Pipelines

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 lit..

Man Dies While Working in Sewer Line Outside Chicago

STREAMWOOD, Ill. (AP) — Authorities have identified a Gurnee man as the worker who died in a suburban Chicago sewer line. The Cook County medical examiner says 22-year-old Brett Morrow died in the accident in Streamwood, about 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) northwest of Chicago. Firefighters worked ro..

Minnesota Regulators Cancel Pipeline Hearings

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The state Public Utilities Commission has canceled public hearings scheduled this week in St. Cloud on Enbridge Energy’s proposal to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. In a news release, the PUC says the city of St. Cloud advised the commis..

Water Pressure Being Restored After Detroit-Area Main Break

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Officials say water pressure has been restored to most communities following a suburban Detroit water main break that kept students home from dozens of schools for a second day. The Great Lakes Water Authority says only a section of Farmington Hills with 35,000 reside..

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 Equipm..

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 pro..

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 Farmingto..

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. ..

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 Nov..

6 More Protesters Arrested at Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Police arrested six more protesters who tried blocking construction of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania. The protesters now face criminal trespass charges after their weekend arrest in Lancaster County. They tried blocking the entrance to a construction site for the Atl..

$22 Million Awarded for Water, Sewer Projects in New York's Finger Lakes Region

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced over $22 million in grants to support 21 essential drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in the Finger Lakes region, including upgrades and replacements for drinking water systems, filtration plants and water mains, and the constructi..

Four Union Utility Workers from New Jersey American Water Travel to Puerto Rico for Relief Work

Four New Jersey American Water employees joined a team of more than 300 AFL-CIO volunteers who traveled to Puerto Rico on Oct. 4 to help with Hurricane Maria relief efforts. The employees who volunteered to join this two-week assignment are Utility Mechanics Al Archila, Karl Engallena and Jorge Pere..

Storm Sewer Extension Completed in New York City

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has completed a new storm sewer extension along a portion of 148th Avenue in Rosedale, Queens. This infrastructure upgrade will improve drainage in the community and help to alleviate localized street flooding. The project also complemen..

Flint City Council Seeks More Time to Choose Water Source

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The City Council in Flint, Michigan, is asking a federal judge for more time to choose a long-term source of drinking water in the wake of the city’s lead-tainted water crisis. The request was made in a Sunday court filing. Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration sued Flint to force t..

More Rover Pipeline HDD Activities Can Resume

FERC has approved Energy Transfer Partners request to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) activities at the following locations along the Rover Pipeline Project: Black Fork Mohican, between mileposts 95.59 and 95.97 Highway 42, between milepost 94.43 and 94.68 According to FERC’s J. ..

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 wastewate..

Protesters Shut Down Pipeline Construction Project Hearing

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Protesters cut short a hearing in Duluth on Enbridge Energy’s proposal to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. Wednesday’s hearing was one of several for the public to comment on whether the state Public Utilities Commission should approve the ..

Utah Group Seeks State Audit of Water Pipeline Project

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A water advocacy group has asked Utah State Auditor John Dougall to look into possible discrepancies in water-use data sent to state and federal regulators by backers of the proposal to build the Lake Powell Pipeline. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the Utah Rivers Council sent ..

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 ..

Pipeline Protest Charges Dismissed Against Journalist

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Obstruction and disorderly conduct charges have been dismissed against a photo journalist covering the Dakota Access Pipeline protest last year. Sara Lafleur-Vetter was working for The Guardian, a London-based news outlet, when she was arrested Oct. 22 with 140 other peo..

Kinder Morgan Warns About Trans Mountain Delays

Kinder Morgan has warned that its Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project is facing possibly months of delays because of the timing of permit issuance and other regulatory approvals. The delay could be as long as nine months, Kinder Morgan’s chief executive Steven Kean said in a recent confer..

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 ide..

Connecticut Regulators Investigating Gas Utilities for Withholding Pipeline Capacity

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut officials have launched an investigation into allegations of market power abuse by two of the state’s largest energy providers. The Office of Consumer Counsel says the investigation began after university researchers claimed Eversource and Avangrid companies inte..

Baltimore Workers Remove "Fatberg" of Grease from Sewer Pipe

BALTIMORE (AP) — A “fatberg” that may have taken beyond half a century to grow below Baltimore has been removed. News outlets report the city’s Public Works department used a camera, pressure washer and truck-mounted industrial vacuum to clear the mass of curdled grease, wet wipes and other waste. ..

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 h..

Judge Tells Flint to Pick Water Source

DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered Flint, Michigan, to choose a long-term source of drinking water by next week, saying the City Council so far is showing a “breathtaking” lack of leadership. Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration sued Flint to force the council to approve a 30-year deal with the..

Raw Sewage Contaminating Waters in Puerto Rico After Maria

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (AP) — Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. People without running water bathe and wash their clothes in contaminated streams, and some islanders have been drinking water from condemned wells. Nearly a month aft..

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 Commissi..

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..

Land Preservation Board Approves Easements for Pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A public land preservation organization in Virginia has approved easements that will allow two natural gas pipelines to be built in mountainous areas of the state. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s board of trustees approved 11 easements on Monday, the board said on its websit..