State
City says Kuhn demolition work ‘on schedule’
Vicksburg Post
The contractor hired to raze Kuhn Memorial Hospital is on schedule.
...“The contractor has to be very meticulous about removing the hazardous material. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality provides oversight for the removal of the material, and that’s very time consuming.”
Mississippi to welcome new State Forester
WLBT
Mississippi will have a new State Forester come Saturday.
Russell Bozeman will become the 13th person to head the state agency that oversees forest protection, management and inventory and wildland fire management.
City buying abandoned church rather than fix erosion issue
Vicksburg Post
The city of Vicksburg is buying an abandoned church.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday approved buying a piece of property off Patricia Street containing the church, which is threatened by erosion from Spouts Bayou, which runs along the property.
Hattiesburg tree ordinance an investment in green — the dollars and sense kind
Hattiesburg American
Did you know that trees not only provide shade and shelter, they can increase the value of your property?
Scott Spears officially leaves LEMA, honored with celebration
WTOK
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - After 11 years at LEMA, Emergency Management Director Scott Spears has officially retired.
Yellow Creek Port gains another steel service plant
Clarion Ledger
A New York-based metal manufacturer is investing $10 million to build a 105,00-square-foot building in Burnsville.
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/12/17/yellow-creek-port-gains-another-steel-service-plant/2317040002/
Regional
Baton Rouge councilwoman says landfill causing cancer, but health experts say evidence lacking
The Advocate
For more than a year, residents near Baker have fought to shut down the local specialty landfill over concerns about odor, fire and vermin.
State doesn't monitor citizen environmental complaints or enforce lead paint rules: new TN audit
Tennessean
Imagine you lived in rural Tennessee and your neighbor turned his property into an unpermitted garbage dump.
Georgia-Pacific to pay fine, spend on upgrades in settlement
AP
An Arkansas paper mill would pay a $600,000 fine and spend about $4.7 million on environmental projects and plant upgrades to reduce air pollution under terms of a proposed settlement.
Groups Call Attention To Coal Ash Contamination In Georgia
WABE
Contaminants including boron, arsenic and cobalt have leached out of coal ash ponds in Georgia and into groundwater, according to an analysis released by environmental groups on Thursday.
Coast Guard takes over response to 14-year-old Taylor Energy oil leak
WWL
The U.S. Coast Guard has federalized the response to the 14-year-old Taylor Energy oil spill off the coast of Plaquemines Parish in a stunning rebuke of the New Orleans-based company.
National
Trump's Interior Chief Zinke to Step Down Amid Ethics Probes
Bloomberg
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will leave the Trump administration at the end of the year amid a swirl of federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest.
Nearly 200 countries at climate talks want universal emissions rules
AP
KATOWICE, Poland — Nearly 200 countries at the U.N. climate talks have agreed upon universal, transparent rules on how nations can cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, putting the principles of the 2015 Paris climate accord into action.
EPA to pursue final 'science transparency' rule in 2019
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to pursue next year a final version of its much-criticized rule that would restrict the scientific studies it can use to justify regulations.
Cleaning up the plastic in the ocean
Discarded plastic is piling up around the world and pooling in the ocean. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the problem's deadly consequences for wildlife and what can be done to stop it
60 Minutes
Take a look around, odds are you're surrounded by plastic. It's in our kitchens and in our bedrooms, it keeps our food fresh and our medicine safe. It is, in many ways, a miracle product, cheap to produce and virtually indestructible. Yet plastic's blessings are also a curse. That water bottle we use once and throw away will be with us for generations. There are campaigns to limit this plastic plague with bans on bags and straws and yet around the world, it continues to pile up, seeping into our rivers and streams and turning our oceans into a vast garbage dump.
