State
15th Annual Cleanup At Enid Lake Is Scheduled Feb. 24
North Mississippi Herald
VICKSBURG – Team members of the Corps' Enid Lake is partnering with Enid Lake Volunteers for Waste Management to conduct Enid Lake's 15th Annual Clean-Up Day to be held February 24.
Byram top cop dons kilt to combat cancer during Fight for Air Climb fundraiser
Clarion Ledger
Climbing 22 flights of stairs is a challenge Luke Thompson willingly takes on to help fight lung disease.
...Melissa Fortenberry of Brandon, an employee at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, has completed the climb the last seven years. She serves as captain of the MDEQ team and has a goal to get 20-30 people to join.
“We want clean air and that goes hand-in-hand with healthy living,” said Fortenberry, a member of the lung association’s leadership board who can name family members who have dealt with lung disease.
Keep America Beautiful honors Mississippi man with Iron Eyes Cody Award
NewsMS
Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2018, today presented Jackson, Mississippi’s Ron Aldridge with its Iron Eyes Cody Award in recognition of his decades of community service devoted to advancing Mississippi as a cleaner, greener and more beautiful state.
Arguments Monday in Costco case
Madison County Journal
Oral arguments in the Costco zoning challenge are scheduled to begin on Monday before the state Supreme Court.
Natural gas project should bring $5.5 million to community
New Albany Gazette
Work was expected to begin this week on the natural gas compressor station to be constructed in Northeast Union County along the Columbia-Gulf gas line.
Have you ever seen a vampire deer?
Clarion Ledger
When a Caledonia man found dead buck on the side of a road, it didn't seem all that special, but when he began cleaning the skull to mount it, he discovered something very unusual.
State Government
HIGH HOPES FOR STATE LOTTERY DASHED
MPB
It could be another year or more before Mississippi has a lottery. Despite high hopes some lawmakers say getting the bills to the floor for a vote is a challenge.
Bill passes Senate to allow University Medical Center to move up to 7,000 human remains
Daily Journal
JACKSON – The state Senate voted Wednesday to allow the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson to disinter up to 7,000 human remains and move them to another nearby location.
Oil Spill
Department of Environmental Protection cancels bids for Bruce Beach hatchery
PNJ
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday it has canceled all bids from general contractors vying for the proposed Bruce Beach hatchery.
Regional
EPA to update public on hazards from dry-cleaners site
Commercial Appeal
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials on Thursday will update the public on their investigation of contamination from a former dry-cleaners site near the University of Memphis that could threaten public drinking water supplies.
Oil spill near Louisiana areas where young whooping cranes released
AP
The Coast Guard says nearly 1,300 gallons of oil spilled from an oil production facility into southwest Louisiana wetlands near the areas where young endangered whooping cranes are released into the wild.
Cancer-causing radon found in east Alabama town's well water, researcher says
Al.com
Residents of Fruithurst in Cleburne County have been urged to avoid drinking well water after Auburn University scientists found elevated levels of radon in water samples taken from wells in the area.
Senators ask EPA about state regulatory authority
Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Four state senators, including one representing Bladen County, wrote a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency questioning whether the state has authority to regulate substances without federal standards.
Appeals court upholds FEMA denial of $586 million to restore islands
Times-Picayune
National
Trump administration delays expansion of clean water rule
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday delayed implementation of an Obama-era clean water rule by another two years to give the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers more time to do away with it.
EPA delays Obama water rule
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pushing back by two years an Obama administration rule redefining the federal government’s power over small waterways.
The Trump administration is working to repeal the rule, dubbed the Clean Water Rule or Waters of the United States, and formally proposed to do so last year.
Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Were Fast. It Could Get Messy in Court.
NY Times
WASHINGTON — As the head of the federal agency controlling billions of acres of public lands and waters, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has spent the past year making bold policy proclamations to advance President Trump’s energy agenda: He would open coastal waters to drilling, shrink national monuments, lift Obama-era fossil fuel regulations and reduce wildlife protections.
Trump: ‘We have ended the war on American energy’
The Hill
President Trump boasted about his aggressive environmental deregulatory agenda Tuesday, saying he’s put an end to the “war” on American energy and coal.
White House seeks 72 percent cut to clean energy research, continue focus on fossil fuels
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department's renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019, according to draft budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.
U.S. Oil Production Tops 10 Million Barrels A Day for First Time Since 1970
Shale production helped lift November output to just shy of record
WSJ
U.S. oil production surpassed 10 million barrels a day in November for the first time in nearly 50 years, a milestone that underscores the growing dominance of the U.S. oil industry.
US officials consider new tool to combat mine spills: Robots
AP
Crumbling mine tunnels awash with polluted waters perforate the Colorado mountains, and scientists may one day send robots creeping through the pitch-black passages to study the mysterious currents that sometimes burst to the surface with devastating effects.
Toxic waste from coal ash pits leaching into Illinois' only National Scenic River
Chicago Tribune
Seven years after Dynegy Inc. scrapped one of the last coal plants in downstate Illinois, environmental groups are accusing the company of failing to prevent toxic waste stored nearby from seeping into the state’s only National Scenic River.
Opinion
Pruitt’s Bad Pebble Precedent
The Trump EPA ratifies a pre-emptive Obama veto on projects.
WSJ
Scott Pruitt has done good work reining in his predecessor’s regulatory overreach. But that only makes the EPA Administrator’s decision late last week to rubber stamp a violation of due process toward a mine proposal in Alaska all the more disappointing.
Press Releases
EPA and Army Finalize "Waters of the United States" Applicability Date
01/31/2018
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of the Army (Army) have finalized a rule adding an applicability date to the 2015 Clean Water Rule (the 2015 Rule).
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Signs Endangered Species Act Memorandum with State Agriculture Commissioners
01/31/2018
WASHINGTON (January 31, 2018) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt spoke at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Winter Policy Conference and signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) establishing an interagency Working Group to evaluate and improve the Endangered Species Act consultation process for pesticide registration.
