In Mississippi, Barlow said, the situation is decidedly different. While the Louisiana DEQ has been criticized as being too close to industry, the Mississippi DEQ frequently finds itself fighting not only industry, but also the governor and the Legislature. "We have wars all the time, that's why I have a job," Barlow said.
It is not uncommon, he said, for the Mississippi DEQ to set a permit for a company then to study the results and decide the permit was too lax. "In our state, permits can be called back in at any time and ratcheted down," Barlow said. But the side effect is often outraged calls from legislators representing the district in which the industry is located, or even angry calls from the governor. "Heartburn?" he joked. "You don't know heartburn."