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Mississippi
City Receives Half a Million Dollars for Air Monitoring After Report Reveals Elevated Cancer Risk
![City Receives Half a Million Dollars for Air Monitoring After Report Reveals Elevated Cancer Risk City Receives Half a Million Dollars for Air Monitoring After Report Reveals Elevated Cancer Risk](https://img.assets-d.propublica.org/v5/images/20211124_pascagoula_08.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=630&imgixProfile=propublicaAssetsV5&q=90&w=1200&s=e045f9da97d03c9c7ff31b20f043b5b6)
The Environmental Safety Company has granted the state of Mississippi $500,000 to conduct air monitoring in Pascagoula, a yr after ProPublica reported elevated most cancers dangers from industrial air air pollution within the metropolis.
Residents within the Cherokee Forest subdivision had lengthy complained of poisonous fumes and protracted well being issues together with complications, dizziness and nausea. The neighborhood is surrounded by industrial websites, together with a Chevron oil refinery and a shipbuilding facility that Bollinger just lately bought from VT Halter Marine.
ProPublica’s distinctive evaluation of air air pollution information estimated that components of the neighborhood have been going through a harmful overlap of hazardous emissions together with chromium, nickel and benzene. Residents spent years submitting complaints with the state, attending public hearings and reporting odors and signs, with restricted outcomes, ProPublica reported. Officers with the Mississippi Division of Environmental High quality took a number of air monitoring samples from the subdivision in 2016 and 2017, however didn’t proceed testing regardless of discovering concentrations that exceeded EPA tips on most cancers threat.
In its collection “Sacrifice Zones,” ProPublica used Pascagoula as a case examine of one of many largest failures of environmental regulation: The dearth of group air monitoring for hazardous pollution and the rarity of regulators intervening when residents complain of extra air pollution.
The EPA just lately introduced group air monitoring grants to 132 recipients, together with the Mississippi company. State officers will use the grant to measure key pollution within the Cherokee neighborhood and decide “whether or not air high quality issues exist, the related stage of threat to the group, and alternatives to mitigate such threat together with identification of doable sources of elevated concentrations.”
The Mississippi company plans to conduct air monitoring for one yr, communications director Jan Schaefer mentioned in an e-mail. It can monitor repeatedly for particulate matter and acquire 24-hour samples of air as soon as each six days to trace different pollution. These samples will likely be analyzed for methane, decreased sulfur compounds, benzene and associated poisonous chemical substances.
The areas of the displays, the beginning date and different technical particulars have but to be decided.
The yearlong monitoring plan will likely be rather more in depth and rigorous than previous air sampling carried out in Pascagoula. Consultants say long-term, sustained monitoring like that is usually required to show the impacts of commercial air pollution.
Credit score:
Kathleen Flynn, particular to ProPublica
A “systematic examine, if accomplished appropriately and transparently, will present a a lot clearer view of what’s going on and the way ranges monitor with actions within the crops,” mentioned Dan Costa, a former EPA scientist who’s now an adjunct professor on the UNC Gillings College of World Public Well being.
In an e-mail, Schaefer mentioned ProPublica’s reporting didn’t affect Mississippi’s determination to conduct monitoring.
However resident Barbara Weckesser, whose pleas for this very sort of monitoring went unheeded for greater than a decade, mentioned she believes ProPublica’s reporting “completely” helped propel the grant and has bolstered the power of her group, the Cherokee Involved Residents, to lastly get regulators and the general public to hear.
“We now had one thing we may take that was concrete proof” of our experiences and that may inform folks to “concentrate,” she mentioned. That is the monitoring system “we must always’ve had 9 years in the past,” she added. Weckesser mentioned she’s grateful for what she hopes will likely be an improved course of. “I’m hoping the EPA will likely be on prime of it and do some bit greater than they’ve. And I believe they’ll.”
Bollinger and the EPA didn’t reply to requests for remark. A Chevron spokesperson directed ProPublica’s inquiries to the Mississippi company.
Jennifer Crosslin, a volunteer organizer with Cherokee Involved Residents, mentioned she is cautiously optimistic, however worries about whether or not the outcomes will likely be adequate to pinpoint a selected facility as a polluter. The neighborhood lies close to quite a few shipyards, chemical crops and a Superfund website. ProPublica’s evaluation of EPA information exhibits that 5 of these amenities, together with the Chevron refinery and Bollinger shipyard, launch carcinogens that elevate most cancers threat within the subdivision.
Crosslin mentioned she hopes Mississippi officers will work along with her group on the monitoring design. When she requested regulators for a duplicate of its EPA grant utility, they informed her to submit a public information request, she mentioned.
Schaefer mentioned the company desires enter from “all stakeholders” however can’t start the group engagement course of till it receives the funds promised by the EPA. The grant utility is a public file, Schaefer added, and the company is “very happy” to supply it to any third occasion who requests the doc by means of the authorized course of.
Weckesser mentioned the company’s plan to pattern for benzene solely as soon as each six days permits polluters to time their emissions for when the monitoring canisters aren’t working: “Do you suppose these fools over there don’t know that?”
Costa mentioned state officers may get round that by monitoring on a extra random schedule and never publicizing once they plan to gather samples. He was heartened by the EPA grants and mentioned the company is routinely understaffed and compelled to play whack-a-mole on industrial air pollution.
“Our plan has not but been developed however we do understand it won’t embody the broadcasting of when samples will likely be taken,” Schaefer mentioned in an e-mail. “EPA should approve the main points (together with the sampling schedule) as they’re answerable for the oversight of the $500,000 they’re offering to us.”
The brand new information will add to a rising pile of proof of issues with Pascagoula’s air. In April 2021, the EPA carried out in depth cell monitoring there. Utilizing infrared cameras, the company noticed plumes of hazardous chemical substances streaming from Chevron’s flares, tanks and different gear. Researchers drove a automobile with air monitoring gear previous numerous amenities and located spikes of benzene concentrations as excessive as 217 components per billion close to the refinery.
The CDC recommends limiting short-term benzene publicity to 9 components per billion. The EPA, which requires refineries to conduct its personal benzene monitoring alongside the boundary of every facility, expects annual common concentrations to remain beneath 2.7 components per billion.
The EPA’s cell monitoring supplied a collection of snapshots, with concentrations going up and down at totally different areas, Costa mentioned. “If the degrees keep zero or low, you may be fairly assured there may be little occurring.” The outcomes present “there’s a lot of fugitive benzene, and benzene is simply a type of slam dunk chemical substances.” It’s been recognized for many years that benzene may cause blood cancers, he mentioned, “and it’s a must to put money into methods of preserving it contained or cleansing up the air.”
Costa was involved sufficient in regards to the outcomes that he tried to debate them with EPA employees. He emailed a number of senior staffers on the EPA regional workplace in control of Mississippi and recognized himself as the previous Nationwide Program Director for the company’s Air, Local weather & Vitality Analysis Program, Costa mentioned. He by no means heard again.
ProPublica, too, inquired a couple of extra detailed spherical of monitoring the EPA carried out within the wake of ProPublica’s questions on Pascagoula. The EPA regional workplace informed ProPublica final yr that it carried out further monitoring in late summer season 2021, utilizing superior gear that would pinpoint the supply of particular leaks. These outcomes haven’t been launched, and the company didn’t reply to questions on what they discovered.
“I’m certain if that sort of focus of benzene have been wafting over Arlington, Virginia, one thing can be accomplished about it,” Costa mentioned. In Pascagoula, an industrial metropolis with legacy air pollution and homes worn out by Hurricane Katrina, the story is sort of totally different, he mentioned. “These are residents of Mississippi that deserve respect and a focus to an issue. They usually don’t have the monetary weapons to make this occur.”
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Mississippi
Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies?
![Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies? Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies?](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/07/15/PJAM/89169fbe-3f64-4f81-81fd-727f995bada2-Douglas_Carswell.jpg?auto=webp&crop=554,312,x3,y96&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Waiting for my suitcase in the arrivals hall at Jackson airport the other evening, it occurred to me that the luggage carrousel was a pretty good metaphor for Mississippi politics.
Like suitcases on a carrousel, many leaders simply sit on the conveyor belt of state politics, waiting their turn to get moved along to the next role.
Too often leaders are carried along by time and process, rarely offering any vision as to what our state should do differently. That explains why Mississippi conservatives have achieved less in 12 years than Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama have accomplished in the past 12 months. Louisiana did not even have a Republican governor this time last year, yet they’ve already passed universal school choice.
Things could be about to change if House Speaker Jason White has his way. This week, White announced that he will be hosting a Tax Policy Summit on Sept. 24 to take a deep dive into the prospects for tax reform.
My friend, Grover Norquist, will be speaking, as will Gov Reeves, as well as leading conservative figures from the state Legislature.
Having a conversation in public matters because in the past the leadership in our state Senate has done what it can to head off tax cuts. Bringing the facts of what can and cannot be done into the open makes it far harder for anyone to keep finding new excuses to oppose actual conservative policy.
Sunshine is the best disinfectant against the putrid politics of backroom deals. We have seen far too many backroom maneuvers used to kill off good conservative policy in this state. Back in 2022, Mississippi passed a law to cut the state income tax to a flat 4 percent. This $525 million tax cut, driven forward by Speaker Philip Gunn and Gov Reeves, benefited 1.2 million taxpayers and their families. But we must not forget how some in the Senate fought against it — not in the open, of course.
Weak Senate leadership has a history of opposing conservative proposals in our state. Seldom do they have the courage to come out and explicitly kill off conservative measures. Instead, they do it on the sly. The Senate leadership maneuvered to stop anti-DEI legislation in 2024. I don’t recall anyone coming out and explaining why they opposed anti-DEI law. They just killed it in committee with a nudge and wink.
For three years in a row, the Senate leadership has killed off attempts to restore the ballot initiative. Again, those against resorting the ballot lack the courage to say they are against it. They killed that, too, on the sly.
Rep Rob Roberson’s excellent school funding reform bill, perhaps the only big strategic achievement of this year’s session, passed despite attempts to scupper it by some in the Senate. (Part of the backroom deal to get the bill passed was to change its name. It really was that petty.) When the Senate leadership wants to oppose an authentically conservative policy, they follow a now familiar pattern.
A reason is cited as to why what is being proposed can’t be done. School choice, we were once told, would be unconstitutional. An anti-DEI law, it was implied, was unnecessary because there was no DEI on campus.
Once that excuse is shown to be nonsense (there is no constitutional bar to school choice, DEI is rampant on campus), another excuse is promptly conjured up. And on it goes.
Each time the Senate leadership opposes conservative policy this way, I wonder what their alternatives are. The answer is that most of the time there are none. It is pretty low grade to oppose ideas simply because they are not your own. Eventually, of course, a suitcase that sits on the carousel for too long ends up in lost luggage.
As a direct consequence of the 2022 Reeves-Gunn tax cuts, Mississippi is now starting to see a flood of inward investment into the state.
Every time you hear about a new factory opening up in our state, remember who and what helped make it happen. I am very optimistic that this tax summit could see further progress to make our state more competitive.
— Douglas Carswell is the president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Mississippi
Ex-official in Mississippi is treated for gambling addiction amid embezzlement charge, lawyer says
![2 Phoenix officers shot with 1 listed in critical condition, police say 2 Phoenix officers shot with 1 listed in critical condition, police say](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former tax assessor and collector in north Mississippi checked into a residential treatment center for a gambling addiction after he called the state auditor’s office and confessed to misusing more than $300,000 in public money, his attorney said Tuesday.
Shannon Wilburn, 49, resigned in April from the elected office he had held in Benton County since 2016, and he began the 12-week addiction treatment in late July, his attorney Tony Farese told The Associated Press.
“I’ve known Shannon all of his life,” Farese said. “We are shocked that he finds himself in this situation.”
Mississippi Auditor Shad White announced Tuesday that Wilburn has been charged with one count of embezzlement. The announcement came days after Wilburn was indicted. Farese said Wilburn turned himself in to the sheriff’s office Friday, then posted bond and returned to the treatment program.
Wilburn is accused of taking $327,055 paid to the Benton County Tax Collector’s office and using the money for personal expenses, Farese said. He said Wilburn confessed to the auditor’s office before hiring legal representation and has continued to cooperate with investigators.
“He apologizes for disappointing the citizens of Benton County and the state of Mississippi,” Farese said.
If convicted, Wilburn would face up to $5,000 in fines and 20 years in prison.
White said Wilburn’s employment as a Benton County elected official was covered by $200,000 in surety bonds to protect taxpayers from losses from corruption. The county also has an insurance policy that covers theft.
“The dedicated team at the State Auditor’s Office will continue to work closely with prosecutors to get record results, one case at a time,” White said in a statement.
Mississippi
Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame – The Vicksburg Post
![Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame – The Vicksburg Post Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame – The Vicksburg Post](https://www.vicksburgpost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2024/09/090424-Disc-Golf-Elledge-14-WEB.jpg)
Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame
Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, September 3, 2024
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During two decades of playing disc golf, Raymond Elledge has only won one big tournament.
“I don’t even remember what year it was,” he said.
Nonetheless, Elledge is a legend in the sport in Mississippi. He’s worked tirelessly to maintain courses, been a member of several local and state players associations, and taught people young and old the joys of it. That level of dedication led to Elledge’s recent election to the Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame. He’ll officially be inducted Oct. 12 in Starkville.
“When he first told me last year I was nominated, I told him, ‘Man, you’re making my heart hurt.’ You don’t realize the emotions you can get. Stuff can just tear you up, and it did because I was just so excited,” the 62-year-old Vicksburg resident said. “You go years and years, and you’re out here busting your butt trying to maintain the course and showing everybody what you can.”
Disc golf is played the same as traditional golf, except with plastic discs that resemble frisbees. Players take aim at a steel basket several hundred yards away, with the goal of getting it in there in as few throws as possible.
Elledge first played disc golf in 2002, on a private course built in the backyard of Vicksburg resident Herman Cochran. One of the people playing with Elledge made a hole-in-one, and the excitement over the feat hooked him instantly.
“I seen this little old fella, he was 21 or 22 but he looked like he was 12, and he made an ace. I was hooked. I’ve got to do it,” Elledge said. “I don’t go anywhere on vacation without taking my disc golf bag. I just love the game.”
Elledge added that the simplicity of the sport is something he enjoys. A starter kit of three discs — a driver, mid-range disc and putter, all of which have different densities and flight characteristics — can be purchased for about $25.
The courses are easily found at many parks in Mississippi. There is an 18-hole course at Halls Ferry Park. Players of all ages and shapes can play it as long as they can walk the course. Elledge had quadruple bypass heart surgery eight years ago and playing disc golf helps him stay in shape.
“It’s something anybody can do,” he said. “I’ve trained kids from 5 to 50, and the oldest one I’ve helped train to play this game is 71 years old now. He still comes out and plays. This is a sport that any age can play.“
With his passion for disc golf comes a sense of responsibility. He’s helped clear brush around parts of the Halls Ferry Park course to keep it playable, and done the same while working with associations like the Vicksburg Disc Golf Association and Jackson Union of Disc Golf Enthusiasts.
He’s also eager to teach the game to newcomers.
“I’ve never quit teaching how to play the game,” he said. “They used to have something called the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend and I won it three years in a row. What it is, is whoever takes the most players out to a certain disc golf course gets the T-shirt and a disc.”
His service to the sport led to a nomination for the Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame in 2023, but he didn’t make the final cut. This year he did, and he said it was better than winning any tournament.
“You play a lot of tournaments. You do a whole lot for the sport itself, such as numerous work days working on the course to maintain it. Teaching the kids and when we have tournaments helping move baskets around to new spots,” Elledge said. “Then somebody will nominate you and there’s a lot of votes from the clubs. If you get enough votes from everybody you’re in. You find out how much you’re appreciated by everybody for all that you’ve done.”
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