State
Analysis: Politics of water policy flows across party lines
AP
Political discussions about water policy in Mississippi have long focused on concerns about how to control flooding and let people earn a living without creating environmental harm.
How the Bonnet Carre Spillway opening affects coastal Mississippi
Fresh water continues to flow through the Bonnet Carre Spillway, and that means our coastal ecosystem could be impacted. Here to talk about it is Department of Marine Resources Executive Director Joe Spraggins and DMR's Marine Fisheries Director Joe Jewell.
Video – WLOX
Biloxi mayor calls on other coastal mayors to meet, discuss impacts of Bonnet Carre spillway
WLOX
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Biloxi mayor Fofo Gilich has asked all Coast mayors to meet at the Biloxi Visitors Center Tuesday to discuss the negative impacts the Bonnet Carre spillway has had on the Mississippi Sound.
Resident spots dead dolphins on Biloxi beach
WLOX
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - A Gulfport resident was shocked by what she saw when she visited the beach in Biloxi Sunday morning. Chasity Burnett said she was walking along the shoreline with her husband when she spotted three dead dolphins.
CLEANING UP THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND
WXXV
Mississippi State University, Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, and Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese American Fisher Folks and Families have partnered together to clean up the Mississippi Sound.
Amite emergency proclamation OK’d for May 9 storm
Enterprise-Journal
…• Accepted a $27,710 solid waste assistance grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Renovations needed at proposed public defender’s office
Enterprise-Journal
…• Accepted a $23,763 solid waste assistance grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
MDMR ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR GOMESA
WXXV
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is giving South Mississippi residents a say in the projects that may receive funding from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
One seriously injured after Amtrak train wreck just outside of Bentonia
WLBT
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) - The Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department and Bentonia police responded to a train crash Friday morning.
River continues to rise, backwater flood crest a ‘moving target’
Vicksburg Post
There is no comfort to those residents battling flooding along the Mississippi River or dealing with the flooding in the Yazoo Backwater Area that history is being made in their misery.
Both the duration of the flood on the Mississippi and the level of flooding, particularly on Eagle Lake, are setting marks no one would have wanted or expected, or hope to deal with ever again.
Mississippi man finds huge alligator snapping turtle, sets county record
Fox News
Talk about a big boy.
A Mississippi man found a massive alligator snapping turtle while conducting research on the reptiles.
These ‘jellyfish on steroids’ are pretty but dangerous. Can they show up on the Coast?
Sun Herald
It looks like a jellyfish. It’s as colorful as a jellyfish. It even appears to float like a jellyfish. But these large, colorful creatures that popped up in Orange Beach, Alabama, this week are no jellyfish.
Oil Spill
If they build it, will the oysters come?
Washington Post
COPANO BAY, Tex. — The orange buoys placed along the perimeter of an underwater construction site here keep disappearing, leaving behind a rust-stained barge with a massive pile of broken limestone. The barge carried it down the Mississippi River, to be dumped a mile off the Texas coast.
Bucs not entitled to BP oil spill damages
KLFY
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers is not entitled to damages caused by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill ruled by a federal appeals court.
Regional
Baton Rouge is compliant with federal air quality standards, but the city's air still has F rating
The Advocate
Baton Rouge's air quality may now be compliant with federal standards, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still pose health risks for residents as the summer season approaches.
The city's air still gets an F rating with the American Lung Association, which ranks it among the most polluted in the country.
Mosaic's plan for removing acidic water from St. James complex concerns environmentalists
The Advocate
CONVENT — Mosaic Fertilizer wants to remove 300 million gallons of hazardous, contaminated water from its operations at the company's St. James Parish complex by Sept. 30 as regulators voice concerns that it's nearing the limits of containing the huge lake of acidic water.
New cutoff on dicamba use starts in state
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
A ban on dicamba use in Arkansas kicks in today, the start of the fourth season for the sometimes-fitful effort by state regulators and farmers to deal with an herbicide that can be as damaging to some crops, gardens, trees and shrubs as it is to the weeds it targets.
No word from feds on Tampa sewage spat
Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA — Back in February, a Tallahassee environmental group made a front-page splash with a federal complaint charging Tampa with polluting the bay with inadequately treated discharges from its Howard F. Curren sewage plant.
Dam Removed from Congaree Creek
Free Times (SC)
A section of Congaree Creek in Cayce is flowing naturally for the first time in five decades following the removal of a dam.
National
Lawmakers, Trump agencies set for clash over chemicals in water
The Hill
An aggressive push by Congress to pass bipartisan legislation addressing cancer-causing chemicals that are leaching into the water supply is setting the stage for a fight with the Trump administration.
Green groups angered over EPA's newest regulations for rocket fuel chemical
The Hill
Environmental groups are saying the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) isn’t going far enough with its new regulations for a chemical commonly used in rocket fuel.he proposal.
Refiners Poised for Boost From Clean-Fuel Rules
Worries about higher fuel prices for consumers have been supplanted by optimism about rising investment into the industry
WSJ
DELAWARE CITY, Del.—The oil refinery owned by PBF Energy Inc. near this Delaware Bay town was mothballed nearly a decade ago. Today it is running almost full-bore, and PBF and a business partner are spending $100 million to expand it.
Pittsburgh Breathes Easier After Repairs at U.S. Steel Coke Plant
WSJ
PITTSBURGH—Emissions from the nation’s largest coke plant, 15 miles south of Pittsburgh, have dropped sharply after a surge in pollution earlier this year prompted health warnings and widespread complaints of foul smells.
Feds approve plan to help block Asian carp from Great Lakes
Detroit News
Federal officials announced Thursday that they approved a plan aimed at keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes after studying the issue for five years.
San Diego authorities close entire Imperial Beach shoreline over contamination from Mexico
Fox News
The shoreline of Imperial Beach in San Diego County, California has been closed to swimmers after sewage contamination flowed from Mexico's Tijuana River.
Malaysia to send back plastic waste to foreign nations
AP
Malaysia will send back some 3,000 metric tons (3,300 tons) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations, Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said Tuesday.
Press Releases
Mississippi to Receive $254,000 from EPA for Beach Water Quality Monitoring
05/23/2019
Atlanta (May 23, 2019) — As the nation heads into the summer beach season, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun awarding up to $9.24 million across 39 states, territories and tribes to develop and implement beach monitoring and notification programs. Upon meeting the eligibility requirements, Mississippi will receive $254,000.
DEAD ROOTS, NOT JUST WAVES, ACCOUNT FOR MARSH LOSSES IN GULF
May 24, 2019
Duke University
DURHAM, N.C. -- A new Duke University-led study finds that the death of marsh plants due to disturbances like the heavy oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill can double the rate of shoreline erosion in hard-hit marshes.
Attend Four Deepwater Horizon Trustee Events the Week of June 3 in Pensacola, Florida
The Deepwater Horizon Trustee Council and Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group are holding four public outreach events June 4, 5, and 6, 2019 in Pensacola, Florida. We encourage you to attend and learn about the work we're doing restoring the Gulf of Mexico.
