State
MDEQ lifts two beach water contact advisories in Gulfport; four others in effect
WXXV
(Jackson, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, lifted two water contact advisories Tuesday for Station 8 (Gulfport West Beach) and Station 9 (Gulfport Harbor Beach).
Starkville's annual Get Swept Up! volunteer day set for Wednesday
Commercial Dispatch
Starkville will hold its annual city cleanup day, Get Swept Up!, on Wednesday for 529 volunteers to beautify the city in preparation for Mississippi State University's upcoming football season.
https://cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=83252
State Government
Dr. Dobbs calls controversial CDC update ’very inaccurate’: ‘I’m telling you, COVID is killing people’
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - In their latest update, the CDC said that of all the Americans who have died from the coronavirus, 6 percent of their death certificates have COVID-19 as the only factor in the fatality.
Regional
Corps aims to spend $2 billion on higher levees, stronger floodwalls along Mississippi River
NOLA.com
The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing $2 billion in upgrades to the levee system along the Mississippi River from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico, with the majority of the projects aimed at shoring up protections for areas in Louisiana around New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_911b938e-ec8f-11ea-a348-2b62cc2af287.html
National
Drilling, mines, other projects hastened by Trump order
AP
The Trump administration is seeking to fast track environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including oil and gas drilling, hazardous fuel pipelines, wind farms and highway projects in multiple states, according to documents provided to The Associated Press.
https://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article245425555.html
Tribes, green groups sue over Trump rollback of water rights
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being sued for the second time in a week over a rule that limits states’ ability to fight big projects such as pipelines, with tribes and environmental groups who fear damage to nearby waters taking the latest action in court.
$1B Cleanup Of Lower Fox River Complete
WPR
Earlier this month, the cleanup of a toxic chemical in the Fox River reached a milestone when a federal judge approved a settlement holding the paper companies who released the toxin into the river responsible for final cleanup costs.
Pasadena’s Tetra Tech Wins $68 Million U.S. EPA Superfund Contract
Pasadena Now
Pasadena-based consulting and engineering services firm Tetra Tech Inc. has won a single-award, seven-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for $68 million to provide technical and advisory services for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 for the agency’s Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START V) program.
https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/tetra-tech-wins-68-million-u-s-epa-superfund-contract/
Press Releases
EPA Announces Availability of Funding for Farmer-led, Farm Focused Projects in the Gulf
Applications are due no later than October 16, 2020
09/01/2020
GULFPORT, Miss. (Sept.1, 2020) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Division announced the availability of grant funding to improve water quality, habitat, resilience and environmental education through the demonstration of innovative practices on working lands.
EPA Announces Vision and Goals for RCRA Cleanups for the Next 10 Years
09/01/2020
WASHINGTON (September 1, 2020) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management Assistant Administrator Peter Wright announced the 2030 Vision and Goals for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action hazardous waste facility cleanup program at the Association of State And Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials 2020 RCRA Corrective Action Virtual Conference.
