approved a bill aimed at expanding hydroelectric power, an action supporters said would boost a clean source of renewable energy but opponents denounced as a giveaway to large power companies.
Near refinery’s hum, neighbors cry: Get us out of here
Detroit News
Detroit — Dozens of demonstrators gathered Thursday at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in a bid to convince the company to relocate all who want to relocate over concerns about pollution.
Opinion
The media’s tactics to silence science at Trump’s EPA
BY JEFF STIER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
The Hill
Activists are whipping the media and politicians into frenzies over Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s reforms.
