The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded six grants, totaling $1,174,834, for wetland protection and management projects in Region 7.

Region 7 Administrator John Askew said, “Protecting our nation’s wetlands is a top priority for EPA. These funds will help to achieve environmental improvements in our local watersheds.”

EPA seeks to develop and refine effective, comprehensive programs for wetland protection and management. The Wetland Program Development…[more]

Common people, in their majority, envisage philosophers as persons who have lost contact with the real world and live somewhere between heaven and earth, in some kind of ideal realm, far from the ungracefulness of every day life. Maybe they are like that, or at least partly so, since their occupation is to understand and explain the human soul and the meaning of things.

Maria Osmarina da Silva…[more]

Missouri Department of Natural Resources field staff continue to investigate why the water coming from Mexico’s wastewater treatment plant is turning a local river bright green. Specialists from the state environmental lab were taking samples from the South Fork of the Salt River today to determine why a five-mile stretch of the river downstream from the wastewater treatment plant is turning color. The department, working with officials from Mexico, believes…[more]

JEFFERSON CITY and ST. LOUIS - A celebration of 30 years of state-supported passenger rail across Missouri, as well as major service improvements in the works, are the reasons the Missouri Department of Transportation and Amtrak® are pleased to announce a contest to give the trains a brand-new name.  The “Name the Train” contest will rely on train fans everywhere to first suggest and then select the best “brand-name” for…[more]

Outdated, dangerous and unstable laboratory and instructional use chemicals are being removed from school science and chemistry labs, storerooms and other classrooms in elementary, middle, vocational and high schools across Missouri through a project funded by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Recognizing the potential threat to Missouri’s school children and teachers from these chemicals, the department partnered with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the…[more]

November is National American Indian Heritage Month and it’s the perfect time to reflect upon the values that native people have contributed to mainstream society. Although these values are deeply rooted in native culture, it may be surprising to learn that they are the foundation for many of the mainstream beliefs held today.…[more]

Legislation was passed recently in Missouri directing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to organize a committee. This committee was tasked with developing green cleaning best practice recommendations for Missouri’s public and private schools.
The committee formed by DESE included 20 people of which six (now seven) members represent the chemical industry in one fashion or another. There are chemical manufacturers, chemical distributors and chemical trade…[more]

As the biodiesel industry continues to grow, the National Biodiesel Board
welcomes a new Environmental Protection Agency guide that will help the industry navigate existing
environmental regulations. EPA Region 7 today released the user-friendly manual that identifies
environmental regulatory rules and requirements for the construction and operation of biodiesel
production facilities.
Region 7 Administrator John B. Askew said, “We are…[more]

Proposals for Environmental Education grants to develop new programs or to improve the quality of existing programs will be accepted through Dec. 18 from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska communities by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan.

EPA regional offices may award grants up to $50,000. Grants over $50,000 and up to $200,000 are awarded by EPA headquarters in Washington.

Proposals should be mailed to…[more]

In spite of the current financial market downturn, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources provided almost $70 million in low-interest loans at a rate of 1.68 percent annually to Missouri communities through the Sate Revolving Fund.

The department provided loans to the cities of Ashland, Holcomb, Jefferson City, La Plata, Milan, Moberly, Mount Vernon, Poplar Bluff and Stockton, as well as the Public Water Supply District Number 4…[more]