Oil/Gas Pipelines

Baltimore Begs People Not to Dump Grease Down Drain

BALTIMORE (AP) — Are you the sort of person who dumps greasy globs of congealed fat and oil down the drain when washing up? If so, Baltimore’s public works department wants you to knock it off this Thanksgiving. The agency is asking residents to refrain from pouring cooking fats, oils and grease “do..

Busted Water Pipe Causes Gaping Sinkhole in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities in New York City say a broken water pipe caused a large sinkhole to form in Manhattan. The 20-foot long sinkhole opened up on the Upper West Side Monday morning. According to the city Department of Environmental Protection, a private water pipe caused the sinkhole. Worker..

TransCanada to Test Water in Drainage Ditch Near Pipeline Spill

AMHERST, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota official says TransCanada Corp. plans to test water from a drainage ditch near the site of a 210,000-gallon oil spill from the Keystone pipeline to determine if it is polluted. Brian Walsh, a manager at the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resour..

Envirosight Releases Sewer Rehab Cutter Bit Selection Poster

To serve as a visual guide for sewer rehabilitation workers to follow when identifying the best cutter bit to use in any pipeline rehabilitation project, Pipeline Renewal Technologies, an Envirosight company, has released a new Rehab Cutter Bit Selection poster. The poster outlines the optimal condi..

Keystone Pipeline Leak Didn’t Hit Water Supplies, Officials Say

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil onto agricultural land in northeastern South Dakota, but state officials don’t believe the leak polluted any surface water bodies or drinking water systems. State officials and pipeline operator Tran..

Natural Gas Leak Blamed for Ohio Home Explosion

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Investigators say a natural gas leak contributed to the home explosion in Ohio that killed a 54-year-old woman, but the cause of the leak is still unknown. In a statement Wednesday, Columbia Gas says they are confident their main lines and service lines did not contribute to th..

Colorado School Closes After Water Main Break Causes Flooding

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Crews are working to repair a major water main break in Greeley which has caused flooding in businesses and schools, forcing them and many streets to close. The Greeley Tribune reports officials believe the break occurred Sunday night. Superintendent of Distribution, Transmissi..

Sewage from Mexico Sickens Beachgoers in California

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (AP) – The mayor of a Southern California coastal city says he was among several beachgoers sickened from sewage that flowed north from Mexico last weekend. Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina tells the San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday he received no advanced notice from off..

Failed Sewer Pipe Spews 4.5M Gallons Into New York Lake

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Officials in central New York say an aging sewer pipe that’s slated to be replaced has failed yet again, causing 4.5 million gallons (17 million liters) of raw sewage to flow into a lake. The Syracuse Post-Standard reports Onondaga County officials say the pipe that runs alo..

Pipeline Construction Project Hearing Kicks off in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A hearing opens in St. Paul on Wednesday on whether Enbridge Energy should be allowed to replace a stretch of its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline that crosses northern Minnesota. The 12-day “evidentiary hearing” before an administrative law judge will be a trial-like proceedin..

Envirosight Publishes Sewer Rehab Strategy Worksheet

Pipeline Renewal Technologies, an Envirosight company, has published a Sewer Rehab Strategy Worksheet designed to quickly pinpoint a given pipe on a recommendation matrix.  The worksheet includes a two-axis checklist composed of 12 yes-no questions, and is a supplement to the company’s recent white ..

Lawmaker Blasts Video Game Allowing Fantasy Pipeline Attacks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota lawmaker wants to impose new restrictions on state funding of the arts after learning about a video game that lets players zap imaginary oil pipelines with lightning bolts. Elizabeth LaPensee received nearly $3,300 from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to cr..

7 Detroit-Area Communities Remain Under Boil Water Advisory

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Seven suburban Detroit communities are expected to remain under a boil water advisory through Sunday following this week’s water main break. The Great Lakes Water Authority gave the update Friday as it announced that the advisory for Bloomfield Township and Keego Harbo..

Enbridge Knew of Line 5 Damage Years Ago

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The company that operates twin oil pipelines in a Great Lakes waterway says it knew three years ago that protective coating had been damaged but didn’t inform regulatory agencies. Enbridge Inc. says four gaps were opened in enamel coating on one section of Line 5 in Michi..

Video Game Enabling Fantasy Pipeline Attacks Under Fire

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A video game developed by a Michigan State University assistant professor supports “eco-terrorism” by enabling players to zap imaginary oil pipelines with lightning bolts, an industry group said Wednesday, although the designer countered that it’s not meant to incite viol..

Pipeline Protesters Receive Jail Time

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota man and a Rhode Island woman are the first people to be sent to jail for protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. Sixty-four-year-old Mary Redway and 27-year-old Alexander Simon were convicted Oct. 19 of misdemeanor disorderly conduct during the protests in North D..

Wastewater Spills Into Creek that Empties into the Missouri

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say untreated wastewater has spilled into a creek that drains into the Missouri River at Council Bluffs in western Iowa. The Iowa Natural Resources Department says Council Bluffs officials reported Wednesday that an estimated 360,000 gallons (1.36 million lite..

Database Seeks to Highlight Pipeline Infrastructure Attacks

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An oil and gas industry group is seeking to highlight what it says is an increase in protester attacks on energy infrastructure such as oil pipelines through an online database cataloguing incidents of “eco-terrorism, sabotage, arson, vandalism and violence.” The Energy Equipme..

Michigan Water Main Break Continues to Affect Health Care, Schools

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A water main break in suburban Detroit continues to affect area hospital services and is keeping some students home from school for another day. The break of a 48-inch (122-centimeter) line Monday in Farmington Hills that serves customers in western Oakland County prom..

Detroit Boil Water Advisory to Last for Days

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Officials say the earliest that a boil water advisory could be lifted for several suburban Detroit communities is Friday evening. The Great Lakes Water Authority gave the update Tuesday on Monday evening’s break of a 48-inch (122-centimeter) diameter pipe in Farmington..

Gas Explosion Kills Pipeline Worker

NAVARRE, Ohio (AP) — A sheriff’s office says a natural gas pipeline explosion in Ohio killed a man doing maintenance work. The explosion Monday killed a Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline worker and caused a large gas leak just south of Canton that forced authorities to evacuate the neighborhood. Th..

Boil Water Advisory Issued in Detroit Area After Main Break

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) – A water main break in suburban Detroit has prompted officials to issue a boil water advisory for about a dozen communities. The break on Monday evening in Farmington Hills affected surrounding communities and closed a number of area schools on Tuesday. In parts of Novi..

Sanitary Sewer Line Spills After Bayou Embankment Collapses

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston water and sewer officials are urging residents with private water wells in part of the city’s western outskirts to boil their drinking and bathing water for at least one minute. That’s after a 42-inch sanitary sewer pipe spilled more than 300,000 gallons of domestic wastewater..

Repairs Completed on Broken Water Main in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — Public works crews have repaired a broken water main that caused a geyser to erupt from the ground in front of a New York City home. The owner of the home in Staten Island’s Todt Hill section told the Staten Island Advance that a powerful stream of water began pounding the front of t..

Judge to Hear Arguments on Tribe’s Pipeline Contingency Plan

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., will accept arguments over the next month on whether the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline must stage equipment near an American Indian reservation in southern North Dakota to respond to any oil spill under the Missouri River. The idea..

Washington Neighborhood Evacuated after Mudslide Hits Gas Pipeline

EDMONDS, Wash. (AP) — A neighborhood in a Seattle suburb was evacuated after a mudslide breached a natural gas line. KOMO-TV reports that emergency officials responded to the scene at about 5:40 a.m. Thursday in the Snohomish County city of Edmonds after receiving reports of a gas leak. About 30 hom..

Colorado Proposes New Rules for Oil-Gas Lines After Blast

DENVER (AP) — Colorado energy regulators on Monday proposed tighter rules for shutting down oil and gas pipelines after a fatal explosion blamed on natural gas leaking from a line that was thought to be out of service but was still connected to a well. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissio..

Minnesota Judge Allows Necessity Defense in Pipeline Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has taken the unusual step of allowing four protesters to use a “necessity defense,” enabling them to present evidence that the threat of climate change from Canadian tar sands crude is so imminent that they were justified in trying to shut down two Enbridge Ener..

Judge Approves $1.6 Billion Plan to Repair Baltimore Sewers

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge has approved a $1.6 billion plan to repair Baltimore’s aged sewer system and stop wastewater from leaking into the Inner Harbor. The consent agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency comes after years of negotiations between the city and regulators who ar..

Nevada Regulators Fine Southwest Gas $300000 for 2 Gas Leaks in Las Vegas

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — State regulators have fined Southwest Gas Corp. $300,000 for a pair of natural gas leaks it was responsible for in Las Vegas last year. Nevada Public Utilities Commission Chairman Joe Reynolds told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the fine approved Wednesday for violation o..