State
Controversial, decades-old Yazoo pump project included in Cochran-led appropriation bill
Clarion Ledger
Congress is mulling the option to resurrect a controversial, decades-old plan to construct a pump at the south edge of the Delta, where the Yazoo River flows into the Mississippi River.
Move should make way for S. Frontage extension
Vicksburg Post
The city of Vicksburg has secured the final right of way to relocate the city’s utility lines on South Frontage Road.
...City attorney Nancy Thomas said city officials are waiting on project approval from the Mississippi Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality.
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/2017/12/24/move-should-make-way-for-s-frontage-extension/
Hattiesburg hopes you will recycle
WDAM
Mayor Toby Barker and the City of Hattiesburg have been pushing through the month of December, encouraging residents to recycle.
Their goal is to get Hattiesburg residents to sign up for the city's recycling program.
How to recycle your Christmas tree in Hattiesburg
WDAM
The City of Hattiesburg’s Urban Forestry Division is gearing up for its annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program.
Christmas tree recycling locations now open
WLOX
With the last Christmas trees now unwrapped, families start to think about putting the decorations away for another year. And the counties begin to think about protecting the environment.
Brookhaven encourages recycling
Daily Leader
After the melee of Christmas morning has passed and piles of torn wrapping paper sit crumpled under the tree, it’s worth considering saving room in your trash can and salvaging a little of your family’s holiday debris.
Hattiesburg Public Works Director Larry Barnes announces resignation
Hattiesburg American
Public Works Director Larry Barnes has announced his resignation from the city of Hattiesburg to pursue other career opportunities.
State Government
Downward budget trend could continue in 2018
Daily Journal
JACKSON – If preliminary numbers hold, 2018 will mark the third consecutive session where Mississippi legislators cut state spending.
Health Department asks Legislature to reverse some budget cuts
Clarion Ledger
The state Department of Health is seeking this legislative session to recoup some of what it lost as a result of budget cuts in recent years.
Oil Spill
Regulators Propose Rollbacks to Offshore Drilling Safety Measures
BSEE says revisions could save industry $900 million; proposal includes changing enforcement of new minimum standard for ‘drilling margin’
WSJ
WASHINGTON—Regulators in the Trump administration are proposing to roll back safety measures put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a revision that would reduce the role of government in offshore oil production and return more responsibility to private companies.
Regional
Powered by trash: See how Baton Rouge engineers are using garbage to fuel industry
The Advocate
Call it alchemy, Baton Rouge style.
Engineers are turning the Capital City's trash into fuel that helps power petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River which make the raw materials used to produce all kinds of goods, from plastic containers to car parts.
Carp Species Potential Threats to Alabama Waterways
Courier-Journal
Unwanted guests can sometimes show up during the holiday season, but they almost always go home at some point. Unfortunately, the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division got word recently that an unwanted fish species has invaded Alabama waters, and Fisheries Section Chief Nick Nichols is afraid the silver carp wants to make the Tennessee River home.
Is poisonous ‘nasty salt’ the cure for South Carolina’s wild hog problem?
The State
Hunters in Richland County were abuzz recently upon hearing about federal plans to poison wild pigs that are chewing up the countryside from California to the Carolinas.
'They're a mammalian cockroach:' State officials hope poison can help control widespread wild pig problem
The Advocate
In Louisiana's ongoing fight against invasive wild swine, state officials are hopeful that a new product — a toxic bait, or hog poison — may help finally turn the tide against the porcine menace.
NC to test drinking supplies for chemicals emerging as risks
AP
RALEIGH, NC (AP) -North Carolina environmental regulators will start testing major supplies of drinking water to learn whether people are ingesting industrial chemicals the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has spotlighted for more study.
EPA asking for public opinion on how pesticides affect honeybees
WTVY
DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - A recent study brought awareness to the harm a commonly used pesticide causes to honeybees.
Effort to assess aquifer threats thwarted by City Council vote
Commercial Appeal
Beneath the tranquil fields and forests of Shelby Farms, ancient faults and old channels of the Wolf River have gouged openings in a subsurface layer of clay that serves as a protective barrier over the deep, high-quality aquifer supplying the Memphis area with drinking water.
Cornell University awarded $1 million for work in nitrogen reduction
Ithaca Voice
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University has been awarded $1 million dollars after taking part in a nitrogen reduction challenge at Tulane University in Louisiana last week.
National
After a spate of exits, what is the future of the EPA?
PBS
More than 700 people, including over 200 scientists and 96 environmental protection specialists, have left the Environmental Protection Agency since the start of the Trump administration, according to a joint investigation by The New York Times and ProPublica. Lisa Friedman of The New York Times joins Hari Sreenivasan to talk about the future of the agency.
US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act saved more lives than expected: Study
The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Air Act has played a vital role in reducing the exposure of people to harmful pollutants and have saved more lives than initially reported, finds a study by MIT researchers.
Financial Express
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Act has played a vital role in reducing the exposure of people to harmful pollutants and have saved more lives than initially reported, finds a study by MIT researchers.
Minnesota Communities Investing in New Type of Water Treatment
KSTP
Our 10,000 lakes are quickly freezing into ice. Still, cities across the metro are becoming increasingly aware of an emerging contaminant found in some of Minnesota's water sources.
It's called 1,4-dioxane. It's highly mobile, doesn't biodegrade in the environment, and the Environmental Protection Agency says it's likely to cause cancer.
EPA entering Wolverine PFAS investigation
MLIve
ROCKFORD, MI -- The Environmental Protection Agency is making a small but significant entrance into the toxic fluorochemical pollution investigation in Kent County, Mich.
The EPA will begin sampling groundwater and drinking water wells polluted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS or PFCs) from Wolverine World Wide tannery waste starting next week.
Trump admin says ‘incidental’ bird killings aren't illegal
The Hill
The Trump administration concluded Friday that “incidental” killings of about 1,000 bird species are not illegal.
New maps tell story of water quality through bugs, slugs and snails
Morning Call (PA)
The bugs and other critters Erika Iyengar’s students find in their water samples dictate their reactions.
Oil discoveries hit lowest point in 70 years
Supply shortages and increasing prices may be awaiting as companies spend less on exploration amid the shale revolution
Houston Chronicle
Major oil discoveries have fallen to their lowest levels in more than seven decades, as drillers across the world wrestle with stubbornly low prices and the tantalizing draw of quick returns in U.S. shale fields.
Press Releases
EPA Advances Cooperative Federalism Through Designation Process for Sulfur Dioxide and Ozone Standards
12/22/2017
WASHINGTON (December 22, 2017) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking the next steps in the Clean Air Act process to determine which areas of the country meet national air quality standards for ground-level ozone and sulfur dioxide.
