State
Worse than BP oil spill: Freshwater damage from flooding, spillway release hits Miss. hard
Clarion Ledger
The Bonnet Carre Spillway in Louisiana continues to pour fresh water from the Mississippi River into the Mississippi Sound, and the number of dead dolphins in Mississippi waters is already significantly higher than in 2010 after the BP oil spill.
New Mississippi River crest as backwater flood persists
WLBT
MISSISSIPPI DELTA, Miss. (WLBT) - The Mississippi River is set for yet another crest this week.
Koi Kandy is choking the life out of some Jackson County bayous
WLOX
GAUTIER, Miss. (WLOX) - A non-indigenous plant is choking the life out of some bayous and waterways in east Jackson County.
TORNADO DEBRIS REMOVAL BEGINS IN HAMILTON
WCBI
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Monday marks the first day of tornado debris removal in Hamilton.
City seeks proposals from developers for Kuhn property
Vicksburg Post
Developers are being sought by the city of Vicksburg to purchase and transform the Kuhn Memorial Hospital property on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Perry County poulterer expanding processing plant
WDAM
JACKSON, Miss. (WDAM) _ Buoyed by the backing of an in-state agricultural program, a Perry County poulterer is expanding its processing facility in Petal, and in turn, its national exposure.
State Government
Public Service Commission, Secretary of State’s Office to implement new requirements to protect consumers from scams
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) and Secretary of State’s Office announced changes today to the Telephone Solicitation Act affecting registration requirements of charities.
Oil Spill
APPLICATIONS STILL BEING TAKEN FOR FUNDING THROUGH BP OIL SPILL SETTLEMENT
WXXV
The Gulf Coast Restoration Fund Advisory Board plans to meet tomorrow as the group continues to accept applications for projects to be funded through the BP Oil Spill Settlement with the state.
Gulf Shores hosts annual Gulf Coast Alliance All Hands Conference
WALA
It’s a big week for the Gulf State Park Lodge in Gulf Shores, as they host the annual Gulf Coast Alliance All Hands Conference this week.
Florida County deploys 25 artificial reefs into the Gulf of Mexico
Daily Commercial
25 artificial reefs were deployed into the Gulf of Mexico from Panama City on Tuesday.
The reefs were the first of several planned using Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) funding in partnership with the Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Regional
Near-record 'dead zone' predicted in the Gulf of Mexico this summer
USA Today
The annual Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" – a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that's harmful to sea life – will be the second-largest on record this summer, scientists announced Monday.
National
EPA chief will focus on ocean trash, not climate change, at upcoming global summit
Washington Post
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in an interview Monday that he will emphasize the importance of curbing marine debris during an upcoming summit with his Group of 20 counterparts in Japan, rather than seeking new action on climate change.
EPA may spin off disputed changes in Clean Power Plan redo
E&E News
When EPA unveiled its proposed replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan last summer, the draft blueprint came attached with a big add-on: a dramatic easing of air pollution permitting requirements for power plant upgrades.
EPA issues guidance critics say would limit state's authorities over pipeline projects
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a guidance Friday that critics say seeks to limit states’ influence over controversial pipeline projects.
US Supreme Court will hear Montana arsenic cleanup case
AP
BUTTE, MONT. — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether residents of two Montana communities can continue their decade-long effort to get the Atlantic Richfield Co. to pay for a more thorough cleanup of arsenic left on properties after a century of copper smelting.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson sues Trump administration over water quality standards in Spokane River
Spokesman-Review
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is once again suing the Trump administration, this time alleging violations of a federal law regulating water pollution in a decision last month to relax standards for the state’s waterways.
NY, CT Spar Over Dumping In Long Island Sound
Daily Voice
A federal court battle over Connecticut’s dumping of sediment in the eastern portion of Long Island Sound is expected to heat up this summer.
Trump EPA releases blueprint for stemming Tijuana River pollution that routinely fouls San Diego beaches
San Diego Union-Tribune
Shorelines in South Bay San Diego will never be fully immune from the sewage and chemical pollution that flows north from Mexico over the border through canyons and the Tijuana River.
However, beach closures triggered by contaminated stormwater and Tijuana’s leaky sewer system can be dramatically reduced — from more than a hundred days a year to perhaps a just few dozen.
Press releases
Very large dead zone forecast for the Gulf of Mexico
USGS
NOAA scientists are forecasting this summer’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone or ‘dead zone’ – an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life – to be approximately 7,829 square miles, or roughly the size of Massachusetts. The annual prediction is based on U.S. Geological Survey river flow and nutrient data. The 2019 forecast is close to the record size of 8,776 square miles set in 2017 and larger than the 5-year average measured size of 5,770 square miles.
The annually recurring Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone is primarily caused by excess nutrient pollution from human activities, such as urbanization and agriculture, occurring throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Once the excess nutrients reach the Gulf they stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die, then sink and decompose in the water. The resulting low oxygen levels near the bottom are insufficient to support most marine life and have long-term impacts to living marine resources that are unable to leave the area. Considered one of the world’s largest, the Gulf of Mexico dead zone occurs every summer. A major factor contributing to the large dead zone this year is the abnormally high amount of spring rainfall in many parts of the Mississippi River watershed, which led to record high river flows and much larger nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico. This past May, discharge in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers was about 67% above the long-term average between 1980 and 2018. USGS estimates that this larger-than average river discharge carried 156,000 metric tons of nitrate and 25,300 metric tons of phosphorus into the Gulf of Mexico in May alone. These nitrate loads were about 18% above the long-term average, and phosphorus loads were about 49% above the long-term average.
NOAA issues a dead zone forecast each year, and refines the models used by the Hypoxia Task Force to set nutrient reduction targets and better understand the link between hypoxia and nutrients. The forecast assumes typical coastal weather conditions, but the measured dead zone size could be disrupted and its size could change by major wind events, hurricanes and tropical storms which mix ocean waters, as occurred in 2018. A NOAA-supported monitoring survey will confirm the size of the 2019 Gulf dead zone in early August, a key test of the accuracy of the models. “The models help predict how hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico is linked to nutrient inputs coming from throughout the Mississippi River Basin,” said Steve Thur, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. “This year's historic and sustained river flows will test the accuracy of these models in extreme conditions, which are likely to occur more frequently in the future according to the latest National Climate Assessment. The assessment predicts an increase in the frequency of very heavy precipitation events in the Midwest, Great Plains, and Southeast regions, which would impact nutrient input to the northern Gulf of Mexico and the size of the hypoxic zone.” While nutrient inputs to the Gulf of Mexico vary from year to year because of natural swings in precipitation and discharge, USGS also tracks longer-term gradual changes in nitrate and phosphorus loading into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River.
“Long-term monitoring of the country's streams and rivers by the USGS has shown that while nitrogen loading into some other coastal estuaries has been decreasing, that is not the case in the Gulf of Mexico," said Don Cline, associate director for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area. "USGS monitoring and real-time sensors, coupled with watershed modeling, will continue to improve our understanding of the causes of these changes and the role they play in the Gulf and other coastal areas.”
Relativity builds new autonomous rocket factory and expands testing facilities at Stennis Space Center
Jackson, Miss. (June 11, 2019) – Aerospace company Relativity is expanding its rocket component production and rocket engine testing operations at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. The project is a $59-million corporate investment and will create 190 jobs, increasing employment at Relativity’s Stennis Space Center site to 200 workers.
"The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a strong aerospace presence, and Relativity's expansion at Stennis further positions our state as a leader in this prominent sector," Gov. Phil Bryant said. "The important work that will be done for Relativity by our skilled workforce will play a crucial role in developing new methods to connect to outer space and other planets."
Relativity is the first and only company to integrate metal 3D printing, robotics and software to build and launch rockets in days instead of years. The company develops its own launchers and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services. In addition to expanding Stennis Space Center's E4 Test Complex with a build-out of four additional upgraded test cells, Relativity has secured an agreement with NASA for an exclusive lease of building 9101, a 220,000-square-foot facility with an 80-foot-high bay and strong industrial capability. This will enable the company to build its patented autonomous rocket factory in Hancock County and integrate its production and testing operations into one space, reducing lead time to launch.
“We are excited to partner with the Mississippi Development Authority to bring our patented 3D printing rocket platform to Hancock county,“ said Jordan Noone, cofounder and CTO of Relativity. “We look forward to working together to bring more innovation, economic development and job growth to the Gulf Coast and progressing American space leadership. The integration of our 3D printing rocket production and testing facilities on one site will enable Relativity to offer greater flexibility to commercial and government entities needing faster, more frequent and lower cost access to space.“
The Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance for building renovations. The Hancock County Board of Supervisors also is assisting with the project.
"Relativity's expansion at Stennis Space Center is monumental for Hancock County and the entire state of Mississippi. The scope of the work to be undertaken by Relativity and performed by 200 skilled Mississippians demonstrates to the world some of the most advanced operations are successfully performed in our state, allowing companies in all sectors to not only meet, but exceed, their goals," said MDA Executive Director Glenn McCullough, Jr. "MDA salutes the partnership of the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission and the Hancock County Board of Supervisors, which has been instrumental in bringing this exciting economic development win bringing 190 new careers to the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast."
With this expansion, Relativity is increasing infrastructure to more than 350,000 square feet of operations, production, testing and launch facilities. In the past year, the company has increased its employment from 14 to 90 workers. Relativity became the first venture-backed company to secure a launch site Right of Entry at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex-16 from the U.S. Air Force and has a 20-year exclusive-use Commercial Space Launch Act agreement at Stennis Space Center's E4 test complex, as well as membership on the National Space Council advising the White House.
Relativity will activate its manufacturing equipment in July and plans to complete development of the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, Terran 1, in 2020. The company is on track to conduct its first orbital test launch at the end of 2020 and enter commercial service in 2021. For more information, go to www.relativityspace.com.
