State
Pike County residents lose chicken fight
WJTV
PIKE COUNTY, Miss (WJTV) - Pike County residents are upset chicken houses will soon be built near their homes.
MDEQ orders work to stop on Pinnacle Point site
Daily Journal
TUPELO – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has ordered work to stop on the site of the Pinnacle Point development.
Iuka plans clean up day on Saturday
Daily Corinthian
IUKA — Residents of Iuka will get the opportunity to do some spring cleaning as a community this Saturday.
CITY AND COUNTY LEADERS SELECT NEW EMA DIRECTOR
WCBI
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- Beginning in July, there will be a new face leading the Clay County Emergency Management Agency.
State Government
Shelton drops Senate campaign
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton abruptly announced Tuesday that he is dropping his bid for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Thad Cochran.
Oil Spill
Planning grant will advance Mississippi port rail project
RT&S
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has been awarded a $574,000 grant to fund planning, surveying and permitting for a 4,300-foot rail connection in Jackson County.
Coast Lawmakers say BP Settlement funding & lottery could be taken up in special session
WLOX
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) -Tuesday, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce hosted a post-legislative briefing.
Regional
Citizens bring Syrah concerns to Vidalia board meeting
Natchez Democrat
VIDALIA — Moments before Tuesday night’s Vidalia board of aldermen meeting drew to a close citizens submitted more than a dozen concerns about the environmental impact of a new industrial project coming to Vidalia.
Air quality alert to continue Wednesday in New Orleans area
Times-Picayune
An air quality alert has been issued for Wednesday (May 9) in the greater New Orleans area, marking the second day in a row that ozone is forecast to rise to levels potentially harmful for children, elderly adults and other sensitive groups.
National
Trump to allow year-round sales of high-ethanol gas
AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate.
EPA discovers another lead-contaminated neighborhood near East Chicago
Chicago Tribune
Almost every time federal officials test a yard in northwest Indiana, they find staggering levels of brain-damaging lead in the soil.
Court hears arguments in West Virginia water cleanup case
AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court was urged Tuesday to overturn a ruling by a judge who found that the state of West Virginia has abandoned its responsibility to write cleanup plans for streams harmed by pollution from mountaintop-removal coal mining.
Red tide creates eerie neon glow along San Diego coastline
KGTV
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego photographers are taking advantage of the serene and luminous glow of the surf this week.
California Set to Require Solar on New Homes
State would be first in U.S. to mandate solar arrays on most residences, starting in 2020.
WSJ
California is poised to become the first U.S. state to require solar panels on nearly all new homes.
Opinion
CHARLIE MITCHELL: Picture improving for state’s retirement fund
Remember the serious discussion of state pension funds during this year’s legislative session?
You don’t?
Well, that’s OK.
It didn’t happen.
And that’s OK, too. Life is better when pension plans don’t make headlines.
Mississippi catfish are going to the birds
MSU Extension Service
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Over the past 15 years, there has been a steady decline in Mississippi catfish production.
Press Releases
USDA, Private Sector to Help Mississippi Producers Protect and Restore Soils New pilot project to increase services vital to ag production and soil quality
JACKSON, MS, - May 8, 2018 — A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pilot project will add the expertise of private-sector technical service providers (TSP) to help farmers in Mississippi prevent two major causes of soil erosion, improve soil productivity and measure the return-on-investment for conservation work addressing those resources.
Producers of annually planted commodities in Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota will have the opportunity to hire TSPs who will work with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to develop Soil Resources Planning Conservation Activity Plans. These plans, known as CAP 132, will:
- Prevent sheet and rill erosion;
- Restore organic matter in soils; and
- Provide economic information producers can use to make conservation decisions.
"Bringing on TSPs who can leverage precision agriculture technologies and can supplement our soil conservation efforts will help more producers use economic information to make sound decisions to protect and regenerate their soils,” said Kevin Kennedy, Acting State Conservationist. “Empowering TSPs to take on these important tasks will also extend the focus on the customer service NRCS provides to ensure producers get the help they need to be productive and profitable.”
Applications for Soil Resources Planning Conservation Activity Plans will be taken starting Monday, May 7, 2018, thru Friday, June 15, 2018. However, to be considered for the Fiscal Year 2018 funding, producers need to have an application signed and on file at their local NRCS office by June 15, 2018.
Successful practices and methods developed through the pilot project may be adapted for use in other states and help inform future USDA conservation policies. The NRCS administers the project through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
TSPs are individuals or businesses that have technical expertise in conservation planning and design for a variety of conservation activities. Farmers, ranchers, private businesses, nonprofit organizations and public agencies hire TSPs to provide these services on behalf of the NRCS. The NRCS must approve plans and practices recommended by TSPs to ensure that they meet the agency’s standards.
Every certified TSP must be trained in the development of at least one conservation activity plan, and verify they have the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to be a TSP.
The NRCS encourages everyone interested in finding out more about becoming a TSP or the TSP pilot project to contact their local NRCS office.
State-of-the-Art Camera Lets You “See” Invisible Pollution
KY DEP
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 8, 2018) – You can’t see them with the naked eye, but volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs, might be present in everyday items or tasks you might be doing like filling your gas tank, painting, mowing your yard or putting burgers on the grill. Those VOCs, when mixed with nitrogen oxide and sunshine, create ground-level ozone.
And while we need ozone in our upper atmosphere to protect us from the sun’s harmful rays, down on the ground, it’s a human health hazard.
“In Kentucky, ground-level ozone is mostly a summertime pollutant,” said Roberta Burnes, Policy Analyst III at the Kentucky Division of Air Quality (DAQ). “It’s created by chemical reactions mainly between VOCs and nitrogen oxides on hot, sunny days.”
To cut down on harmful VOCs, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division for Air Quality recommends that you complete some everyday tasks such as painting, lawn mowing and grilling during the cooler times of the day during the summer months.
In a dramatic demonstration, the DAQ has used its Forward Looking Infrared Camera – or FLIR (pronounced “fleer”) – to show these invisible VOCs that are released by spray paint, paint thinners, gasoline and other items. The video also explains why VOCs are harmful to our health.
“It is easy for each of us to help make a difference,” said Burnes. “Refuel your car after 6 P.M., mow as late in the day as possible, look for low VOC paints and replace the caps to paint thinners as soon as you can.”
News organizations, please feel free to link to, rip or otherwise use the video in this link https://youtu.be/BgSSDDhaG0s for your broadcasts and internet to learn more about ground-level ozone and what you can do to prevent it. For lower third purposes, Lanny Brannock is the host and reporter and Roberta Burnes is the interview. Both can be titled with the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.
