Energy
Judge Reduces PG&E's Possible Fine After California Pipeline Blast
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a big victory for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., a judge on Tuesday cut nearly all of a potential $562 million fine against the giant utility in a criminal case alleging it violated safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in California and then obstruct..
Pipeline Construction Equipment Damage is Suspected Arson
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Machinery located at three oil pipeline construction sites in central Iowa was found extensively damaged by fire Monday in what the company building the pipeline called a shameful act. There’s little doubt the fires were intentionally set along the Dakota Access pipeline, sa..
Environmentalists Take Aim at TransCanada Pipeline Project
BOSTON (AP) — Environmentalists are again taking aim at the company that proposed the Keystone XL pipeline — this time for another of its projects they fear would send hundreds of supertankers laden with crude oil down the Atlantic coast to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. TransCanada is behind t..
Canada to Ban Rail Cars Involved in Fiery Crash
MONTREAL (AP) – Canada’s transport minister says the rail car model involved in a fiery crash that killed 47 people in Quebec three years ago will no longer be allowed to transport oil in Canada as of Nov. 1. Marc Garneau said Monday that older tankers, called DOT-111 cars, and a version jacketed w..
Dakota Access Pipeline Receives Federal Permit Approvals in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A crude oil pipeline that will cut across Iowa has received the final federal permit approvals needed to proceed with construction. Documents posted by the Iowa Utilities Board Tuesday show the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved 60 river crossings in Iowa, a decision pipe..
Developers Seek Extension for Constitution Pipeline
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Constitution Pipeline Company is asking federal regulators for more time to build a 124-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania’s shale fields to eastern New York. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a permit for the pipeline in December 2014 on condition..
FERC Issues Draft EIS for PennEast Pipeline Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the PennEast Pipeline Project proposed by PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC. The EIS has been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council ..
Maine Regulators Vote to Expand Natural Gas Capacity
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a plan, against the recommendation of its staff and objections from environmentalists, to require utility ratepayers to help pay for expanded natural gas — if other New England states follow suit. The three commissioners appoi..
Enbridge to Pay $61M Penalty for 2010 Michigan Oil Spill
Enbridge Energy Partners will pay a $61 million penalty for the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history — a pipeline rupture in southwestern Michigan that polluted a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River, federal officials said Wednesday. The settlement between U.S. government agencies a..
Companies Will Study Risks, Changes to Underwater Pipeline
MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) — The state of Michigan has tapped two companies to analyze the financial risk of an oil pipeline rupture in the Straits of Mackinac and evaluate any alternatives to two underwater lines in the waterway, officials said Tuesday. Enbridge Energy, based in Calgary, Alberta, h..
N.J. Court Throws Out Trespassing Lawsuit Against PennEast
On July 7, A New Jersey State Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by HALT, an association of New Jersey landowners that hoped to prevent the PennEast Pipeline from being built. The $1 billion underground pipeline will span the 118-miles between Dallas, in northeast Pennsylvania, and a Tr..
Lawsuit: Utility Misled Company into Building $100M Pipeline
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A company that had planned to buy carbon dioxide from Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County power plant has sued, alleging the utility misled it into building a $100 million pipeline. Treetop Midstream Services, an affiliate of an oil company that planned to pump carbon dioxid..
Firm: California Spill Went Undetected Due to Pipeline Work
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — The operator of a pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a Southern California ravine said Friday it didn’t detect the leak because the line was undergoing maintenance. Crimson Pipeline said the remotely monitored line was emptied on Wednesday to ..
Cleanup Begins After Oil Pipeline Spill in California
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled Thursday from a pipeline and flowed down a ravine in Southern California but did not reach the ocean, officials said. As much as 29,400 gallons of oil spilled and flowed a quarter- to half-mile from the spill, fire authorities said. ..
Bakken Pipeline Will Run Under Sacred Tribal Site in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials will allow work on a four-state oil pipeline to go forward after the company submitted a plan to avoid disrupting an American Indian burial ground. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins tells The Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/28KnoyM )..
Cincinnati Opposing Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline
BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) – Cincinnati is opposing proposals to build a 12-mile natural gas pipeline that would replace an existing line that has been in place since the 1950s. Duke Energy met with residents in a Cincinnati suburb Wednesday to answer questions about the company’s pipeline proposals in Ha..
Pipeline Work Begins in Iowa, Protesters Vow Nonviolent Acts
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Work has begun in Iowa on an oil pipeline despite repeated attempts by landowners and environmental groups to stop it, a spokeswoman for the Texas company building the pipeline said Thursday. The Iowa Utilities Board signed a final order Wednesday allowing construction on th..
Senate to Hold Hearing to Examine Oil and Gas Pipeline Infrastructure
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on June 14 to analyze oil and gas pipeline infrastructure and the economic, safety, environmental, permitting, construction, and maintenance considerations associated with it. The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s w..
National Energy Board says Mackenzie Gas Project Still in Public Interest
The National Energy Board will vary the sunset clauses for the Mackenzie Gas Project’s Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and Mackenzie Gathering System to December 31, 2022. The extension to the sunset clause for the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline does not come into effect until it is approved by the Federal gov..
PG&E fined $24.3M for Poor Record Keeping on Gas Pipelines
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — State regulators are seeking $24.3 million in penalties from California’s largest utility for failing to maintain accurate records of its natural gas distribution system. The California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday that it has already fined Pacific Gas and Electri..
Iowa Board Votes to Allow Pipeline Work to Begin in State
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas company may begin construction on an oil pipeline in areas for which the company has approval but is not under federal jurisdiction, the Iowa Utilities Board said Monday despite opposition from environmental and citizen action organizations and landowners who are suin..
Baltimore Gas and Electric Accelerates Natural Gas Infrastructure Replacement
Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) continues to modernize the natural gas system serving customers in central Maryland, replacing more than 52 miles of gas mains in the first two full years under the company’s Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) plan. Another 45 miles of gas..
CIGMAT 2016 Focuses On Further Advancement
The Center for Innovative Grouting Materials and Technology (CIGMAT) and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, hosted its 21st annual, one-day conference and exhibition on at the University of Houston, March 4. More than 330 individuals and 14 invited speakers..
$546 Billion Needed in U.S., Canada Energy Infrastructure Investment
The United States and Canada will require annual average midstream natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids midstream energy infrastructure investment of about $26 billion per year, or $546 billion (real 2015$) total over the 21-year period from 2015 to 2035, a new study finds. The report, “N..
EIA Acknowledges Natural Gas' Rise Over Coal As Fuel Leader
In early April, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that last year, for the first time on record, natural gas plants’ percentage of total potential electrical output generated and put onto the grid – also known as capacity factor – beat out that of coal plants. The findings sho..
New Heath ODORATOR 2 Records Odor Levels In Utility Gas Stream
The Heath ODORATOR 2 offers the latest state of-the-art technology in a handheld, portable, electronic, GNSS based audit system. This instrument is used to evaluate and record the odor levels within a utility’s gas stream with respect to actual test locations. Natural gas (methane) and propane are t..
DTE Announces Plans to Invest $1.4 Billion In Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure
Over the next five years, DTE Gas plans to invest $1.4 billion into its Michigan natural gas pipeline infrastructure in an effort to maintain the safety and reliability of the system, while simultaneously striving to achieve affordability for its residential and business customers. The plans includ..
Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes, Burns Man at Nearby Home
A natural gas explosion at a Pennsylvania pipeline complex sent flames hundreds of feet into the air on Friday and burned a nearby home, injuring the man who lived there, officials said. The state Department of Environmental Protection said the blast was traced to a 36-inch pipeline, which exploded..
Property Values Unaffected By Presence Of Pipelines, New Report Finds
The presence of an underground natural gas transmission pipeline does not affect the sales prices or value of residential properties, according to a new study, Pipeline Impact to Property Value and Property Insurability, conducted by Integra Realty Resources (IRR) on behalf of the Interstate Natural..
U.S., Canada to Require $546 Billion in Gas, Oil, and NGL Infrastructure Investment
WASHINGTON—The United States and Canada will require annual average midstream natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids midstream infrastructure investment of about $26 billion per year, or $546 billion (real 2015$) total over the 21-year period from 2015 to 2035, a new study finds. Th..
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