Monday, February 4, 2019

Forum: Restoration projects are underway to help our Coast recover from Deepwater Horizon disaster

Forum: Restoration projects are underway to help our Coast recover from Deepwater Horizon disaster
BY GARY RIKARD MDEQ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FEBRUARY 04, 2019 09:04 AM

It is hard to believe, but April of this year marks the ninth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon (a/k/a BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Those nine years have involved not only the unprecedented response efforts in the immediate aftermath of the spill, but also settlement negotiations, and the implementation of projects to help restore the natural resources and the economy of the Gulf of Mexico region.
While it took several years of behind-the-scenes work among the Gulf states and federal agencies to reach a settlement, part of which includes $2.17 billion for Mississippi, you may not be aware of the current efforts to implement projects that benefit the Gulf Coast’s natural resources and its economy.
As the agency charged by Gov. Phil Bryant with managing the Deepwater Horizon restoration efforts in Mississippi, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has held multiple public meetings, including its annual Restoration Summit, across the Coast to seek input on the types of projects that are needed. In addition, the recommendations made by GoCoast2020 and its members have been invaluable in creating local, impactful projects.
I would like to highlight a couple of projects that are currently being implemented, beginning with the Water Quality Improvement Program. Common threats to Mississippi coastal water quality include urban development, failing wastewater and sewer infrastructure, and sedimentation — all of which impact water quality moving into the Mississippi Sound. Water quality entering the Sound can be improved with projects that upgrade, repair and replace wastewater infrastructure at its source.
Investing in water quality improvement provides multiple ecological and community benefits, including habitat restoration and enhancement, improved stormwater management, and enhanced outdoor recreation areas for residents and tourists. Restoration actions associated with the Water Quality Improvement Program include tracking and identifying the sources of contamination, system improvements to mitigate urban runoff, discharge and overflow issues, as well as monitoring and modeling activities to give us a better understanding of water quality dynamics in the Mississippi Sound and the surrounding coastal waters.
Tracking activities are underway to identify and document sources of water quality impairments, and MDEQ plans to implement several projects for specific water quality improvements this year. To increase efficiency, the program leverages several funding streams to provide planning and technical support for the actions needed for water quality improvement.
Another exciting project underway, and nearing completion, is the creation of the Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline. This project, using living shoreline techniques, which include natural and artificial breakwater materials, will reduce erosion and the loss of marsh shoreline as well as re-establish habitat for fish, birds and wildlife in the region. More than six miles of living shoreline and 46 acres of oyster reef have been constructed, and the next phase of the project involves the creation of 46 acres of marsh.
This brief overview cannot cover all the various aspects of restoration. I encourage you to find out more about MDEQ’s restoration program, these projects and the other 66 current projects by going to our website at restore.ms. You can sign up for updates and our other outreach methods. Your input will continue to guide us as we improve the Coast’s beautiful natural resources.
https://www.sunherald.com/opinion/other-voices/article225493920.html


News Clippings February 4, 2019

State

SMITHSONIAN’S WATER/WAYS EXHIBIT COMES TO TENN-TOM WATERWAY MUSEUM
WCBI

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Water plays a vital role in our lives and our communities.
Now, you can learn how.

New pipeline aims to bring industry, jobs to Amory
WTVA

AMORY, Miss. (WTVA) - A new natural gas pipeline at the Port of Amory is expected to attract new industries and bring new jobs.


State Government

Desoto County homeowners fight Olive Branch annexation plans
WMC

Hundreds of Desoto County homeowners gave up part of their weekend to organize against what many of them call a threat to their way of life.


Regional

Shell subsidiary to pay $2.2M fine for 2016 Gulf oil spill
Houma Courier

A subsidiary of Shell Oil Co. has agreed to pay a $2.2 million fine after a pipeline broke and spilled about 1,900 barrels of oil about 90 miles off Terrebonne Parish in 2016.

With gypsum wall slipping under weight of rain-filled lake, Mosaic taps emergency reservoir
The Advocate

Mosaic Fertilizer executives and their contractors are scrambling to find new places to store millions of gallons of highly acidic water being drained from a slumping 140-acre lake atop a towering waste pile in St. James Parish.


National

EPA's Wheeler continues frequent meetings with industry his agency regulates
CNN

The Environmental Protection Agency's acting administrator Andrew Wheeler has maintained the custom of his predecessor Scott Pruitt of meeting with far more industry executives and lobbyists than environmental groups.

Trump EPA's pollution, waste reduction numbers are lowest in a decade
The Hill

The pounds of pollutants and waste that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced under the Trump administration are at their lowest levels in a decade, according to an analysis by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) published Friday.

As EPA Eases Wetlands Rule, California Makes a Countermove
WSJ

Home builders cheered a Trump administration move in December to ease environmental regulations on development in wetlands. But in California, the celebration didn’t last long.
Builders there say the action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prompted state water officials to accelerate longstanding plans to bolster wetlands protections that exceed those for federal waterways.

Senators call on EPA to restrict key drinking water contaminants
The Hill

A bipartisan group of 20 senators has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate allowable drinking water levels of two chemicals linked to various health problems.

Report: Holloman Air Force Base groundwater highly contaminated
Alamogordo Daily News (NM)

The groundwater below Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo tested positive for hazardous chemicals — and the contamination levels are more than 18,000 times higher than what the federal government says is safe. 

PFAS in Michigan: What is being done and what isn't
WWMT

LANSING, Mich. — The state is facing contaminated water in several locations and some lawmakers are working on solutions to the emerging problem.

With plastic bag recycling difficult, Washington ponders ban at stores – and fees for paper bags
Spokesman-Review

OLYMPIA – Everybody wants to cut down on plastic pollution in the oceans, but opponents of proposals to ban plastic bags and straws say it might not be that simple.


Press Releases

EPA Signs MOU with The Water Research Foundation Advancing Nutrient Management Efforts
MOU Advances Trump Administration’s Efforts to Address Excess Nutrients in Nation’s Waterways
02/01/2019

WASHINGTON — Today, as part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting America’s waters through smart partnerships and market-based approaches, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Water Research Foundation (WRF) to accelerate progress on reducing excess nutrients in the nation’s waterways.

Headline Applications Now Being Accepted for K-12 Student and Teacher Awards
02/01/2019

WASHINGTON — Applications are now being accepted for the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) and The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators Award (PIAEE). 

Back and Forth: Ask Questions and Learn More About the Low-Level Helicopter Flying Above the Mississippi Alluvial Plain

Release Date: FEBRUARY 1, 2019Media:           Please join the U.S. Geological Survey, CGG Airborne and various partners for a demonstration of the low-flying helicopter and description of what scientists are seeking in and around the Mississippi Alluvial Plain.

Friday, February 1, 2019

News Clippings February 1, 2019

State

Lauderdale County tries to crack down on dumping and littering
Meridian Star

On Monday mornings, Lauderdale County workers spend up to two hours picking up trash outside of Road Department Satellite B in Collinsville, cleaning up after people who dumped their trash around the "white goods" facility during the hours it was closed. 
...Mayatt and Chris Lafferty, the county administrator, said they visited with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to discuss options for trash control. MDEQ suggested that the county draft an ordinance that could open up grant funding for an enforcement officer, who would be tasked with ticketing people using illegal dumpsites or littering. 

Tires removed from Monroe County creek, arrest made
WTVA

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WTVA) - An Okolona man is accused of dumping tires into a creek in Monroe County.

Delicious soft-shell crabs? Here's how one day you might get them from Mississippi fishermen
Hattiesburg American

That soft-shell crab you enjoy at your favorite seafood restaurant or that cocktail crab you order as an appetizer likely came from Southeast Asia, not the Mississippi Gulf.

Special Report: Mississippi Nuked Twice
Lamar County Cold War Test Site
WJTV

LAMAR COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) - When you think of atomic explosions, images of the unprecedented devastation in Japan at the end of World War 2, or mushroom clouds over the desert spring to mind. But, did you know that 2 atomic bombs were detonated in Mississippi a little more than 50 years ago.


State Government

MASTER PLAN FOR CCID UNDER WAY; SHOULD BE READY BY MID-MARCH
Northside Sun

A master plan for the Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID) should be in place by mid-March.

#MSLeg bill would divert millions of dollars to Mississippi tourism group
Clarion Ledger

Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, told fellow lawmakers Thursday that putting more money into advertising Mississippi is a smart investment.


Oil Spill

Canal Road widening, part of $40 million in RESTORE Act funding for Orange Beach
Fox 10

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - The widening of Canal Rd. is one of several projects coming to Orange Beach, funded by penalties associated with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (BP oil spill).


Regional

Conservation groups air Louisiana land loss Super Bowl ad
AP

A group of conservation organizations fighting Louisiana's coastal erosion problems is taking their message to the Super Bowl.


National

Six U.S. states sue Trump's EPA over interstate smog pollution rule
Reuters

Six Northeastern U.S. states and New York City have sued the Trump administration over its refusal to toughen smog restrictions in industrial states that blow pollution across their borders, officials said on Thursday.

15 AGs petition Trump administration to draft asbestos rule
The Hill

The Attorneys General from 15 states are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to draft a policy to collect more data on harmful asbestos.

Texas Gulf wetlands face population, development challenges
Galveston County News

To a motorist, zipping south through Galveston County from Houston to Galveston Island, the surrounding landscape might look like a whole lot of nothing — flat land, scrubby grass and frontage roads edging up to open prairie.

BP will link bonuses for 36,000 workers to climate targets
CNN

BP has pledged to align its business more closely with global climate goals and link the bonuses of 36,000 employees to greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Washington State to Regulate Federal Dams to Cool Hot Water
AP

SEATTLE (AP) — A NEW draft analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says dams and climate change are the leading cause of high temperatures in the Columbia and Snake rivers that are killing salmon.


Press Releases

EPA and Partners Announce Sunoco Pipeline and Mid-Valley Pipeline Settle Oil Spill Violations with $5M Civil Penalty
01/31/2019

DALLAS – (Jan. 31, 2019) In the latest joint federal-state Clean Water Act enforcement action, Sunoco Pipeline L.P. has agreed to pay civil penalties and state enforcement costs and to implement corrective measures to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and state environmental laws by Sunoco and Mid-Valley Pipeline Company stemming from three crude oil spills in 2013, 2014, and 2015, in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

EPA Appoints New Members to the Science Advisory Board and Subcommittees
Administrator Continues to Strive for Scientific and Geographical Diversity
01/31/2019

WASHINGTON (January 31, 2019) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the appointment of members who will serve on the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and four subcommittees including; the Agricultural Science Committee (ASC), the Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC), the Drinking Water Committee (DWC), and the Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC).