State
Taxpayers in Mississippi on the hook for $3 million a year for this dirty job
Hattiesburg American
Cate Jones says "Please, don't throw it out."
The district maintenance engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation is talking about trash along state highways and interstates — litter the men on his crews have to pick up.
Saltillo water topic of Thursday public hearing
Daily Journal
The Saltillo Water Department is nearing its system capacity and struggling to cover its debt service, according to a new management audit.
The warts and all audit determined the best way to solve the city’s well-documented problems with dirty water is purchase “river water” from the Northeast Mississippi Regional Water Supply District.
A lease has been approved for a hotel at the Coast Coliseum. Here are the details.
Sun Herald
They’ve been working on it for decades and now the Coast Coliseum Commission is so close to getting an on-site hotel.
Regional
Researchers are working along Wolf River to find threats to drinking supply
Local Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – Researchers are taking a deep dive into potential toxins flowing into our drinking water.
As Mississippi River drops, Army Corps, other agencies to keep watch on levees
The Advocate
The Mississippi River's record run in flood stage at Baton Rouge hit 211 days before ending Sunday afternoon, blowing past the former, 92-year-old record by 76 days.
LG&E’s Illegal Coal Ash Pollution Is Seeping Into Ohio River, Herrington Lake
WFPL
New testing confirms three Louisville Gas and Electric power plants are illegally contaminating groundwater flowing into the Ohio River and Herrington Lake.
The pollution is coming from waste sites storing decades worth of ash leftover from burning coal for energy.
Should state oversee handling of coal ash? Public gets its say now
AJC
Georgia is positioned to become the second state in the nation to assume oversight of how it disposes of its coal ash through a statewide permit program.
Can Energy-Producing Buildings Work in Swampy South? Atlanta Is Trying
WSJ
A two-story Atlanta building designed to produce more energy than it consumes is poised to open in early fall, a crucial test case of whether a large-scale environmentally-advanced project can achieve its goals in the heat and humidity of the Southeast.
National
Largest Sources of Cancer-Causing Ethylene Oxide Go Unnoticed
Bloomberg
Chemical plants in Louisiana and Texas release far more of the cancer-causing ethylene oxide gas than the Sterigenics medical sterilizer plant in Illinois, which snagged national headlines this year and was shut down by state regulators.
EPA submits final controversial car emissions rule to the White House
The Hill
The White House is reviewing the final policy that would roll back Obama-era standards for vehicle emissions.
New Mexico Governor: EPA failing to protect public health
AP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is failing to protect public health and the environment by not helping the state in its legal battle against the U.S. Air Force over contamination at two military installations.
Former oil, natural gas executive to lead EPA region
Farmington Daily Times
FARMINGTON — A former secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department has been appointed to lead Region 6 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Algae Bloom Fouls N.J.’s Largest Lake, Indicating Broader Crisis
Lake Hopatcong, normally buzzing with swimmers and water skiers, is filled with cyanobacteria in quantities never before recorded.
NYT
LAKE HOPATCONG, New Jersey — Around Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey’s largest lake, workers have been laid off, sailing lessons canceled and summers ruined. The reason: clouds of blue-green algae in the water, blooming in quantities never before recorded.
State warnings that the water is unsafe — which began in June and remain in effect for all but one small branch of the lake — have come during a summer of unusually intense algae blooms in many parts of the country. Fueled by heavy rains and hot, sunny days, the blooms have caused high-season swimming bans from lakes in the Pacific Northwest to the entire Mississippi seacoast.
Man pleads guilty to clean water act violation
AP
A Portland man has pleaded guilty in federal court for violating the Clean Water Act related to the Willamette River in Portland.
Press Releases
EPA Appoints Ken McQueen as Region 6 Administrator
08/05/2019
DALLAS (August 5, 2019) - Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the appointment of Ken McQueen of New Mexico to become regional administrator for Region 6. Mr. McQueen will oversee environmental protection efforts in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and in 66 Tribal Nations.
