State
CONCERNS RISE OVER STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF OKTIBBEHA COUNTY LAKE DAM
WCBI
OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The dam at the Oktibbeha County Lake was not built to design specifications – and the Army Corp of Engineers first made that report 40 years ago.
18-wheeler accident with diesel spill: Warren County
WJTV
WARREN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Lousiana law enforcement will shut down eastbound traffic on I-20 past Washington St / Warrenton Rd EX 1A to access a wreck in Warren County.
Hattiesburg votes to double rates, but curbside recycling program will continue
Hattiesburg American
COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM ADDED AFTER PIPELINE RUPTURE
Yazoo Herald
As a result of the gas leak and pipe rupture in the Satartia area last February, Denbury Enterprises is purchasing a mass communication system for Yazoo County.
Harrison County woods fire burns hundreds of acres as dry conditions persist
WLOX
HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - Residents are able to return to their homes Wednesday night after evacuating due to a woods fire in Harrison County.
Hancock County fire grows to over 400 acres as weather service issues red-flag warning
Sun Herald
A red flag warning was issued Wednesday morning for South Mississippi as firefighters battle a large woods fire in Hancock County.
Expert: 'Murder Hornets' unlikely in Golden Triangle region
Starkville Daily News
Murder Hornets, also known as Asian giant hornets or Japanese giant hornets, have become a popular talking point on social media in recent days as the insect has been discovered in one U.S. State, but one local expert says seeing them in the Golden Triangle isn't a high probability.
KEEP MENDENHALL BEAUTIFUL
Simpson County News
Keep Mendenhall Beautiful donated 39 collapsible safety cones to the Mendenhall Police Department. Keep Mendenhall Beautiful was able to purchase the cones with a grant from Lowe’s under the Keep America Beautiful Community Restoration and Resiliency Fund.
Stack of challenges await Delta Council annual meeting reset for fall
MBJ
Mississippi Delta Council, the region’s 84-year-old non-profit economic development entity, will have no shortage of major challenges to address at its 2020 annual meeting.
Governor says 2020 could be one of the worst hurricane seasons in Mississippi in years
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - This is Hurricane Preparedness week in Mississippi.
Greg Michel, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says now is the time to review insurance policies for your home and flood insurance.
History made as Holland named Mississippi Valley Division’s commander
Vicksburg Post
Maj. Gen. Diana M. Holland, former commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division, has been named commander of the Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg.
State Government
‘We are still in the heat of this battle,' Reeves says in push to reopen Miss.
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -More of Mississippi gets set to reopen as state leaders look to get the economy back on track.
Reeves urges Mississippians get back to work as state begins reopening
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is discussing the state’s latest efforts as things move toward reopening.
2019 Mississippi tax return filing deadline extended to July 15
WAPT
The Department of Revenue extended the deadline for filing 2019 individual income tax returns t0 July 15.
State Treasurer announces “Tell me Something Good Scholarship”
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – State Treasurer David McRae today launched the “Tell Me Something Good” Scholarship Program. Each week in May, a Mississippi PreK-12 student will be awarded a $529 College Savings Mississippi scholarship for doing good in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regional
Spillway opening turns portions of Lake Pontchartrain green
WVUE
MANDEVILLE, La. (WVUE) -A portion of Lake Pontchartrain turns green amid yet another opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
Is coronavirus turning us into litterbugs? LSU scientist wants your help to find out
NOLA.com
Coronavirus is an invisible problem, but our response to it is creating an increasingly visible one. Littering streets and sidewalks along with the usual empty bottles, cigarette butts and plastic shopping bags are a growing number of cast-off gloves, disinfectant wipes and disposable masks.
National
Government to study environmental impacts of coronavirus pandemic
The Hill
The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday that it will begin to study the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on the environment.
EPA Gets More Time to Fend Off Enforcement Policy Challenge
Bloomberg
A New York federal judge won’t resolve a challenge to the Trump administration’s pandemic-tied environmental enforcement policy as quickly as plaintiffs had hoped.
Short-Staffed EPA Leans on Older Adjunct Workers, With No Raises
Bloomberg
In a large office in an eastern city, a woman works 36 hours a week at the EPA processing and issuing permits—a task she said only one other person in her office knows how to do.
The woman, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, is a retiree who works in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) program.
States ask Trump administration to pay laid off oil workers to plug abandoned wells
Reuters
A coalition of U.S. oil producing states has asked the Trump administration for stimulus funds to hire laid off energy workers to plug abandoned wells, a proposal aimed at fending off unemployment while tackling a growing environmental problem, a spokeswoman for the group said.
Press Releases
EPA Announces the Selection of 155 Grants for Communities to Receive Over $65 Million in Total Grant Funding for Brownfield Assessments and Cleanups Across the Nation
05/06/2020
WASHINGTON — Today, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the selection of 155 grants for communities and tribes totaling over $65.6 million in EPA brownfields funding through the agency’s Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs.
State Parks Reopen
MDWFP
Beginning May 7, 2020, Governor Tate Reeves’ Executive Order 1478 will re-open State Park and State Lake Campgrounds to self-contained RV camping and outdoor recreation activities including:
FSU researchers study Gulf of Mexico in international collaboration
When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig suffered a blowout in 2010 and began spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists got to work understanding the effects of that disaster.
Bottled or Tap? 25% of Americans Never Drink Their Tap Water, J.D. Power Finds
TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2020-- As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves closer to implementing regulations for PFAS 1 (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” in the U.S. drinking water supply, many Americans are “just saying no” to tap water.
