Vol. 17 Issue 5 May 2020
News from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
MDEQ COVID-19 Page

MDEQ has placed all its COVID-19 i nformation to date on this webpage . To locate agency staff for information or inquiries, please call 601-961-5171,or a list of staff phone numbers and email addresses can be found here . 
EPA Selects Four Projects in Mississippi to Receive $1.4 Million for Brownfields Cleanup and Assessment

On May 7, EPA announced that four grant recipients in Mississippi have been selected to receive awards totaling $1.46 million to assess and clean up contaminated properties under the agency’s Brownfields program. Recipients include the City of Canton ($300,000), the City of Vicksburg ($300,000), the Three Rivers Planning and Development District Inc. for work in New Albany, Pontotoc, and Tupelo ($600,000), and the West Point Consolidated School District ($264,000). Read the EPA press release .
enHance Annual Workshop Rescheduled

The 2020 enHance Annual Workshop and Awards Luncheon has been rescheduled for Wednesday, August 19, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Jackson Downtown Convention Center Hotel (formerly the Jackson Marriott). The workshop offers a great opportunity to network with Mississippi's environmental stewardship leaders.  This annual event is sponsored by MDEQ and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association (MMA). Registration information is available here.

An updated agenda of the meeting's topics will be available in the near future. Registrations and sponsorship that have already been paid will be valid for the rescheduled event. However, to request a refund, please contact Barbara Hopkins with MMA at barbara@mma-web.org . For other inquiries, please contact Khairy Abu Salah . 
Mississippi TIG Releases Second Draft Restoration Plan

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group has released its second draft restoration plan for public review and  comment until May 22, 2020 . The plan addresses some of the injuries to various coastal habitats and oysters from the  Deepwater Horizon  oil spill in the  Mississippi Restoration Area . 


Two Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats Restoration Type projects:

  • Wolf River Coastal Preserve Habitat Management - Dupont and Bell’s Ferry Tracts
  • Hancock County Coastal Preserve Habitat Management – Wachovia Tract

  • Two Oysters Restoration Type projects:

  • Oyster Spawning Reefs in Mississippi
  • Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program

More information and how to comment is available here .
Invitation for Bids -- Oyster Restoration and Management Phase I

MDEQ is seeking sealed bids for the MDEQ – Oyster Restoration & Management Phase I: Cultch Deployment Project. This project is being administered by MDEQ and funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund. The purpose of the project is to deploy cultch in a manner to specifically evaluate efficacy for spat recruitment as well as oyster survival. Find out more .
Invitation for Bids -- Deer Island Subtidal Reef Construction

MDEQ is seeking sealed bids for the Restoring Living Shorelines and Reefs in Mississippi Estuaries – Deer Island Subtidal Reef Construction Project. This project is being administered by MDEQ as part of the Phase IV Early Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment prepared by the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustees to construct approximately 90 acres of subtidal reef near Deer Island. Find out more .
EPA Makes it Easier for Consumers to Find Safe, Effective Disinfectant Products to Use Against the Novel Coronavirus

EPA has released its  List N Tool, a new web-based app that allows smart phone users and others to quickly identify disinfectant products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The agency also announced new actions to ensure that new disinfectant products that are safe and effective to use against SARS-CoV-2 can be added to EPA’s  List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 as quickly as possible . Read the EPA press release .
Jackson Area E-Waste Event Postponed

The Jackson metro area e-waste collection event that was scheduled for May 1 has been postponed until August 7 at the Mississippi Farmers Market. This event, sponsored by MDEQ, the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, Magnolia Data Solutions, and other local organizations invites businesses and residents to drop off discarded electronics for proper recycling. 
New Geology Publication

State Geologist Dr. David T. Dockery, III, recently published Cretaceous (Campanian) Bivalves of the Coffee Sand in Mississippi Illustrated . More information and a download are available here .
T wo Updated Tishomingo County Maps Available

The Surface Geology Division updated, digitized, colorized, and posted two older 7.5 Minute Geologic Quadrangle publications for Tishomingo County earlier this month that have not been available in this format before. They are available here and here . More information about the Surface Geology Division can be found on their webpage .  
Photo of the Month

Late Pleistocene age American Mastodon tusk fragment documented in stream alluvium during geologic mapping field work in May by MDEQ's Office of Geology’s Surface Geology Division in Yazoo County for the USGS StateMap cooperative mapping program. 

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