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Hattiesburg plant proposed as hazardous waste site

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EPA looking to prioritize old Hattiesburg facility for hazardous waste clean-up

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to add a defunct chemical manufacturing plant in Hattiesburg to its priority list of hazardous waste sites around the country.ย ย 

Hercules, Inc. produced hundreds of chemical products, such as paints, varnishes, and pesticides in the from 1923 until 2009. Since its closure, multiple EPA inspections have turned up benzene and over a dozen other contaminants in the underlying groundwater.ย 

After its most recent inspection in 2021, the agency proposed in March to add Hercules to its Superfund National Priorities List.

In 2016, the Delaware-based company, since bought by Ashland Global, settled a lawsuit with the City of Hattiesburg for $3 million after the city alleged that the factory โ€œknowingly and improperly disposed of hazardous waste.โ€ Two years before that, the EPA ordered Hercules to spend $1 million for groundwater remediation in the city.ย ย 

Sludge disposal pits at the site of the former Hercules, Inc. property in Hattiesburg on Mar. 17, 2021.

After its 2021 visit, the EPA said that the groundwater contamination extends outside of the Hercules property line, underneath an industrial complex and into a residential area.ย 

The City of Hattiesburg maintains eight drinking wells within two miles of the site. While the EPA hasn’t found any impact to those wells, it said it will continue sampling the residential area, which includes several apartment complexes within a mile radius of the old factory.ย ย 

The agency is receiving comments from the public until June 16, and will hold a public meeting on May 19 at the C.E. Roy Community Center in Hattiesburg at 6 P.M. The EPA will then take the comments into consideration as to whether or not to add the old Hercules site to its National Priorities List, or NPL.ย 

Smoke stacks at the property of the former Hercules, Inc. facility in Hattiesburg on Feb. 9, 2021.

Doing so would initiate an EPA- remediation , after which the agency would work with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and local stakeholders to redevelop the site.ย 

Hercules would become the second location in Hattiesburg to make the NPL. In 2000, the EPA added Davis Timber Company, a wood-preservation facility, after detecting contaminants from the company in dead fish at a nearby country club in the 1970s and 1980s.ย 

The effort there resulted in an animal shelter at the site that opened in 2013, joined a few years later by a dog park called Fields of Barktopia. The EPA finally it from the NPL in 2018.

If added to the NPL, Hercules would become the ninth current site on the list in Mississippi, all but one of which were either a wood or chemical product facility. The other eight are mapped below:

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

Mississippi News

Mississippi sees 5th largest increase in fatal crashes: study

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www.wjtv.com – Garret Grove – 2024-11-02 12:25:00

SUMMARY: A recent study highlights a troubling rise in road fatalities in Mississippi, with a nearly 31% increase in fatal accidents from 2012 to 2021, ranking it fifth highest in the country. The reported a spike during the 2024 Labor Day , responding to seven fatal crashes resulting in 15 deaths, to only three crashes and six deaths in 2021. Additionally, a 2023 showed Mississippi had the highest per capita fatal crashes during the Christmas period. Young drivers are particularly affected, as Mississippi ranks fifth for teenage driving fatalities nationwide.

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Mississippi News

Vicksburg man charged with assaulting woman in domestic dispute

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www.wjtv.com – Kaitlin Howell – 2024-11-02 11:33:00

SUMMARY: In Vicksburg, Mississippi, a domestic assault led to the hospitalization of a man and woman on November 2. were alerted by Merit Region after a 28-year-old man, Daron Evans, arrived with a stab wound. Authorities dispatched to the scene found the woman, who had also been assaulted. After receiving treatment, Evans was and charged with aggravated assault domestic violence; he is held without bond until his court appearance. The woman is in stable at the . An investigation is ongoing.

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Mississippi News

Cloudy and humid weekend – Home – WCBI TV

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www.wcbi.com – Sadie Morris – 2024-11-02 10:13:00

SUMMARY: In Columbus, Mississippi, humid and cloudy weather is expected, with temperatures remaining above average in the lower 80s for the upcoming . Rain is forecasted for Election Day on Tuesday, continuing into the week with isolated showers likely. This Saturday will see patchy fog in the morning, clearing by midday, with a high around 80 degrees. Sunday will bring similar humidity, with a high in the lower 80s and mild overnight lows in the mid-60s. Throughout the week, expect persistent clouds and humidity alongside mild temperatures.

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