State
Coal-fired power plant in Mississippi top 10 in nation for contamination, report says
Hattiesburg American
An environmental report released this month names a Pine Belt coal-fired power plant as one of the top 10 sites in the country with the worst coal ash contamination of groundwater. But officials at the R.D. Morrow Sr. Generating Station say there is no risk to humans and emphasize the groundwater is not a source of drinking water.
Reservoir officials use flamethrowers to combat giant salvinia
WAPT
Officials with the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District are using flamethrowers to combat the invasive weed known as giant salvinia along the banks of the reservoir.
Agricultural land, streams interact with each other
Delta Farm Press
In past decades, researchers have revealed many connections between water bodies and adjacent landscapes. Much attention has been given to how soil, water, nutrients, pollutants — and energy, in general — move from land to nearby water bodies in runoff.
GULFPORT FIRE RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL LEAK AT ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME
WXXV
This afternoon, Gulfport Fire Department responded to a call from the Armed Forces Retirement Home for a supposed chemical leak.
What's Working: Ocean Bound
WJTV
An underwater adventure awaits you at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. WJTV 12's Andrew Harrison is Ocean Bound in this afternoon's "What's Working".
Climate change and changing weather patterns could impact insurance rates
MBJ
Issues like climate change and shifting weather patterns can have a big impact on how property insurance rates are calculated, said Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the chair of the Catastrophic Working Group for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
Magnolia nixes water offers
Enterprise-Journal
Two water associations are offering to come to Magnolia’s rescue after the town declared a water emergency last week when a pump failed, but the mayor said the town doesn’t need rescuing.
LUMBERTON TO SEEK $600K GRANT FOR WATER LINE REPAIR
Hub City Spokes
The application for a Small Cities Community Development Block Grant of up to $600,000 may provide the solution for the problem of out-of-date water lines running underneath the city of Lumberton.
‘Foreign Affairs’: Foreign events impacting scrap prices
Daily Times Leader
WEST POINT, MS
Spring cleaning usually means swapping summer clothes for winter clothes, brightening up little-used rooms and going through the clutter of the garage and the storage shed.
And for scrap yards, that can mean a rush of business from people who’ve waited for warmer weather to throw out that old refrigerator, old fencing or other potentially valuable material that got tossed to the side during the winter.
Greenwood Cop Cams Net Littering Scofflaws
Delta Daily News
Recent rains have slowed the installation of eye-in-the-sky cop cameras in Greenwood. But the mayor says they are already proving valuable. The city has nabbed three people for littering.
Great American Cleanup March 23
New Albany Gazette
Organizers are preparing to attack the city and county’s litter problem this Saturday as part of The Great American Cleanup.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONTRACT TO SAVE MILLIONS
Hub City Spokes
Forrest County is going green with a new energy efficiency contract, which should save the county between $4 and $5 million during the next 15 years.
MDOT closing Highway 43 for bridge replacements
WLBT
A bridge repair project could create headaches for commuters in Rankin and Madison counties.
State Government
CCID MASTER PLAN PUBLISHED
Northside Sun
The Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) has published its master plan for improvements in the CCID, or Capitol Complex Improvement District.
EXPERTS LOOKING TO IMPROVE MEDICAL RESPONSES IN RURAL AREAS
MPB
The University of Mississippi Medical Center and the First Responder Network are collaborating to help rural first responders save lives and protect communities through mobile broadband access. MPB's Jasmine Ellis reports.
Regional
Suit alleges 50,000 tires collected by city, county dumped illegally
WMC
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A lawsuit claims 50,000 tires collected during the Memphis and Shelby County Tire Redemption Program were dumped illegally.
Mosaic stops pumping acid water from threatened lake in St. James, but is risk still there?
The Advocate
Mosaic Fertilizer recently stopped draining a giant threatened lake of acidic water atop its waste pile in St. James Parish that some feared could break open and release its hazardous contents to harm surrounding swamps.
National
Judge temporarily halts drilling on Wyoming public lands over climate change
The Hill
A federal judge late Tuesday temporarily blocked oil and gas drilling on thousands of acres of public land in Wyoming, ruling that the Trump administration failed to “sufficiently consider climate change.”
The Fight to Tame a Swelling River With Dams Outmatched by Climate Change
NYT
There were no good choices for John Remus, yet he had to choose.
Should he try to hold back the surging Missouri River but risk destroying a major dam, potentially releasing a 45-foot wall of water? Or should he relieve the pressure by opening the spillway, purposefully adding to the flooding of towns, homes and farmland for hundreds of miles.
Is your kitchen-sink disposal environmentally friendly?
AP
If you're trying to be more eco-friendly at home, should you use your kitchen garbage disposal?
It depends.
AP PHOTOS: Remembering the Exxon Valdez oil spill
AP
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — It was just after midnight on March 24, 1989, when an Exxon Shipping Co. tanker ran aground outside the town of Valdez, Alaska, spewing millions of gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the pristine Prince William Sound.
Alligators have more in common with dinosaurs than you think
Fox News
Dinosaurs and alligators may both be reptiles, but the similarities were thought to be few and far between. Dinosaurs are commonly thought to have been warm-blooded, while alligators are cold-blooded, meaning they cannot regulate their own body temperatures.
She knitted her suit out of hundreds of Wegmans bags. And she has a tote to match.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Rosa Ferrigno can’t sit still. So she takes on big, seemingly impossible projects — like knitting herself a suit from plastic Wegmans bags.
Press Releases
EPA Requests Public Comment on the Latest Systematic Review Protocol Under the IRIS Program
03/20/2019
WASHINGTON (March 20, 2019) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced a 45-day public comment period associated with the release of the Systematic Review Protocol for the Hexavalent Chromium [Cr(VI)] IRIS Assessment.
