State
Laura blasts destructive, life-threatening Gulf Coast path
AP
Hurricane Laura pounded the Gulf Coast for hours with ferocious wind, torrential rains and rising seawater as it roared ashore over southwestern Louisiana near the Texas border early Thursday, threatening the lives of people who didn't evacuate.
Mississippi at risk for tornado outbreak as Hurricane Laura moves north
MPB
Mississippi is at risk for an outbreak of tornadoes and severe storms as Hurricane Laura moves inland.
Lawsuit, consent decree filed over Hattiesburg wastewater violations
Hattiesburg American
The U.S. government and the state of Mississippi are suing the city of Hattiesburg for what could be millions of dollars for what it says are violations of the nation's Clean Water Act.
The state and federal governments filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking injunctive relief and penalties for the city's violations of the Clean Water Act and the Mississippi Air and Water Pollution Control Law.
County receives $22K solid waste grant
Neshoba Democrat
Neshoba County was awarded more than $20,000 in state grant monies for a new bulky waste collection receptacle.
MDEQ Awards Solid Waste Assistance Grant to Stone County
Stone County Enterprise
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) awarded Stone County a solid waste assistance grant of $15,700 that will be used by the county for a household hazardous waste collection program.
Oil Spill
New endangered green sea turtle at Mississippi Aquarium
WXXV
The Mississippi Aquarium is welcoming a new friend to their facility, an endangered green sea turtle by the name of Banner.
Mississippi Aquarium partners with CTA to create marine-themed buses
WLOX
GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - The Mississippi Aquarium is set to open its doors on Saturday, the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Regional
Anderson County residents keep the heat on TVA over worries about toxic coal ash
Knoxville News Sentinel
Anderson County resident Loni Arwood says she doesn’t need a study to convince her the Tennessee Valley Authority is contaminating her community with its radioactive coal ash dust.
Rockwood plant accused of mishandling hazardous waste in EPA lawsuit
WVLT
ROCKWOOD, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit against American Zinc Recycling Corporation in Rockwood over its alleged mishandling of hazardous waste.
The EPA will stop monitoring chloroprene near controversial St. John Parish plant at year's end
NOLA.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to stop monitoring the levels of a chemical that is believed to cause cancer around a controversial St. John the Baptist Parish plant in December, according to the agency.
Oil industry shuts platforms, rigs, refineries as storm hits
AP
The energy industry braced for catastrophic storm surges and winds as Hurricane Laura cut a dangerous path across the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana, making landfall early Thursday.
National
Testing traps to control lovely but destructive lionfish
AP
The quest is on for a better way to kill beautiful but brutally destructive lionfish than shooting them one by one with spearguns.
U.S. Flood Strategy Shifts to ‘Unavoidable’ Relocation of Entire Neighborhoods
NYT
This week’s one-two punch of Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Marco may be extraordinary, but the storms are just two of nine to strike Texas and Louisiana since 2017 alone, helping to drive a major federal change in how the nation handles floods.
Press Releases
EPA and USDA Announce Competition to Advance Agricultural Sustainability in the United States
08/26/2020
WASHINGTON (August 26, 2020) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the Next Gen Fertilizer Challenges, a joint EPA-USDA partnership and competition to advance agricultural sustainability in the United States.
NFWF Announces $5.6 Million in Grants to Advance Longleaf Pine Habitat and Support Wildlife in Eight Southeast States
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 26, 2020) – The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced $5.6 million in grants to restore, enhance and protect longleaf pine forests in eight Southeast states. The grants will generate more than $6.9 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $12.5 million.
