Legal
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..
North Dakota Landowners’ Lawsuit Against Pipeline Dismissed
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen North Dakota landowners who alleged the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline and a consultant used deceit and fraud to acquire private land easements for the project. But a court case in Iowa involving th..
Justices to Hear Argument in States' Disputes over Water
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will hear a decades-long dispute between Florida and Georgia over water rights. The justices on Tuesday issued a brief order in a lawsuit that Florida filed at the high court challenging water use by its neighbor. The court set not set a date f..
Jury Convicts Activist Who Targeted North Dakota Pipeline
CAVALIER, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota jury has convicted an environmental activist who targeted an oil pipeline a year ago. The Pembina (PEM’-buh-nuh) County jury found Michael Foster of Seattle guilty Friday of conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, criminal mischief and trespass. Foster was acqui..
Rancher Gets Prison for Armed Encounter with Utility Workers
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – A 56-year-old northern New Mexico rancher faces a year and a half in prison after being sentenced for a carjacking conviction stemming from an armed confrontation with utility company workers on his property. Richard Howieson of Costilla in Taos County was sentenced Thursda..
West Virginia Top Court Blocks Order for Replacement Water
CHARLESTON (AP) — West Virginia’s highest court has blocked a judge’s order requiring a mining company provide replacement drinking water to residents who said its wastewater impoundment contaminated their wells. Supreme Court Chief Justice Allen Loughry writes that the judge lacked the authority t..
Pennsylvania Families Settle with Driller over Contaminated Water
DIMOCK, Pa. (AP) — Two families have settled their lawsuit alleging that one of Pennsylvania’s biggest gas drillers contaminated their well water, six months after a federal judge threw out a multimillion-dollar jury verdict in the case. A court filing dated Sept. 21 says the lawsuit pursued by pla..
Ex-Water Corporation Boss Gets 8 Years for $1 Million Fraud
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The former head of a not-for-profit corporation formed to oversee the water services for the city was sentenced on Friday to more than eight years in prison for accepting nearly $1 million in kickbacks. Linda Watkins Brashear pleaded guilty in 2015 to fraud for participating in ..
Official Charged in Flint Water Crisis Related Death Faces Hearing
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan official blamed in the death of a Flint-area man who had Legionnaires’ disease faces a key hearing to determine whether he will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. Nick Lyon is head of the Department of Health and Human Services. He’s accused of failing to alert..
Delaware Town Loses Building Permit Fee Case to Sewer and Water Authority
DOVER, Del. (AP) – A judge has ruled that a central Delaware town cannot collect $27,000 from a local water and sewer authority as a building permit fee for a million-gallon water storage tank. The judge ruled Monday that the purported building fee demanded by the town of Camden is actually a tax, ..
StarKist to Pay $6.3M in American Samoa Wastewater Case
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — The world’s largest supplier of canned tuna has agreed to pay a $6.3 million penalty for wastewater violations in American Samoa, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday. StarKist Co., based in Pittsburgh and owned by South Korea’s Dongwon Industries, will ..
Idaho Town in Hot Water Over Sewer, Water Fees
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The city of Pocatello could be forced to pay back millions of dollars in excess fees following a recent Idaho Supreme Court ruling. According to the unanimous opinion, justices ruled that Pocatello’s sewer and water fees were not set at reasonable rates to help cover the costs o..
Trial Scheduled Against Ex-Ohio Water Plant Operator
SEBRING, Ohio (AP) – A trial is still planned for a fired water plant operator charged with misdemeanors for what authorities say was his failure to notify residents of a northeast Ohio village about lead in their drinking water. The Vindicator reports that an attorney for 61-year-old James Bates, ..
Early Termination of Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Waiting Period Awarded for Oncor, Sharyland Deal
InfraREIT, Inc. today announced the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have granted early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period for the proposed exchange transaction between InfraREIT’s regulated subsidiary, Sharyland Distribution & Transmissio..
Pipeline Construction Project Gets Favorable Ruling
CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal magistrate in Akron has dealt a significant blow to efforts by some Ohio property owners to stop a high-pressure natural gas pipeline from being built. U.S. Magistrate Kathleen Burke in a written recommendation filed Monday said the U.S. District Court in northern Ohio la..
Flushable Wipes Class Action Lawsuit Dropped
INDA, the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, today announced the settlement of the class action lawsuit brought by the City of Perry, Iowa, in which the city alleged damages from flushable wipes manufactured by a number of flushable wipes producers. In dropping the lawsuit, Perry admitted tha..
Fired Engineer Sues Utility
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A fired engineer at a now-aborted Mississippi Power Co. plant sued the utility’s parent company Tuesday, saying an order to reinstate him is being ignored. Brett Wingo of Homewood, Alabama, filed the whistleblower retaliation case in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama. Wingo..
Court Says Flint Residents Can Sue Michigan Over Bad Water
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A federal appeals court says Flint residents who used lead-contaminated water can pursue constitutional claims against Michigan and city officials. In a 3-0 decision, the court overturned decisions by a federal judge who said the claims weren’t allowed under water law. The court..
Mountain Valley Pipeline Lawsuit Filed
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A newly filed lawsuit is seeking to stop federal regulators from granting the developers of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline the power of eminent domain. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Roanoke, Virginia, on behalf of property owners in the pipeline’s pa..
Judge Takes Away Chicago Suburb's Water Fund Control
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has taken away a Chicago suburb’s control over its water fund after determining the city’s officials engaged in illegal conduct over several years. Cook County Circuit Judge Kathleen Pantle noted in a ruling Wednesday that millions of dollars were missing and another $26 mill..
Ex-Water Corporation Contractor Sentenced in Kickback Scheme
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A former contractor for the company that oversaw Newark’s water services has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a kickback scheme. Eighty-year-old James Porter, of East Orange, was sentenced on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to giving kickbacks to a..
Judge Denies Water Crisis Legal Settlement
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal judge has declined to grant preliminary approval to a $151 million settlement stemming from a 2014 chemical spill that sparked a water crisis in West Virginia. Local news outlets report Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. said in an order Thursday that he wants changes t..
Lawsuits Challenge Ambitious California Water Tunnels
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown’s ambitious plans to build two massive tunnels, reengineering the hub of California’s water system, would destroy native fish species already on the brink of extinction, lawsuits filed Thursday said. The $16 billion proposed tunnels along the state’s largest r..
Trial Delay Sought for Former Utility Regulator, 3 Others
PHOENIX (AP) — Trial for a former Arizona utility regulator accused of accepting payments from a water company owner in exchange for a boost in rates will likely be delayed. Federal prosecutors and attorneys for former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce and three others agreed to th..
Michigan Health Chief Charged in Flint Water Crisis Probe
Five people, including the head of Michigan’s health department, were charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter in an investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water, all blamed in the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires’ disease. Nick Lyon is the highest-ranking member of Repub..
Environmental Groups Sue over Pipeline Permitting Decisions
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Several environmental groups are suing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality over part of the permitting process for two proposed natural gas pipelines. The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, Bold Alliance and Preserve Craig Inc. filed suit this week in Richmond..
Ex-Regulator Pleads Not Guilty in Influence-peddling Case
PHOENIX (AP) — A former elected Arizona utility regulator pleaded not guilty Wednesday to bribery and fraud charges accusing him of accepting thousands of dollars in payments from a water company owner in exchange for favorable treatment in a rate case. Former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary ..
Judge Approves Partial Settlement in Water Lawsuit
DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has approved a partial settlement in a lawsuit over contaminated drinking water in north Alabama. The Decatur Daily (http://bit.ly/2q6ooEA ) reports that U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon has approved a $5 million payment by Daikin America to end its part of the ..
$850,000 Stolen from Rural Water Association in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A former office manager is accused of siphoning some $850,000 from a rural drinking water system that serves thousands of people in southeastern New Mexico, the state auditor’s office said Tuesday. State Auditor Tim Keller confirmed that his office has forwarded information..
Utility to Pay $8.5 Million to Settle Suit Over Gas Blowout
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Southern California Gas Co. agreed Wednesday to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over a well blowout that spewed natural gas for nearly four months and drove thousands of residents from their Los Angeles homes. The utility signed an agreement with the South Coast Air Qu..
- Intrepid Fiber breaks ground on fiber optic network in Superior, Colo.
- Excavator collides with I-95 overpass in Henrico, Va., causing multi-vehicle crash
- Shrewsbury, Mass., expands sewer inspections and cleaning efforts
- Construction worker killed in trench collapse near Prosperity, S.C.
- Two workers rescued after hours trapped in Mich. trench collapse
- Illinois overhauls Peoples Gas pipeline program, mandates focus on high-risk pipes
- Ameren Illinois to invest $140 million in natural gas pipeline replacement program
- Charlottesville, Va., to begin work on 24-inch water line for Rivanna River crossing
- Mass. governor slams Trump for ‘dangerous delay’ of $50 million in lead pipe replacement funds