USDA grant to aid tornado cleanup
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service will give $96,000 toward helping remove debris from Palarm Creek in Faulkner County that resulted from the EF-4 tornado that swept through the county April 27.
The tornado damaged thousands of homes and buildings and killed 16 people in Pulaski, Faulkner and White counties.
The money for the debris removal will go through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, according to a USDA news release.
According to the news release, the Emergency Watershed Protection Program helps recovery efforts related to watersheds -- the drainage areas surrounding water bodies -- damaged by natural disasters. The Palarm Creek cleanup will help prevent future flooding in the area, it said.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service funds 75 percent of such cleanup programs, while a local public agency -- in this case, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission -- pays the other 25 percent. The service has provided $84 million for more than 150 projects in 13 states, the release states.
Public hearing set on ozone proposal
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public hearing March 18 in West Memphis to discuss the state's proposed Emission Inventory for Crittenden County, the result of not attaining federal air-quality standards for ozone.
An Emission Inventory estimates emissions and their source for a certain area.
Crittenden County is part of the Memphis-area federal air-quality region, which includes Shelby County, Tenn., and DeSoto County, Miss., that was designated as out of attainment in 2012.
Ozone occurs naturally in the atmosphere but forms at ground level when car exhaust and industrial emissions react to high temperatures and sunlight. Exposure to ground-level ozone can intensify preexisting allergies or respiratory problems. Under worse weather conditions, high levels of ozone can create respiratory problems for anyone who goes outside.
The Memphis area is a trucking and shipping hub, causing ozone levels to be higher there.
To be in compliance with ozone standards, an area must have an average ozone level of no more than 75 parts of ozone per billion parts of air over three years.
Arkansas Environmental Quality Department officials expect the area to be designated as back in attainment after low ozone levels in 2014, but the March 18 hearing is related to the 2012 designation and subsequent emission inventory.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed stricter requirements for ozone, moving compliance to between 65 and 70 parts ozone per billion parts of air. That proposal is still in the public comment period.
Stream projects topic of luncheon
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality will host its second Putting Green to Work lunch March 26, featuring Carole Jones, a park planner for the city of Fayetteville.
Jones will discuss four of the city's stream restoration projects, according to a news release.
Fayetteville brought a 1,200-foot section and a 1,600-foot section of Niokaska Creek in the Illinois River Watershed back to health, the release said, along with a 1,000-foot section of Mullins Creek and a 1,000-foot section of the White River in the White River Watershed.
The free presentation starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, at 123 West Mountain St. Attendees are instructed to bring their own lunches. They can register by contacting Audree Miller at (501) 682-0015 or [email protected] by 4 p.m. March 25.
Metro on 03/01/2015