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MDEQ touts coordinated effort, announces $65 million in new BP spending

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2 years ago

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<h1>MDEQ touts coordinated effort, announces $65 million in new BP spending</h1>
<p class="byline">by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today <br />November 11, 2022</p>

<p>The theme for the 2022 Restoration Summit, held every November at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, was "purposeful restoration."</p>
<p>"We're not doing random acts of restoration," said Chris Wells, executive director at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. </p>
<p>In watching the state's years-long effort to spend the roughly $2 billion provided to it from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, stakeholders in the past <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2020/11/10/several-years-into-bp-settlement-spending-the-bulk-of-mississippis-restoration-work-remains-undone/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have criticized</a> Mississippi for not having a centralized game plan. Others questioned the state's commitment to one of it's purported top goals: improving water quality. </p>
<p>On Thursday evening, Wells addressed the former criticism head on while the state announced $65 million in new project spending between the RESTORE Act funds and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)..</p>
<p>"A lot of these projects seem disjointed, they're not independent of each other, though," he said of the state's efforts thus far. "We do try to piece this puzzle together. We know what's good for water quality is good for oysters and vice versa, building marsh habitat and leveraging different projects against each other, being able to take a holistic approach to things."</p>
<p>One example MDEQ presented is the $50 million Hancock County Living Shoreline: Hoping to improve shipping infrastructure, the state dredged sediment from the channel at Port Bienville, and then used the sediment to rebuild 46 acres of new marsh to Heron Bay. MDEQ is planning to add more marsh to the area with dredged sediment from Bayou Caddy.</p>
<p>Similarly, MDEQ pointed to a group of projects in Bay St. Louis, including a 20-acre non-harvestable reef the Nature Conservancy built with the long-term goal of repopulating local oysters. The state also built in the bay a 1,600-foot line of breakwaters comprised of concrete rings, which give oysters a place to grow and helps reduce erosion. </p>
<p>The state, which has currently obligated $809.8 million of the $2 billion it's set to receive, will continue to receive funds from the BP settlement until 2031. </p>
<p>A lot of the state's environmental projects, such as rebuilding marsh and improving water quality, are long-term efforts that have taken longer to receive funds, while many of the state's completed projects so far — such as an aquarium in Gulfport and a science center in Pearlington — are aimed at economic restoration. </p>
<p>In the last year, according to the state's <a href="http://www.msrestoreteam.com/ProjectStoryMap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">project tracker</a>, the project seeing the most money in spending has been improving the runway at the Trent Lott International Airport in Moss Point, with $4.2 million in expenditures from 2021 to 2022. Other projects that saw large amounts of spending in the last year include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Infrastructure improvements at Port Bienville: $3.7 million</li>
<li>Constructing living shorelines and reefs: $2.5 million</li>
<li>Water quality improvement through upgrading storm water and wastewater systems: $2 million</li>
<li>Using dredged materials to restore marsh: $1.3 million</li>
</ul>
<p>New project spending announced Thursday between the RESTORE Act funds and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF):</p>
<p><strong>RESTORE projects (Direct component, Bucket 1):</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Lowery Island Restoration</strong> ($4.4 million) — create a marina and mixed-use district.</li>
<li><strong>Pearl River Community College Hancock Aviation Aerospace Workforce Academy</strong> ($2.09 million) — purchase equipment to support the establishment of PRCC Aerospace Workforce Academy.</li>
<li><strong>The Kiln Utility District and Fire District Water and Sewer Expansion Project</strong> ($3 million) — expand water and sewer to support increased development.</li>
<li><strong>Highway 609 Washington Street Gateway Phase II</strong> ($5.5 million) — construct pedestrian friendly features including sidewalks, crosswalks, and landscaped median under Phase II from Old Fort Bayou to Highway 90.</li>
<li><strong>Trent Lott International Airport North Apron Expansion</strong> ($2.4 million) — expand the north apron of the Trent Lott International Airport.</li>
<li><strong>Magnificent Mile: I-10 Highwqy 63 Corridor Improvement</strong> ($5.5 million) — investment in road infrastructure to alleviate traffic congestion and encourage development.</li>
<li><strong>Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Secondary Runway</strong> <strong>Extension</strong> ($2.2 million) — funding will expand the secondary runway.</li>
<li><strong>Port Bienville Railroad Intermodal Expansion</strong> ($3.3 million) — construction of a 7-track classification yard and the addition of a truck-to-rail intermodal facility expansion.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>RESTORE projects (Spill impact component, Bucket 3):</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jones Park Expansion Parking Areas</strong> ($1.65 million) — expand parking areas at Jones Park.</li>
<li><strong>Walter Anderson Museum of Art Creative Complex</strong> ($1.2 million) — provide funding for facility construction and new program implementation.</li>
<li><strong>Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Workforce Training</strong> ($4.95 million) — development of curricula and workforce development program designed to meet job market needs.</li>
<li><strong>Health Professions for our Community (HEALP): Health Professions Center of Excellence</strong> ($6.6 million) — project will focus on developing a Health Professionals Center of Excellence.</li>
<li><strong>Marina at Front Beach</strong> ($5.5 million) — funding to convert derelict shrimp processing plant to marina and event center.</li>
<li><strong>Institute of Marine Mammal Studies Outreach and Ecotourism</strong> ($875,000) — enhance and expand ecotourism around Gulf Coast marine resources.</li>
<li><strong>St. Stanislaus and Ocean Springs Environmental Education</strong> ($566,500) — enhance environmental science programs related to marine ecosystem education.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>NFWF:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Wolf River headwaters acquisition</strong> ($15,103,000) — acquire approximately 14,000 acres along the Wolf River south of Highway 53 to help improve water quality and quantity.</li>
<li><strong>Gulf Islands National Seashore</strong> ($1,578,000) — continue invasive species removal and control work out on the Gulf Islands National Seashore with the National Park Service.</li>
</ul>

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

An ad supporting Jenifer Branning finds imaginary liberals on the Mississippi Supreme Court

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22 hours ago

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November 24, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-11-24 06:00:00

The Improve Mississippi PAC claims in advertising that the state Supreme Court “is in danger of being dominated by liberal justices” unless Jenifer Branning is elected in Tuesday’s runoff.

Improve Mississippi made the almost laughable claim in both radio commercials and mailers that were sent to homes in the court’s central district, where a runoff election will be held on Tuesday.

Improve Mississippi is an independent, third party political action committee created to aid state Sen. Jenifer Branning of Neshoba County in her efforts to defeat longtime Central District Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens of Copiah County.

The PAC should receive an award or at least be considered for an honor for best fiction writing.

At least seven current members of the nine-member Supreme Court would be shocked to know anyone considered them liberal.

It is telling that the ads do not offer any examples of “liberal” Supreme Court opinions issued by the current majority. It is even more telling that there have been no ads by Improve Mississippi or any other group citing the liberal dissenting opinions written or joined by Kitchens.

Granted, it is fair and likely accurate to point out that Branning is more conservative than Kitchens. After all, Branning is considered one of the more conservative members of a supermajority Republican Mississippi Senate.

As a member of the Senate, for example, she voted against removing the Confederate battle emblem from the Mississippi state flag, opposed Medicaid expansion and an equal pay bill for women.

And if she is elected to the state Supreme Court in Tuesday’s runoff election, she might be one of the panel’s more conservative members. But she will be surrounded by a Supreme Court bench full of conservatives.

A look at the history of the members of the Supreme Court might be helpful.

Chief Justice Michael Randolph originally was appointed to the court by Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, who is credited with leading the effort to make the Republican Party dominant in Mississippi. Before Randolph was appointed by Barbour, he served a stint on the National Coal Council — appointed to the post by President Ronald Reagan who is considered an icon in the conservative movement.

Justices James Maxwell, Dawn Beam, David Ishee and Kenneth Griffis were appointed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant.

Only three members of the current court were not initially appointed to the Supreme Court by conservative Republican governors: Kitchens, Josiah Coleman and Robert Chamberlin. All three got their initial posts on the court by winning elections for full eight-year terms.

But Chamberlin, once a Republican state senator from Southaven, was appointed as a circuit court judge by Barbour before winning his Supreme Court post. And Coleman was endorsed in his election effort by both the Republican Party and by current Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who also contributed to his campaign.

Only Kitchens earned a spot on the court without either being appointed by a Republican governor or being endorsed by the state Republican Party.

The ninth member of the court is Leslie King, who, like Kitchens, is viewed as not as conservative as the other seven justices. King, former chief judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, was originally appointed to the Supreme Court by Barbour, who to his credit made the appointment at least in part to ensure that a Black Mississippian remained on the nine-member court.

It should be noted that Beam was defeated on Nov. 5 by David Sullivan, a Gulf Coast municipal judge who has a local reputation for leaning conservative. Even if Sullivan is less conservative when he takes his new post in January, there still be six justices on the Supreme Court with strong conservative bonafides, not counting what happens in the Branning-Kitchens runoff.

Granted, Kitchens is next in line to serve as chief justice should Randolph, who has been on the court since 2004, step down. The longest tenured justice serves as the chief justice.

But to think that Kitchens as chief justice would be able to exert enough influence to force the other longtime conservative members of the court to start voting as liberals is even more fiction.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1968

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22 hours ago

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November 24, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-24 07:00:00

Nov. 24, 1968

Credit: Wikipedia

Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver fled the U.S. to avoid imprisonment on a parole violation. He wrote in “Soul on Ice”: “If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.” 

The Arkansas native began to be incarcerated when he was still in junior high and soon read about Malcolm X. He began writing his own essays, drawing the praise of Norman Mailer and others. That work helped him win parole in 1966. His “Soul on Ice” memoir, written from Folsom state prison, described his journey from selling marijuana to following Malcolm X. The book he wrote became a seminal work in Black literature, and he became a national figure. 

Cleaver soon joined the Black Panther Party, serving as the minister of information. After a Panther shootout with police that left him injured, one Panther dead and two officers wounded, he jumped bail and fled the U.S. In 1977, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, he returned to the U.S. pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault and served 1,200 hours of community service. 

From that point forward, “Mr. Cleaver metamorphosed into variously a born-again Christian, a follower of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a Mormon, a crack cocaine addict, a designer of men’s trousers featuring a codpiece and even, finally, a Republican,” The New York Times wrote in his 1998 obituary. His wife said he was suffering from mental illness and never recovered.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1867

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2 days ago

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November 23, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-23 07:00:00

Nov. 23, 1867

Extract from the Reconstructed Constitution of the State of Louisiana, 1868. Credit: Library of Congress

The Louisiana Constitutional Convention, composed of 49 White delegates and 49 Black delegates, met in New Orleans. The new constitution became the first in the state’s history to include a bill of rights. 

The document gave property rights to married women, funded public education without segregated schools, provided full citizenship for Black Americans, and eliminated the Black Codes of 1865 and property qualifications for officeholders. 

The voters ratified the constitution months later. Despite the document, prejudice and corruption continued to reign in Louisiana, and when Reconstruction ended, the constitution was replaced with one that helped restore the rule of white supremacy.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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