Energy
Company: Cause of New Mexico Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture Unknown
LOVING, N.M. (AP) – A Houston-based energy company says it’s investigating what caused one of its natural gas pipelines to rupture, explode and catch fire in southeastern New Mexico’s oil patch. Spokesman Rick Rainey of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. says the incident early Wednesday morning in ..
Father, Son Killed in Northern Illinois Pipeline Explosion
NACHUSA, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in northern Illinois say a father and son were killed in a natural gas pipeline explosion while working on a farm field. Officials on Wednesday said 59-year-old father Rory Miller of Amboy and 30-year-old son Ryan Miller of Oregon died in the Tuesday morning explosi..
Natural Gas Pipeline Ruptured, Explodes in Northern Illinois
NACHUSA, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in northern Illinois say two men working on a farm field were killed and two others seriously injured in a natural gas pipeline explosion. The Lee County Sheriff’s Department says the explosion happened at about 9 a.m. Tuesday at a farm near Nachusa. Saukvalley.com ..
Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes in New Mexico
LOVING, N.M. (AP) — A pipeline exploded in southeastern New Mexico’s oil patch, closing two highways but causing no reported injuries. Eddy County Emergency Manager Jennifer Armendariz says the pipeline that exploded early Wednesday morning is in a sparsely populated area about 10 miles (16 k..
Mountain Valley Pipeline Receives Forest Service Approval
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has given the Mountain Valley Pipeline its approval to cross federal forestland in Virginia and West Virginia. The authorization marks another milestone for the proposed 303-mile underground natural gas pipeline, which was approved by the Federal Energy R..
New Hampshire Pipeline Would Bring in More Natural Gas
LONDONDERRY, N.H. (AP) — Liberty Utilities is working on a new project designed to bring more natural gas to New Hampshire residents and businesses. The project, called Granite Bridge, would bring in natural gas from existing infrastructure in the Seacoast to the central part of the state through a..
Utility Fined for Gas Pipeline Safety Violations
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is paying a $900,000 fine after state regulators found that the utility failed to keep accurate maps and records of its underground natural gas lines. The settlement approved Wednesday by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission instruc..
Rover Pipeline HDD Activities Halted by Ohio Regulators
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has told the company building the massive Rover natural gas pipeline project to stop horizontal drilling after another spill of clay-based slurry. The Repository reports EPA Director Craig Butler on Wednesday asked Energy Transfer Partn..
Court Stops NEXUS Pipeline Construction in Ohio
CLEVELAND (AP) — A city facing long odds of stopping section of a $2 billion natural gas pipeline from being built there was handed a victory this week when a federal appellate court issued an emergency order that temporarily halts the start of construction. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in..
Lawsuit Accuses Utilities of Jacking up Natural Gas Prices
BOSTON (AP) — A class-action lawsuit has accused two utilities of conspiring to drive up energy costs in New England in a multi-year scheme that affected millions of customers. The lawsuit filed this week in Boston federal court alleges Eversource Energy and Avangrid Inc. used their market po..
Grid Operator Discusses New England’s Constrained Gas Pipelines
CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — The independent corporation overseeing the operation of New England’s power system says natural gas pipelines feeding the region are so constrained that electricity prices are driven higher during cold winters. ISO New England President Gordon van Welie (WHEE’-lee) says region..
Pipeline Upgrades Included in PG&E's Proposed Gas Transmission and Storage Plan
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today submitted a comprehensive proposal as part of its 2019-2021 Gas Transmission and Storage (GT&S) rate request to California regulators. The request outlines how the company will continue to achieve increased levels of gas safety by strengthening and moder..
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Secures Another Key Federal Permit
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline has cleared another key regulatory hurdle. The U.S. Forest Service granted approval Friday for the natural gas pipeline to run through the George Washington National Forest and Monongahela National Forest. About 21 miles (33 kilometers) of ..
Judge Won’t Impose Deadline in Mountain Valley Pipeline Lawsuit
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal judge tells developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline he won’t order all landowners in its West Virginia lawsuit to respond by Dec. 4 to motions for summary judgment for rights of way available under federal regulations. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that U..
HDD Activities Get Green Light at More Rover Pipeline Locations
FERC has conditionally approved Energy Transfer Partners’ request to resume horizontal directions drilling (HDD) activities at the following locations along the Rover Pipeline: Honey Creek – Energy Transfer Partners says J.D. Hair & Associates’ recommendation of using an 8-degree overbend is not..
Pipeline Opponents Ask Regulators to Reconsider Approvals
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Opponents of two proposed natural gas pipelines are asking federal regulators to reconsider their approval of the projects. Dozens of environmental groups and individuals filed rehearing requests this week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the Atlantic Coa..
Virginia Town Postpones Vote on Atlantic Coast Pipeline Easements
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Norfolk City Council postponed a vote on whether to grant easements for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two drinking water reservoirs, the only ones in the project’s path. The Virginian-Pilot reports the council was scheduled to consider the issue Tuesday night bu..
Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Construction on NEXUS Pipeline
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Environmental groups are taking another shot at trying to stop construction of a natural gas pipeline that will run across northern Ohio and into Michigan and Canada. The Sierra Club and others are behind a lawsuit filed Monday challenging a federal commission’s decision to allo..
Virginia Town Voting on Atlantic Coast Pipeline Easements
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Norfolk City Council is set to decide whether to grant easements for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two drinking water reservoirs, the only ones in its path. The Virginian-Pilot reports the council will consider the issue Tuesday. Senior city staffers and Dominion Ener..
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 t..
Appeals Court Rejects Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Construction Stay
Williams Partners L.P. today announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has rejected an emergency motion to stay the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization of the company’s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, allowing construction to immediately resume. “We a..
Williams Partners Takes Legal Action over Pipeline Construction Stoppage
Williams Partners L.P. today filed a Motion for Clarification of an administrative stay issued yesterday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions’ authorization of the company’s Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline project. The p..
Foes of Obama Oil and Gas Rule Ask Court to Reconsider Ruling
DENVER (AP) — Opponents of Obama-era oil and gas regulations say a decision by a federal appeals court in Denver could allow those rules to go into effect temporarily, even though the Trump administration plans to revoke them. Four states, two industry groups and a Native American tribe filed docum..
Court Orders Pause in Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Construction
COLUMBIA, Pa. (AP) — A federal appeals court has temporarily halted construction of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania. LNP reports the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., stopped work on the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. Environmental groups are asking for a comprehensive environmental re..
EPA Head Names Oil and Gas, Utility Executives to Science Advisory Boards
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency has named a slate of new members to federal science advisory boards, including several who work for chemical and fossil-fuel interests. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced his appointments Friday, after saying he would block sci..
Ohio Sues Gas Pipeline Developer over Pollution Violations
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Ohio is suing the company building a $4.2 billion natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Michigan over what it says are numerous water pollution violations during construction. The lawsuit filed Friday says work on the Rover Pipeline flooded a protected wetland with drilling..
Gas Pipeline Developers Suing Hundreds of Landowners
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Developers of a proposed natural gas pipeline are suing hundreds of landowners in two states to gain rights of way granted by federal regulations. Mountain Valley Pipeline lawyers filed federal court complaints in Charleston, West Virginia and Roanoke, Virginia to obtain ea..
Contested Land Owned by Nuns Prioritized for Pipeline Laying
COLUMBIA, Pa. (AP) — Despite disruptions and multiple arrests, a gas pipeline project is going forward with construction through a cornfield owned by an order of Pennsylvania nuns. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Columbia have sued in federal court to stop the Atlantic Sunrise project, arguin..
West Virginia Approves Mountain Valley Pipeline Again
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia environmental regulators on Wednesday lifted their suspension of the permit for building the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas down the center of the state. The pipeline would extend south for 195 miles (315 kilometers) in north-central W..
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 proceedi..
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