State
Board of supervisors updated on poultry lawsuit
Monroe Journal
ABERDEEN – Board of supervisors attorney David Houston updated supervisors May 7 on litigation stemming from the board’s approval to increase distances from poultry operations in the county and adjoining property lines and nearby structures.
...The plaintiff also stated the county preempted the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. However, Houston communicated with MDEQ prior to the board’s decision to confirm the county wasn’t preempting the agency.
Work to begin on ground floor of Threefoot Building in Meridian next month
Meridian Star
Construction is set to begin on the ground floor of Meridian’s 16-story Threefoot Building the first week of June — roughly five months after interior demolition began at the site.
...In January, demolition work began after project developer Ascent Hospitality, LLC obtained a permit from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for asbestos abatement.
County looking to fine litterers
Madison County Journal
Companies hauling trash and debris down county roads without tarps could soon be fined as supervisors attempt to curb what they say is a growing litter problem.
Responders train for hazmat emergencies
New Albany Gazette
New Albany has not experienced a large-scale toxic spill event but the city is bounded by roads and a rail line that transport hundreds, likely thousands, of toxic materials each day.
Saltillo working on water improvement projects
Daily Journal
SALTILLO – The city of Saltillo has three separate projects in the works to increase the size of water mains both inside and outside the existing city limits.
Nature lovers rescue swamp, dedicate site to fallen officer as nature preserve
Clarion Ledger
GRENADA, Miss. – Faced with the same economic challenges that confront many small towns throughout Mississippi and across America, the leadership of Grenada decided in 2016 to cut and sell trees on city property, including a 300-acre of bottomland hardwood forest located in Chakchiuma Swamp on the edge of town.
EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION
Bolivar Commercial
It was all about dirt at a recent Exchange Club of Cleveland meeting when Jason Makamson, soil conservationist with Natural Resources Conservation Service, was the guest speaker.
Drop boxes available for unwanted prescription drugs
Boxes set up in Jackson
WAPT
There is a place you can go to safely drop off unwanted prescription medication Thursday.
State Government
Jay Ledbetter reports to oversee MEMA operations after Smithson resignation
WLBT
Governor Phil Bryant's senior criminal justice policy advisor, Jay Ledbetter, has reported to MEMA to oversee agency operations.
Feds and Mississippi fight over who should clean up fraud
AP
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Mississippi's secretary of state are fighting over who should collect assets and repay victims of a $100 million-plus fraud.
Arthur Lamar Adams pleaded guilty last week to one count of wire fraud.
Oil Spill
Infinity Science Center's new Earth Gallery now open
WLOX
HANCOCK COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -With the cut of a ribbon, Infinity Science Center's new interactive Earth Gallery was officially opened, all thanks to a Natural Resource Damage Assessment Grant from the BP Deepwater Horizon settlement.
NEW EXHIBIT OPENS AT INFINITY SCIENCE CENTER
WXXV
The Infinity Science Center in Pearlington offers an out of this world experience for its 60,000 annual visitors. This afternoon a new exhibit opened.
Regional
Baton Rouge conference on water issues draws experts from around the country
The Advocate
Louisiana often has too much, while Arizona frequently has too little, but water is a major concern for all the Sunbelt states.
Fight against Louisiana's wetland plague getting $1 million boost
Times-Picayune
After more than a year of watching a foreign pest eat through thousands of acres of south Louisiana marshland, government leaders now appear ready to spend some serious money to fight the problem.
National
Scott Pruitt admits top aide helped him search for housing but ‘on personal time’
Washington Post
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt acknowledged Wednesday that one of his top aides helped him search for housing last year — a potential violation of federal law — but said she had done so “on personal time.”
Democrats Sharpen Focus as Scott Pruitt Testifies Again on Capitol Hill
NY Times
WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told a Senate panel on Wednesday that one of his employees had worked without pay on her personal time to find him a place to live, a service that Democrats said amounted to a violation of federal law.
Pruitt confirms he has a legal defense fund
The Hill
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt said Wednesday that an external fund has been established to help him with legal costs.
Pruitt advisers pan science ‘transparency’ proposal
The Hill
A team of external scientific advisers to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is criticizing his proposal to restrict the scientific findings that the agency can use in writing and enforcing regulations.
Banned Ozone-Harming Gas Creeps Back, Suggesting a Mystery Source
NY Times
Government scientists have detected an increase in emissions of an outlawed industrial gas that destroys ozone, potentially slowing progress in restoring the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer.
Might plant ‘tattoos’ be the next big thing in irrigation tech?
New nitrate sensor also being developed
Delta Farm Press
The next thing you may be using in your center-pivot irrigation systems may be a ‘plant tattoo.’
Environmental groups sue EPA for abandoning hard rock mining rule
Reuters
Six environmental groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt for abandoning a rule that would have forced hard-rock mining companies to prove they have enough money up front to clean up hazardous substances released at mine sites.
Could reviving Woolly-Mammoth genes fight the effects of global warming?
Fox News
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Woolly mammoths have been extinct for more than 4,000 years, but with new gene-editing techniques, they could help mitigate the effects of a modern problem: climate change.
Press Releases
HYDE-SMITH SUPPORTS COMMONSENSE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY PROCESSES STARTED BY TRUMP EPA
At Budget Review Hearing, Miss. Senator Addresses Pesticide Regulations, Pascagoula Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today encouraged Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to continue guiding the agency toward “a commonsense approach to the environmental regulatory process.”
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's Opening Remarks at the Hearing to Review the FY2019 Budget Request for EPA
Remarks Before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Video
