State
Loan approved to fund sewer system repairs
Vicksburg Post
The city of Vicksburg will be getting a $1.2 million loan through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Loan Program for work on the city’s 111-year-old sewer system.
Trash fees up in other cities, county after Gulfport backed out of deal. Now it has to pay.
Sun Herald
The city of Gulfport will pay $700,000 to the Harrison County Utility Authority for the higher rates the county and four of its cities say they have to charge because Gulfport withdrew from a countywide garbage collection contract.
Mississippi Sound Coalition set to protect South Mississippi
WLOX
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been closed for months, but its effects are still being felt across South Mississippi. With that in mind, local governments are taking steps to ensure South Mississippi’s voice is heard in future spillway conversations.
Money given to help with illegal dumping in Prentiss County
WTVA (video)
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued grants to help many counties clean up illegal dumping sites.
NEWS 25 TODAY’S GABBY EASTERWOOD DISCUSSES OCT. 16 LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
WXXV
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has awarded two grants to Harrison and Jackson Counties to help with waste management efforts.tation today at the Secretary of State’s office in Gulfport.
NRC names new resident inspector at Grand Gulf
Vicksburg Post
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has selected Matthew Thomas as the new resident inspector at the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Port Gibson.
State Government
Mississippi Lottery will begin selling tickets Nov. 25
AP
The new Mississippi Lottery will start selling scratch-off tickets Nov. 25.
New interstate may impact Mississippi residents in its path
WMC
MEADVILLE, Miss. (Gray DC) - A new interstate may be coming through Mississippi. Interstate 14 is America’s newest highway. Construction has already begun in Texas and if Congress approves the remaining route, it would stretch through Louisiana and Mississippi.
The interstate would follow U.S. Highway 84 from Natchez to Brookhaven, and then connect to the current Interstate 59.
Regional
Formosa Plastics agrees to $50M settlement of Clean Water suit over spills in Gulf of Mexico
NOLA.com
POINT COMFORT, Texas — Formosa Plastics Corp. has agreed to have tighter wastewater discharge standards and to pay $50 million to settle allegations that a company plant in Texas chronically spilled tons of pellets into waterways near the Gulf of Mexico.
How are endangered red wolves doing in the wild in NC? Feds won’t tell, lawsuit says
Sun Herald
Environmentalists want to know how the critically endangered red wolf population in Eastern North Carolina is doing, but federal officials won’t release documents about the conservation efforts, according to a new lawsuit.
National
Trump administration proposes plan to raise U.S. biofuels use - EPA
Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration, in an effort to mend fences with the powerful corn lobby, proposed a new formula on Tuesday to boost biofuels demand, but the proposal instead only provoked more consternation from the industry.
Toxic PCBs linger in schools; EPA, lawmakers fail to act
AP
At first, teachers at Sky Valley Education Center simply evacuated students and used fans to clear the air when the fluorescent lights caught fire or smoked with noxious fumes. When black oil dripped onto desks and floors, they caught leaks with a bucket and duct-taped oil-stained carpets.
2 shipping companies plead guilty to hiding oil pollution
AP
Two shipping companies incorporated in Liberia pleaded guilty in Delaware to presenting falsified documents to the U.S. Coast Guard to hide oil pollution caused by one of their cargo ships.
Rauch firm faces fines while boss not guilty in EPA illegal dumping trial
WHIO
DAYTON — Ohio’s attorney general said a jury’s decision to clear Dayton-area contractor Steve Rauch of all criminal charges against him while convicting his business in an illegal dumping case is “a just solution.”
Has the U.S. hit peak shale oil? Output has gone from explosive to sluggish
Bloomberg
America’s shale boom got the world accustomed to soaring production. Now growth has slowed, and a cloud has formed over the industry.
New study blames some Permian Basin earthquakes on fracking
Houston Chronicle
A new study from the University of Texas at Austin is blaming hydraulic fracturing activity on some earthquakes in the Permian Basin of West Texas.
Press Releases
EPA Issues Supplemental Proposal for Renewable Fuels Volumes
10/15/2019
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking seeking additional comment on the recently proposed rule to establish the cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel volumes for 2020 and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2021 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
Interior Department Supported $315 Billion in Economic Activity and 1.8 Million Jobs in FY 2018
10/15/2019
WASHINGTON –– U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt today released the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Economic Report for Fiscal Year 2018. The report highlights Interior activities covering conventional and renewable energy, recreation, non-fuel minerals, irrigation, and conservation that resulted in $315 billion in economic output and supported 1.8 million jobs during the year – up from $254 billion in economic output and 1.6 million jobs in 2016.
