State
Feds to decide if 2 Mississippi turtles need protection
AP
The federal government says it will decide whether protection is needed for a freshwater turtle found only in Mississippi and a related species found in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Chemours to close First Chemical Pascagoula plant by end of the year
WLOX
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - Chemours has announced that it will close its First Chemical plant in Pascagoula at the end of this year.
Adams County Supervisors take flack for passing mask ordinance
Natchez Democrat
… Unanimously agreed to allow Jordan Kaiser and Sessions to redesign and obtain specs for construction of the dam on Robins Lake Road that could be submitted to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for approval. Adams County Attorney Scott Slover said the goal of the redesign is to find a solution to the dam’s overflow problem that meets the county’s price range and MDEQ’s safety requirements.
Boy Scouts clean up Fourth of July debris from Pass Christian beach
WLOX
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) - On the day after the Fourth of July, Boy Scout Troop 316 scoured Pass Christian beach to pick up trash left behind by beachgoers.
State Government
Most DMR employees remain on furlough, waiting on budget to pass
WLOX
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - The Department of Marine Resources remains closed and without funding with no resolution in sight.
Lawmakers react to news of multiple COVID-19 cases at State Capitol
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Multiple COVID-19 cases at the State Capitol are now under investigation by the State Department of Health. Some lawmakers have tested positive and others are sick and awaiting test results.
Oil Spill
Oil Spill 2010: RESTORE Act Projects Make Lasting Impact
WUWF
More than two years after tar balls washed ashore on Gulf Coast beaches, then-President Barack Obama signed the RESTORE Act into law on July 6, 2012.
Regional
Are Louisiana fish safe to eat? State mercury testing program in peril as fishing surges during pandemic
NOLA.com
If there was a particularly bad time for Louisiana to stop testing waterways for toxic fish, it would be now.
Parkinson's disease risk in Louisiana linked to use of two herbicides and a pesticide: study
NOLA.com
A new study of individuals treated for Parkinson’s disease in Louisiana found a clear correlation between the disease and the use of two types of herbicide and one pesticide in rural areas dominated by forestry, woodlands and pastures.
No more half-shells? State may pause Apalachicola Bay oyster harvest until 2025
Tallahassee Democrat
State officials are poised to stop the harvest of wild oysters in Apalachicola Bay for the next five years.
National
EPA approves use of Lysol surface disinfectant products against COVID-19
Fox News
US Supreme Court deals blow to Keystone oil pipeline project
AP
BILLINGS, Mont. — The U.S. Supreme Court has handed another setback to the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada by keeping in place a lower court ruling that blocked a key permit for the project.
Court Rules Dakota Access Pipeline Must Be Emptied For Now
NPR
A federal judge has ruled that the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline must be emptied for now while the Army Corps of Engineers produces an environmental review.
How Two Young Scientists Built a $250 Million Business Using Yeast to Clean Up Wastewater
Forbes
A long-standing poker game with a group of University of Texas Southwestern medical students in Dallas brought Gaurab Chakrabarti and Sean Hunt together. Wenly Ruan, Chakrabarti’s dissection lab partner and Hunt’s then-girlfriend (now wife), was the link. But soon Chakrabarti, an M.D./Ph.D. (or “Mud-Phud,” in medical school parlance) candidate researching a drug candidate for pancreatic cancer, and Hunt, a graduate student in chemical engineering at MIT, were geeking out over science.
Press releases
EPA approves first surface disinfectant products tested on the SARS-CoV-2 virus
07/06/2020
WASHINGTON (July 6, 2020) — Throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked to provide the American public with information about how to safely and effectively kill the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, on surfaces.
Vicksburg District to reopen select beaches and recreation areas at Mississippi lakes beginning July 6
Published July 2, 2020
Vicksburg, Miss. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District will reopen select beaches and recreation areas at its Mississippi lakes – Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake, Enid Lake and Grenada Lake – and incorporate preventative health measures beginning July 6.
