State
Officials announce plan to drain Oktibbeha County Lake amid possible dam failure
Starkville Daily News
While the failure of the Oktibbeha County Lake dam remains imminent, emergency officials may be closer to a plan to avoid a complete catastrophe.
Under the levee: Some unconcerned by possible dam failure
Starkville Daily News
Oktibbeha County officials continue monitoring the Oktibbeha County Lake dam for further signs of failure, but some residents of the area do not share their concern.
Oktibbeha County officials reach plan to alleviate pressure against dam
WTVA
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - Engineers and county officials spent Thursday morning assessing the dam at Oktibbeha County Lake for potential failure.
OKTIBBEHA ENGINEERS REQUEST ADDITIONAL PUMPS TO LOWER WATER LEVELS AT COUNTY LAKE DAM
WCBI
OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – It is a battle against time and the elements in Oktibbeha County.
CLAY COUNTY LEADERS MAKING PLANS IN CASE DAM BREECHES AT OKTIBBEHA COUNTY LAKE
WCBI
CLAY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- If the dam breaches at the Oktibbeha county Lake, it could impact several homes in Clay County.
Supervisors approve plan to lower Oktibbeha Lake water level
Commercial Dispatch
Oktibbeha County will ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a set of pipes to drain the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam to a few feet above the bottom in order to relieve pressure on the levee, which started to show early signs of breaching Tuesday morning and prompted a warning and 24-hour monitoring from county leaders.
Reservoir managers helping to mitigate flood in Jackson
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Reservoir officials are letting the water levels rise to 298 feet, catching rainwater that fell up stream, from spilling into Jackson, hoping to minimize the flood impacts.
Wolf Lake in Yazoo Co. closed to recreational boaters due to high water
WLBT
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) - Due to flooding and high water resulting from unusually heavy rainfall Wolf Lake is closed to all recreational boating until further notice.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality lifts water advisory in Pascagoula
WKRG
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WKRG) — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has lifted a beach water contact advisory for station 19 in Pascagoula.
MDEQ ISSUES TWO BEACH WATER CONTACT ADVISORIES
WXXV
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, issued water contact advisories Thursday for Station 6 (Pass Christian Central Beach) and Station 10 (Gulfport Central Beach).
New York college students plant trees for Turkey Creek land restoration project
WLOX
GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - A major land restoration project in Gulfport got a helping hand on Thursday from some college students who traveled more than a thousand miles to take part.
Roll off dumpster days in Jackson
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Due to the recent rains, the city will host two roll-off dumpster days on Friday, January 17, and Saturday, January 25.
MDWFP issues hunting season closures due to flooding
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Heavy rains and rising Mississippi River levels have hunters yet again looking down the barrel of hunting season closures.
State Government
Governor Tate Reeves discusses next steps for MDOC
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Conditions and violence in Mississippi’s prisons are attracting national attention. And the search for a new corrections leader won’t be limited by state lines. Thursday was Tate Reeves’ first press conference as Governor. Prison problems are dictating the way he begins his first days of his term.
Governor appoints interim MDOC commissioner
WTVA
JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Gov. Tate Reeves has named the interim commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).
Oil Spill
Used oyster shells wanted in Santa Rosa County
WEAR
MILTON, Fla. (WEAR-TV) — A program that collects old oyster shells for recycling is now up and running in Santa Rosa County.
Regional
Court rules DEQ must force Thermaldyne to identify pollutants headed for Intracoastal Waterway
NOLA.com
State environmental regulators must require an oil refinery waste reclamation company in Port Allen to identify the pollutants it wants to dump into the Intracoastal Waterway in West Baton Rouge Parish, a state appeals court ruled.
National
EPA petition asks for action on tainted drinking water
AP
Eight state and national health and environment groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take emergency action because they say Oregon regulators have failed to curb nitrate contamination in drinking water sources near large dairies and feedlots.
New York sues Trump administration to enforce Clean Air Act
Reuters
New York and Connecticut sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging it has failed to enforce the U.S. Clean Air Act and allowed five neighboring states to pump unhealthy levels of pollution into their states.
Opinion
Government can be answer to problems
Editorial – Natchez Democrat
Government officials are often excoriated for being wasteful, corrupt and self-serving.
Wyatt Emmerich: Lack of funding is choking state-run parks system
Commercial Dispatch
Wyatt Emmerich
Mississippi has a lot of wonderful people. One of them is Sam Polles, 27-year executive director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Press Releases
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Winston County Journal
OXFORD, Miss.—William C. Lamar, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, together with Charles Carfagno, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal enforcement program in the Southeast, announce:
John H. Couey, 44, of Greenville, Mississippi, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Glen Davidson, in Oxford, Mississippi, following a guilty plea to five felony counts of knowingly making false material statements in documents required to be maintained under the Clean Water Act.
EPA Region 4 Jumpstarts Cleaner Trucks Initiative
01/16/2020
ATLANTA (Jan. 16, 2020) — Today, at the Georgia Motor Trucking Association (GMTA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker, joined by GMTA President & CEO Ed Crowell, followed up on EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s November 2018 announcement and took steps to advance the Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI). The CTI rulemaking will establish new, more stringent emission standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants for highway heavy-duty engines.
