State
After 9 months, GPSD in final stage of oil cleanup
Delta Democrat Times
The Greenville Public School District Board of Trustees has spent the last nine months working to cleanup an oil spill at the district’s bus barn. But, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for them.
Sam Bailey, the district’s transportation director, during Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting said the final step in the oil cleanup plan was to take soil samples to check contamination levels. If those come out clean, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will consider the matter closed.
“We have water and we have soil that is conducive to breaking down oils,” Bailey said.
Following Bailey’s recommendation, the board approved Neel-Schaffer Engineering Solutions to take five boring samples throughout the contaminated area. Bailey said Neel-Schaffer’s plan had been approved by MDEQ as “adequate.”
Bailey received one other bid from First Environmental Safety Solutions Inc. They, however, required 25 boring samples, which he said was “excessive.”
Depending on the chemical analysis of the soil samples, Bailey said the state Department of Environmental Quality might make the district take more samples. Or, they could consider the matter closed.
The worst case scenario, he said, would be finding oil contaminants in the samples. Should that happen, the district would be required to “dig up the road” to do further cleanup. However, Bailey said, he thinks the chances are pretty good MDEQ will be happy with the district’s efforts.
That was welcomed news for the board as the district has been wading through engineering regulations and state laws for the better part of a year in an effort to keep the oil spill from reaching Greenville’s water systems.
In May, Bill Burle, a partner at W.L. Burle Engineering, was performing a sewer inspection for the City of Greenville when he noticed oil had leaked into the city’s wastewater system from GPSD’s bus barn, where they store and maintain school buses. With Burle assisting them, the board quickly took action to clean up the spill and prevent further contamination.
In October, the trustees thought they were almost done when they were presented with a final bill from United States Environmental Services, the company the district hired to clean up the spill. However, that bill was $25,000 over the approved budget.
“They were telling us we were on budget through June 19,” Burle said during the Oct. 2 board meeting, adding the project was completed that month, too. “We found out on June 27 that we were above budget.”
While the board understood the oil spill qualified as an environmental emergency, they refused to pay the additional $25,000 until USES could explain why it was necessary to go over budget.
Tuesday, the board got their answer.
Janice Page-Johnson, superintendent for GPSD, said Bailey went through the invoice and found about half of it wasn’t chargeable.
“In the contract, they said they’d use a 3-ton truck, but they charged us for a 5-ton truck,” Page-Johnson said, adding other similar discrepancies were found. “Mr. Bailey found $17-$20,000 of it was not chargeable.”
While Page-Johnson said she had contacted USES about the discrepancies, she said she has yet to hear back. They have told her they are “waiting for the architects” to review the case before amending their invoice.
On Page-Johnson’s recommendation, the board approved paying 50 percent of the bill, or $33,000, as a final payment to USES for the oil cleanup work.
Board President Jan Vaughn said the board may still owe USES some money when the dust settles, but they don’t want to pay for work that wasn’t done.
Portion of Highway 29 in Jones Co. closed due to chemical spill
WDAM
An 18-wheeler carrying a hazardous chemical crashed and overturned on highway 29 in Jones County Saturday.
Mississippi DEQ awards grants to boost solid waste and recycling efforts
Recycling Today
Bosses at world's most ambitious clean coal plant kept problems secret for years
Disclosure regarding the $7.5bn Kemper plant in Mississippi throws further cloud over promise of clean coal energy
The Guardian
Executives at the world’s most ambitious “clean coal” plant knew for years about serious design flaws and budget problems but sought to withhold key information from regulators before their plans collapsed, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.
Diamondhead man up for Mississippi Rural Water Association’s Water Operator of the Year
Sea Coast Echo
On April 18, Diamondhead Water and Sewer District's Operations and Maintenance Manager Joe Higginbotham will learn if he has been chosen Mississippi Rural Water Association's Water Operator of the Year.
The City of Laurel is cutting energy costs
WDAM
The City of Laurel is cutting energy costs by starting an energy efficiency project. This project will renew and enhance many city buildings.
Origin of Mississippi CWD deer found
Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks received results of DNA testing done on a male deer that was found to have chronic wasting disease last month in Issaquena County and they paint a different picture than many have suggested.
What Louisiana is doing to monitor deadly disease after deer in Mississippi tests positive
WDSU
BATON ROUGE, La. —What do you know about chronic wasting disease?
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials are monitoring the disease after a white-tailed deer was recently found dead from the illness in Issaquena County, Mississippi, which borders East Carroll and Madison parishes in northeast Louisiana.
Flooding causes closure of South Delta Wildlife Management Areas
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) -- The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is closing some wildlife management areas due to flooding.
Turkey season around the corner for Mississippi hunters
NewsMS
For most, March is a time for beautiful spring weather and flowers in bloom. For Mississippi’s estimated 50,000 wild turkey hunters, it also brings something else.
A force of nature: Meet a Mississippi trailblazer with a passion for wild things
Commercial Dispatch
When Fannye Cook was born in Mississippi in 1889, women were not allowed to vote. They couldn't serve on juries. Some states had yet to officially grant women control over their own earnings. In a time when females were often regarded as unsuited to science, business or politics, Cook rewrote the script.
New Quality of Life Ranking Challenges Mississippi Stereotypes
US News and World Report
…According to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi is one of only 10 states east of the Mississippi River to be in attainment of EPA's ozone standard.
State Government
Regulators seek more utility work for Mississippi companies
AP
An effort by Mississippi regulators to push utilities to hire more locally based companies has begun.
Oil Spill
$268K federal grant awarded to Escambia County Eleven Mile Creek Basin stormwater project
PNJ
An Escambia County stormwater project will receive a $268,000 federal grant..
Gulf Islands National Seashore completes year two of beach enhancement project
NWF Daily News
GULF BREEZE — Gulf Islands National Seashore officials announced Thursday the completion of year two of the beach enhancement and asphalt removal project, an effort that began on Santa Rosa Island in September 2017.
Study to examine coastal faults
Daily Comet
Scientists are trying to determine if geologic faults around the Mississippi River delta, including Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, have have impacted the coast.
Regional
U.S. water, air laws allow for suits; uncertainty prevails after justices’ state-immunity ruling
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The federal Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act require states to allow people to take them to court over permitting decisions related to those acts, but attorneys and officials in Arkansas are divided over what that means for the state in light of a recent Arkansas Supreme Court decision.
Tennessee Lawmakers Try To Eliminate Vehicle Emissions Tests
WPLN
State lawmakers are considering a proposal that might mean the end of vehicle emissions testing in Tennessee.
Possible Bonnet Carre Spillway opening would displace fish
WVUE
The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to possibly open the Bonnet Carre Spillway. It comes as river levels continue to rise due to heavy precipitation in the Ohio River Valley, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Louisiana coral reef feeling the heat as warmer water permeates the Gulf
The Advocate
Over the years, diving to her beloved coral reefs in the Florida Keys began to feel more and more to Kristine DeLong like visiting a cherished older relative in hospice care. But the first time she saw the Flower Garden reef off Louisiana's coast, it bowled her over.
National
Trump taps chemical company lawyer to lead EPA Superfund office
The Hill
President Trump is nominating a senior attorney at Dow Chemical Co. to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) office responsible for highly contaminated Superfund sites.
EPA Touts a New Real Estate Market: Superfund Sites
Bloomberg
Kristi Unzicker initially hesitated when her colleagues suggested building a crude oil terminal on a contaminated Texas lot described as a “Superfund site on steroids.”
Week ahead: House takes up bills targeting EPA regs
The Hill
The House will move in the coming week on a trio of regulatory and energy bills.
The Rules Committee has scheduled a meeting Monday to begin looking at the three proposals: the Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act, the Blocking Regulatory Interference from Closing Kilns Act and the Comprehensive Regulatory Review Act.
These communities sued Big Oil over climate change; then the backlash began
McClatchy
WASHINGTON
If you live in a city or county that sues oil companies over climate change, prepare for a blowback. ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel giants are taking legal action against such local governments, seeking to undermine a key part of their finances — their relationship with lenders.
EPA chief's clean-water rollback shaped by secrecy, luxury travel and handpicked audiences
LA Times
As Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt jetted around the country last year, regularly flying first or business class at hefty taxpayer expense, his stated mission was often a noble one: to hear from Americans about how Washington could most effectively and fairly enforce the Clean Water Act.
Volkswagen sets out robust defence against investor lawsuit
German carmaker insists it was blindsided by US watchdog’s unilateral disclosure
Financial Times
Volkswagen’s top executives were blindsided by US regulators’ unilateral disclosure of the decade-long emissions scandal in September 2015, according to the company’s most robust and extensive defence of its conduct to date.
Judge Weighs Science Behind Monsanto Roundup Cancer Claim
AP
International agencies, U.S. and foreign regulators and agribusiness giant Monsanto have already evaluated claims that the active ingredient in Monsanto's widely used weed killer Roundup can cause cancer.
U.S. Will Be the World’s Largest Oil Producer by 2023, Says IEA
Influence on global oil markets is also expected to rise, with U.S. oil exports more than doubling
WSJ
The U.S. will overtake Russia to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2023, accounting for most of the global growth in petroleum supplies, a top industry monitor said Monday.
Flood insurance program remains in limbo as U.S. Senate makes few moves before deadline
The Advocate
WASHINGTON — The National Flood Insurance Program's federal authorization is set to lapse in less than three weeks, setting the latest deadline for lawmakers on Capitol Hill to hash out a deal to overhaul a critical program that's deeply in debt.
Invasive rodent threatens California wetlands and there's talk about eating them
Fox News
If you can’t beat them, eat them?
Wildlife officials in California are asking residents to report any sightings of nutria — an invasive rodent that threatens wetlands-- and at least one report raises the question of whether or not the rodents should be eaten.
Opinion
The Governor and Louisiana Lawyers Plot an Energy Shakedown
Their demand: Fork over billions to restore the eroding coastline or brave a drawn-out legal battle.
WSJ
By Allysia Finley
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards was elected in 2015 with substantial support from trial lawyers, and he’s now repaying them in kind. The former minority leader of the state’s House of Representatives is effectively extorting oil and gas companies to backfill the budget while engineering what could be a handsome payday for his friends at a politically connected law firm.
Press Releases
Peter Wright Nominated to Lead EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management
03/02/2018
WASHINGTON – Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intention to nominate Peter C. Wright as assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Mixed Forecast for 2018 Spring Turkey Season
From MDWFP
Based on data collected by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP), most Magnolia State turkey hunters should expect a replay of last year’s season when they hit the woods on March 15th.
