State
DMR prepares to protect speckled trout from effects of spillway water
WLOX
As the fresh water from the Bonnet Carré Spillway opening creeps closer to the Mississippi Sound, the radar of state marine officials is starting to beep louder each day.
Supervisors ready to move onto next phase of jail site
Vicksburg Post
The Warren County Board of Supervisors is preparing to move onto the next phase in constructing a new jail facility.
The structures, including the old Pinewood Hotel, have been cleared from the property on Highway 80 and grass has been placed for erosion control. But a pond on the 47-acre site must be drained. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which issues permits for work on the jail site, has offered to drain the pond at no cost.
Troopers: 18-wheeler fire shuts down highway
WTVA
LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - One eastbound lanes of I-22 is closed after an 18-wheeler caught fire Monday morning, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
NAVIGATION CHANNEL IMPASSABLE ON TENN-TOM
WCBI
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Flooding from the past week has caused trouble for a navigation channel on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
Yazoo County flooding puts local agriculture in danger
WJTV
YAZOO CITY, Miss (WJTV) - Major flooding is having a major impact on farms in the delta with fields turning into lakes.
State Government
Mississippi lawmakers have real fears about ‘fake meat’
AP
Mississippi lawmakers have real fears about "fake meat," and the state could become the latest to ban food made from plants, insects, or grown in a lab from being described as meat.
The state House on Thursday voted 117-0 for Senate Bill 2922 , sending it to Gov. Phil Bryant for his signature or veto.
Electric co-ops look into funding opportunities to provide internet service
Daily Journal
In January, Gov. Phil Bryant signed off on a bill by the Mississippi Legislature that gave the OK for electric cooperatives in the state to provide broadband internet service.
Regional
Underground fire at Arkansas dump raises health concerns
AP
More than seven months after residents first noticed a fire at an illegal dumping site in northwest Arkansas, it’s still smoldering, sending noxious smoke throughout the town and seeping into homes, with costs to extinguish the fire estimated at tens of millions of dollars.
Environmentalists cry foul over DEQ prposal to streamline cleanup regulations
The Advocate
At best, activists said Friday, the state's proposed new environmental rules show that regulators are being thoughtless; at worst, they're choosing to give polluters a free pass.
They're taking aim at the state Department of Environmental Quality's proposed update of its RECAP program, which sets standards for testing and cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater sites.
TVA report: Clay barrier absent above Memphis aquifer at site near coal ash landfill
Commercial Appeal
The Tennessee Valley Authority released a report Friday of ongoing groundwater monitoring at the inactive Allen Fossil plant, acknowledging there is an area between the shallow aquifer and the Memphis Sand aquifer without a protective clay barrier.
Plan to remove a hazardous chemical from the Congaree River is back on track
The State
COLUMBIA, SC
A dangerous substance mucking up the Congaree River could be cleaned out.
State environmental regulators are instructing SCE&G to move forward with a plan to excavate the majority of coal tar where it is most prevalent in the river, according to a letter to the utility from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The U.S. is making an effort to end the longest oil spill in history. This company is fighting against it in court.
Washington Post
As the longest offshore oil spill in U.S. history creeps toward its 15th year, the federal government is preparing to launch a determined effort to contain the oil and cap the leaking wells.
National
‘He gets to decide’: President escalates his fight against climate science
Washington Post
From the earliest days of his administration, President Trump has been at war with his own government over climate change.
Coal ash contaminates groundwater near most U.S. coal plants -study
Reuters
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, according to a study released on Monday by environmental groups, which cited the potential harm to drinking water.
Suit against EPA over Gold King spill to move forward
KRQE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - The EPA is not off the hook for its role in the Gold King mine spill that contaminated hundreds of miles of the Animas and San Juan rivers in 2015.
A massive aquifer lies beneath the Mojave Desert. Could it help solve California’s water problem?
Washington Post
CADIZ VALLEY, Calif. — The landscape here is more Martian than Earthly, rust and tan plains that rise in the distance to form the Old Woman Mountains to the east and the Bristols and Marbles to the north and west.
Shale Companies, Adding Ever More Wells, Threaten Future of U.S. Oil Boom
WSJ
Shale companies’ strategy to supercharge oil and gas production by drilling thousands of new wells more closely together is turning out to be a bust. What’s more, the approach is hurting the performance of older existing wells, threatening the U.S. oil boom and forcing the maturing industry to rethink its future.
Opinion
Help, We’re Drowning in Recycling! Cue the ‘Internet of Trash’
WSJ
Cities the world over are having a garbage crisis, or more specifically, a recycling crisis.
In 1950, the world produced about 4 billion pounds of plastic a year. Today, we produce about 600 billion pounds. Every year, about 20 billion pounds of it ends up in the ocean. Over 90% of produced plastic has never been recycled, and it typically takes more than 400 years to break down naturally.
Press Releases
Oyster aquaculture program accepting applications for next class
BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is now accepting applications for the Oyster Farming Fundamentals course being offered during the 2019–2020 season.
Corps of Engineers activates additional Phase II flood fight efforts in areas south of Memphis
USACE
MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 1, 2019 – The Memphis District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is currently in a Phase II flood fight on the Mississippi River in the Helena area in Arkansas and the Clarksdale area in Mississippi.
Senate passes Hyde-Smith’s duck hunting plan, includes carve out for veterans & youth
The U.S. Senate today approved a legislative package that includes provisions authored by U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) to allow states to extend duck hunting season to January 31 and conducts special hunts for military, veterans, and youths.
