State
Mississippi Wildlife Dept. receives chronic wasting disease test results
Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks collected 64 tissue samples from deer last month to test for chronic wasting disease and the results were received this week.
Summit seeks grant for sewers
Enterprise-Journal
Summit officials announced plans Tuesday to apply for a grant to fix old sewer lines that tend to leave raw sewage backing up into people’s yards and homes during heavy rains.
Erosion threatens rail, repairs avoid Yokohama shutdown
Daily Times Leader
WEST POINT, MS
Those who think an overflowing ditch is just a small problem, consider a flooded drainage way that could have caused a train derailment or shut down a major manufacturing plant.
Brookhaven Board of Aldermen sticks with retail group, drops Waste Pro debris removal service
Daily Leader
In other business Tuesday night, aldermen voted on a second item following the executive session. The city is severing its debris contract with Waste Pro, choosing to pick up the vegetative debris itself.
Supervisors Weigh Options To Combat Litter Problem
North Mississippi Herald
COFFEEVILLE – With spring and grass cutting around the corner, litter scattered up and down roadsides continues to garner attention from county supervisors as they seek solutions to combat this problem. Flooded creeks and ditches in recent weeks washed litter higher along road ditches, making it even more visible as the dormant winter grass comes back to life.
USM Marine Research Center near completion
WLOX
The entrance to the Port of Gulfport is looking quite different lately.
"We wanted it to really be the welcoming point to the port," said Port of Gulfport Executive Director Jonathan Daniels.
Chemours officially opens 300,000-sq.-ft. distribution center
Sea Coast Echo
Chemours DeLisle on Tuesday hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at its new 300,000-square-foot distribution center.
State Government
STATE AUDITOR WARNS AGENCIES ABOUT MISMANAGING PUBLIC DOLLARS
MPB
Mississippi's Chief financial watchdog tells state agencies they need to do better managing state dollars. MPB's Ashley Norwood reports on the state's annual audit.
Mississippi Legislature pares list of bills under deadline
AP
Wednesday marked the Mississippi Legislature's latest deadline of the 90-day session. It was the final day for the House and Senate to pass general bills that originated in and already passed the opposite chamber.
Mississippi considers voluntary deer, turkey hunt reporting
AP
Hunters in Mississippi could begin to voluntarily tell the state how many deer or turkeys they kill.
Election set for Mississippi House seat in parts of Delta
AP
Gov. Phil Bryant has set a special election to fill a vacant seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Mississippi Trade Mart holds groundbreaking ceremony
Legislature approved $30 million to build a new Trade Mart
WAPT
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Thursday for the new Mississippi Trade Mart.
Oil Spill
CRUCIAL BP SETTLEMENT BILL PASSES
WXXV
The Mississippi Senate has passed a crucial BP settlement funding bill by a vote of 51-0.
The passage of House Bill 1185 by the full Senate marks an important milestone in the legislative process. Both chambers of the legislature will take up the matter in conference committees later this month.
More than $300 million coming to local RESTORE projects
WALA
SPANISH FORT, AL (WALA) -The Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council has now listed its recommendations on which Mobile and Baldwin county projects to fund with Deepwater Horizon penalty money.
$39 million from RESTORE Act to fund Mobile projects
Al.com
Mobile is receiving nearly $40 million in money related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, money that will help pay for watershed restoration, a cross-city greenway, a new Africatown welcome center and other projects.
Restoration of D'Olive Creek continues
WSFA
DAPHNE, AL (WALA) -Nearly ten years later, state and local officials continue looking at ways to restore D’Olive Creek and its 11,000 acre watershed. In fact, the D'Olive watershed restoration project in Daphne was the first projects funded as a result of the BP oil spill in our area.
Regional
TVA probe finds 'connection' between Memphis Sand and contaminated aquifer
Commercial Appeal
Although none of the arsenic found beneath a TVA ash pond is currently seeping into drinking-water supplies, investigators discovered a "connection" between the Memphis Sand aquifer – the source of tap water throughout Shelby County – and a shallower aquifer containing the toxic contaminant, a report submitted to state environmental officials says.
TVA water tests show no deep well contamination beneath Allen plant in Memphis
Chattanooga Times Free Press
As the Tennessee Valley Authority prepares to start up a new natural gas plant to replace its 62-year-old Allen Fossil plant in Memphis, the federal utility said today that underground water tests around the Allen coal plant did not show that contaminated water from a shallow well had leaked into the deeper Memphis aquifer.
Judge stays part of EPA plan on coal-plant emissions
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
An 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge on Wednesday stayed the most contentious portion of a federal air rule affecting coal plants in Arkansas.
EPA closes civil rights complaints over Alabama landfill
Al.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed two civil rights complaints filed against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management by residents of Uniontown, Ala., related to the department's permitting of a large landfill near the town.
Fisherman upset with spillway opening
WDSU
There are concerns over opening the Bonnet Carre spillway.
Engineering group recognizes Sandy Springs ‘rain garden’
AJC
Sandy Springs’ Marsh Creek Rain Garden has won the 2018 ACEC Georgia Engineering Excellence State Award in the stormwater project category from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia.
National
Appeals court refuses to halt children's climate change suit against federal government
Times-Picayune
A three-judge federal appeals court panel in San Francisco on Wednesday (March 7) turned down a Trump administration request to halt a controversial lawsuit filed by 21 children that claims the federal government has violated their constitutional right to a clean environment by failing to halt climate change. The ruling clears the way for the lawsuit to move forward in a lower court later this year.
House votes to delay EPA air pollution rules for brickmakers, wood heaters
The Hill
The House voted Wednesday to delay air pollution rules that the Obama administration had written for brickmakers and residential wood-burning heaters.
EPA floats plan for reducing animal testing
The Hill
The Trump administration is proposing a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate certain animal testing in evaluating chemicals.
European oil companies leading energy transition, while U.S. firms lag
Houston Chronicle
The divide between U.S. and European oil companies over the future of the energy industry has widened, analysts say, as companies define the role that renewables and natural gas will play in the future energy mix.
Interior Secretary gets strong GOP resistance to drilling plan, starts backing off
McClatchy
WASHINGTON
Facing mounting pressure from fellow Republicans who see little consistuent support for drilling off the Atlantic coast, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke could be backpedaling on the Trump administration’s initial plans to expand the program, GOP lawmakers told McClatchy.
Recycled water from sewers coming to California taps
SF Chronicle
Water that once coursed through city sewers may soon find new life coming out of your home faucet.
U.S. EPA releases Lake Erie action plan - read it here
Cleveland.com
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday unveiled a 119-page action plan to stop algal blooms that jeopardize Lake Erie's drinking water, fishing and tourism.
Tony Tooke, head of U.S. Forest Service, stepping down amid sexual misconduct allegations
PBS
The chief of the U.S. Forest Service is stepping down amid allegations of sexual misconduct and an investigation commissioned by the United States Department of Agriculture into his own behavior.
Tesla's Elon Musk posts photo of Semi trucks before first delivery
Fox Business
The Tesla Semi truck is ready to make its first delivery.
Opinion
ONE LAKE
Northside Sun
It was heartening to see the Mississippi legislature approve a $50 million bond issue to develop a flood plan for Jackson.
California’s Water Hole
Regulators resist storage that would save for a non-rainy day.
WSJ
Storms like the one that have doused arid California in recent days are cause for celebration, but also for better conservation. The Sierra Nevada mountains received nearly six feet of snow, which was especially welcome in a dry winter. Snowpack in the Sierras had measured a quarter of its historical average.
Press Releases
Chronic Wasting Disease Test Results Returned
3/7/2018 11:11:59 AM
From MDWFP
Jackson – The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks began Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling efforts on February 23, 2018 in the 5-mile CWD Containment Zone.
EPA Meets Another TSCA Milestone, Releases Draft Strategy to Reduce Animal Testing
03/07/2018
WASHINGTON (March 7, 2018) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing a draft strategy to reduce the use of vertebrate animals in chemical testing for public comment.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Appoints New Members to National Environmental Justice Advisory Council; Requests Nominations for New Members
03/07/2018
WASHINGTON — Ahead of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee’s (NEJAC) public teleconference on March 8, 2017, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the appointment of eight new members to the Council.
U.S. Geological Survey Marks 139 Years of Scientific Advancement
3/5/2018
Created by Congress on March 3, 1879, the U.S. Geological Survey was originally dedicated to exploring the geology and mineral potential of western lands, but over its 139-year-history, it has evolved to dramatically expand our knowledge of natural science.
