Oil/Gas Pipelines
Oklahoma Crude Oil Line Ruptured by Construction Crew
CUSHING, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma regulators say environmental crews are cleaning up a crude oil spill near one of the world’s largest oil storage sites. Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said Wednesday that oil spilled into a dry creek bed in Lincoln County, south of the massive ..
Sewer Overflow Blamed for Killing Fish in Indiana Creek
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — Officials say an overflow of sewage was the cause of a fish kill in a central Indiana creek. Residents noticed an undetermined number of dead fish in Kokomo’s Wildcat Creek over the weekend. Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokesman Barry Sneed tells the Kokomo Tr..
Trump Administration: Court Can't Suspend Pipeline Decision
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration says a federal court has no authority to second-guess a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Justice Department attorneys are due in U.S. District Court in Montana on Wednesday to argue for the dismissal of two la..
Vortex Companies, Deep Trekker Form Strategic Sewer Repair Partnership
The Vortex Companies announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Deep Trekker, a developer and manufacturer of commercial-grade pipe inspection crawlers and other remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Based in Canada, Deep Trekker and Vortex will aggressively attack the trench..
North Carolina Town Dealing with Repeated Sewer Spills
LELAND, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina town is struggling to deal with repeated sewage spills in the last two years. The StarNews of Wilmington reported the latest spill in Leland occurred Sept. 12 when more than 33,000 gallons (124,915 liters) of untreated wastewater bubbled up through a manhole. T..
Dakota Access Pipeline Review to Last Until Spring
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says it likely will take until April to finish court-ordered additional environmental study of the Dakota Access pipeline. The agency had anticipated completing the task this year. But attorneys say in court documents filed Friday that it will take ..
Federal Judge Reinstates Obama-Era Rule on Methane Emissions
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rebuffing the Trump administration, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Interior Department to reinstate an Obama-era regulation aimed at restricting harmful methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands. The order by a judge in San Francisco came as the Inte..
Gas Line Explosion Destroys Equipment in California Desert
BARSTOW, Calif. (AP) — Southern California authorities say nobody was hurt when a natural gas line caught fire and exploded, destroying heavy construction equipment in the western Mojave Desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The San Bernardino Sun reports (http://bit.ly/2yjriLr ) the blas..
Boise State University Sinkhole Causes Flooding, Traps Fire Truck
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Boise State University officials say a water main break caused massive flooding to stream through a main artery on the campus and trapped a fire engine inside a sinkhole. According to the university, a water main broke Monday evening near the Student Union Building. A fire engin..
Harvey Knocked out Dozens of Texas Water, Sewer Systems
DALLAS (AP) — State and federal environmental agencies report Harvey knocked out five drinking-water systems and seven sewage systems in the 58 Texas counties covered by Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration. In a joint statement issued Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tex..
Brine Spill Heightens Tribe Concern About Pipeline Material
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota American Indian tribe no longer wants fiberglass-based pipelines on its reservation after recent spills. Last month, a pipeline spilled more than 33,000 gallons of brine in a pasture on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The spill occurred on a segment of pip..
Colorado Regulators: 430 Pipelines Failed Leak Test
DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators say about 430 oil or gas pipelines near occupied buildings failed a leak-detection test that the state ordered after a fatal explosion blamed on a gas line. The results were posted on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website Wednesday. It wasn’t im..
Tiny Holes, Faulty Parts to Blame for Failed Pipeline Inspections
DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators say tiny holes or faulty parts could be the reason that about 430 oil or gas pipelines failed a leak-detection test after a fatal explosion blamed on gas seeping from a severed line. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said Thursday the number of pipel..
Jumpsuit Flushed Down Jail Toilet Causes Raw Sewage Flood
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey justice complex has sustained significant damage after an inmate flushed a jumpsuit down a toilet, causing the main sewer line to burst and flood the building. The incident occurred Sunday night at the Ocean County Justice Complex in Toms River. The Asbury..
'Fatberg' Found in Baltimore Sewer System After Overflow
BALTIMORE (AP) — A massive “fatberg” made up of congealed fat, wet wipes and other waste has been named as the culprit in a sewer overflow in Baltimore. The overflow discharged about 1.2 million gallons of sewage into the Jones Fall stream last week. The Baltimore Sun reported Monday that the fatb..
London Studying Ways to Reduce New Fatberg Under Chinatown
LONDON (AP) — British engineers are studying ways to dispose of yet another oversize “fatberg” threatening London’s aged sewers. Stuart White of Thames Water says the latest fat blob is located in a busy area beneath Chinatown near London’s famed Leicester Square. He said Monday it’s not causing..
Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Public Hearings Set to Start
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota kicks off public hearings this week on whether regulators should allow Enbridge Energy to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. The replacement would have higher capacity than the existing pipeline and run along a new route in some areas..
U.S. Shale: Water Is the New Oil
Texas has a water problem, and this one isn’t due to Hurricane Harvey… Rising U.S. shale output has led to increased amounts of the water that inadvertently flows out of wells together with oil. For now, drillers use trucks to transport this dirty water—which exceeds the amount of oil produced—to d..
Pipeline Board: Let Campus Experts Analyze Enbridge Line 5
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An advisory group is recommending that Michigan universities analyze the worst-case scenario of an oil pipeline failure in the Straits of Mackinac. The effort would be led by Michigan Tech University, which would collaborate with experts at other universities. The recommendati..
Sewer Spills Add to Misery in Hurricane-Battered Florida
(AP) — As if loss of air conditioning and refrigeration weren’t bad enough, widespread power outages in hurricane-battered Florida are teaming with structural failures to cause another headache: sewage overflows. Local governments have submitted well over 100 “notices of pollution” to the state Dep..
Grand Canyon Water Pipeline Breaks Again
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) – Several locations within Grand Canyon National Park will be without water or on stored water until at least Monday while crews repair another pipeline break. Phantom Ranch will be on stored water with standard water restrictions while Cottonwood Campground a..
Goldfield to Assist with Irma Restoration Efforts in Florida
The Goldfield Corporation has mobilized all of its power line construction personnel and related equipment from its Florida and Texas operations are committed to storm restoration work in Florida as a result of Hurricane Irma. Although the company is providing restoration services to most of the ma..
Massive, Slimy ‘Fatberg’ Clogging a London Sewer Weighs 143 Tons
LONDON (AP) — British engineers say they have launched a “sewer war” against a giant fat blob clogging London’s sewers, which may soon be destined for a museum. Utility company Thames Water is trying to dislodge the smelly blob, which is 820 feet long, by breaking it up with high-powered ho..
Audit Finds $58 Million in Overpayments on Mexico Highway
MEXICO CITY (AP) — An audit has found about $58 million in improper payments and contract irregularities in a highway expansion project that collapsed in central Mexico in July, killing two people. The federal comptroller’s office said contracts were improperly awarded, supervised and carried out. ..
Pipeline Construction Project Application Temporarily Suspended
The National Energy Board in Canada has agreed to suspend its review of TransCanada’s Energy East and Eastern Mainline projects for 30 days, following a request from the company. During this period, the board will not issue further decisions or take further steps concerning the review of the projec..
Engineers 20 Years Ago Warned of Houston Flooding Risk
DALLAS (AP) — A report released two decades ago on the Harris County reservoir system predicted with alarming accuracy the catastrophic flooding that would besiege the Houston area if changes weren’t made in the face of rapid development. The report released in 1996 by engineers with the Harris Cou..
Texas Town Struggles to Restore Water Service in Harvey Aftermath
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas city that lost its drinking water system to Harvey struggled Saturday to restore service, and firefighters kept monitoring a crippled chemical plant that has twice been the scene of explosions and fires since the storm roared ashore and stalled over Texas more than a week ago...
Man Plunges Into Sinkhole on Brooklyn Street
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City firefighters were called to rescue a man whose leg became trapped in a sinkhole that formed in a crosswalk. The incident happened in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn Tuesday morning. Stephen Suarez says he was returning to work after finishing a delivery when..
Ditch Witch, Utilicor Join Forces to Simplify Utility Repairs
Ditch Witch®, a Charles Machine Works Company, has partnered with Utilicor Technologies, Inc. to bring the benefits of advanced keyhole technology and reinstatement to contractors, municipalities and utilities globally. Due to the partnership, utility contractors will now be able to operate a nimbl..
Pipeline Company Response to Settlement Offer Not Disclosed
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The company that built the Dakota Access pipeline has responded to an offer by North Dakota regulators to settle state allegations that it improperly reported the discovery of American Indian artifacts during construction. But the response from Energy Transfer Partners isn’t b..
- DeLa Express seeks FERC approval for Permian-to-Louisiana gas pipeline project
- Hudson Tunnel Project set to generate 95,000 jobs during construction phase, report says
- Charleston Water System settles huge lawsuit over sewer system damage caused by non-flushable wipes
- Boring machine 'Chessie' resumes drilling at Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel site after anchor incident
- Aegion continues western expansion with acquisition of underground utilities company Toncco
- Ditch Witch 1030
- 24th Annual Directional Drilling Survey
- Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to create septic codes throughout the state
- House passes Rep. Duarte's legislation to streamline water permitting processes in the Valley
- Court approves 3M settlement over ‘forever chemicals’ in public drinking water systems