Oil/Gas Pipelines
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..
Board Blames Niagara Falls Sewer Spill on Heavy Rain, Aging Infrastructure
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A public agency under scrutiny for a discharge that turned water below Niagara Falls black says heavy rain and outdated infrastructure is to blame for another spill that prompted a violation notice from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The board said Friday th..
Board Cited for Another Sewage Discharge at Niagara Falls
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A public water board under scrutiny for a discharge that turned the water below Niagara Falls black and smelly violated quality standards for another discharge 17 days later, state officials said Friday. The Department of Environmental Conservation said it cited the Niagara Fall..
Niagara Falls Board Ordered to Halt Black Water Discharges
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — State officials have told a western New York public agency that it must cease the type of wastewater discharges that caused a stretch of the Niagara River below Niagara Falls to turn black and smelly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the Department of Environmental Conservation has..
Sewage Enters Trench Used to Repair Detroit-Area Sinkhole
FRASER, Mich. (AP) — Officials say about 1.5 million gallons of sewage flowed into a trench used to repair a sewer line that collapsed and created a sinkhole north of Detroit. The Macomb County Public Works Office says no one was in the trench at the time of the incident overnight Monday. There wer..
NTSB: Worker Urged Evacuation Before Minnesota School Blast
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A maintenance worker at a Minneapolis school that partially collapsed after an explosion earlier this month had smelled natural gas and used a radio to tell others to evacuate less than a minute before the blast, according to preliminary report released Monday by the National Tran..
Sewer Spill Into Georgia Creek Contained
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Nearly four million gallons of raw sewage that spilled into a Georgia creek has been contained. DeKalb County officials say the spill happened last week along a tributary to Nancy Creek Basin in Brookhaven. County inspectors discovered that a 10-inch diameter pipe, comprom..
Colorado Won't Put Oil-Gas Pipeline Map Online
DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says the state won’t offer an online map of oil and gas pipelines after a fatal house explosion that was blamed on a leaking pipe, citing security concerns. Hickenlooper said Tuesday Colorado will instead expand an existing service that allows people to..
Colorado to Tighten Pipeline Rules After Fatal Gas Explosion
DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials say they will strengthen regulations for oil and gas pipelines to reduce the chances of another home explosion like one that killed two people in April. Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the rule-tightening on Tuesday. It’s one of seven steps recommended by state reg..
Iowa Town Agrees to $195k Sinkhole Suit Settlement
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The City Council has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman over sinkholes that formed on her Sioux City property. The Sioux City Journal reports the council voted unanimously Monday for a $195,000 settlement of Joyce Downing’s lawsuit. Downing sued the city in 20..
Popular California Beach Closed After Sewer Spill
DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) — Officials have shut down a popular Southern California beach because of elevated bacteria after 900 gallons of sewage spilled into the water. The Orange County Health Care Agency said Sunday that Baby Beach and nearby swimming docks in Dana Point are closed for at least th..
Police Investigating Natural Gas Explosion in Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities have launched an investigation into a natural gas explosion that seriously injured two people, leveled a house and significantly damaged nearly 20 other homes in Lincoln. Police are focusing on the home where authorities believe the explosion occurred Monda..
Possible 2nd Niagara Falls Water Discharge Being Probed
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — New York state officials say they’re investigating a possible wastewater discharge near Niagara Falls similar to one last month that turned the water below the world-famous attraction black and smelly. The Department of Environmental Conservation announced Tuesday evening..
Water Agency Hires Firm to Evaluate Niagara Falls Discharge
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — The public agency that was responsible for black, smelly water being discharged into water below Niagara Falls says it’s hired an engineering firm to evaluate the discharge. The Niagara Falls Water Board said in a statement released Monday that it’s retained Los Angel..
After 22 Water Breaks, Lawrence Learns of Installation Woes
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence officials have learned that 13 miles of pipeline was improperly installed after 22 water main breaks. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the breaks have occurred over a three-week period. Director of Utilities Dave Wagner says repair and replacement costs from th..
Geologists Study Massive Florida Sinkhole
LAND O’LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Geologists are studying a massive Florida sinkhole that destroyed two homes and rendered five others uninhabitable. Experts might ever know exactly what caused Pasco County’s largest sinkhole in decades, but a team of University of South Florida researchers have descende..
Man Falls into 10-foot Sinkhole While Trying to Block it off
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia man who fell into a sinkhole says he was putting traffic cones around it because he was worried about the safety of children playing outside. Eugene Clark tells WCAU-TV (http://bit.ly/2wJ1NiG) he was near the sinkhole Saturday night when the asphalt gave way and h..
Mexico Experts: Outdated Drain Caused July's Deadly Sinkhole
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A panel of experts in Mexico has determined that an old drainage pipe was to blame for a sinkhole on a major highway that killed two men last month when their car plunged into it. The 34-year-old drain was not replaced as suggested before an expanded highway was built on top of i..
Local Lawmakers: Probe Niagara Falls Black Water Discharge
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Local lawmakers are asking for a criminal investigation into the discharge of wastewater that turned the water below Niagara Falls black. The Niagara County Legislature passed resolutions Thursday night that request investigations by the New York state attorney general, t..
Big Easy on Edge as City Scrambles to Fix Pumping System
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Flood-weary residents remained on edge as Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency in New Orleans, but this time the threat wasn’t churning in the Gulf of Mexico. The city’s malfunctioning water-pumping system and the threat of more rain have left some neighborhoods at ..
Emergency Declared in New Orleans as Flood Threat Looms
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency in New Orleans on Thursday as the city’s malfunctioning water-pumping system and the threat of more rain left some neighborhoods at greater risk of flooding. The city scrambled to repair fire-damaged equipment at a power plant an..
Sinkhole Develops on Louisiana Street
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Authorities have barricaded a sinkhole that was discovered on a Louisiana street. Nola.com/The Times-Picayune reports the Jefferson Parish Streets Department was notified about the 12-foot by 12-foot hole Wednesday around 9 a.m. There were no injuries and no additional da..
Amid Pumping Failures, New Orleans Warns People to Move Cars
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As New Orleans’ water-pumping system continues to malfunction, the mayor is urging residents in some of the city’s already-soaked neighborhoods to move their vehicles to higher ground as more rain is in the forecast. Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office said in a news release early Th..
Florida Sinkhole Might Force Condemnation of More Homes
LAND O’LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Ralph Terry, a 73-year-old retiree who lives in a sleepy neighborhood in Florida’s suburbs, seems particularly sanguine about living just a few doors down from a gaping, literal, void in the earth. “I don’t see no cracks in my blocks in my house,” he said on Tuesday, peeri..
Hot Words After New Orleans Flood, Pump Problems Revealed
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As volunteers hauled soggy insulation out of a flooded store that belongs to a prominent New Orleans social club Wednesday, the group’s president said city pumping problems implicated in weekend flooding were unacceptable. “It just doesn’t make sense. We are too close to help, su..
Tribes Want Dakota Pipeline Shut Down, But Offer Fallback Plan
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — American Indian tribes fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline are asking a judge to shut down the line while more environmental review is conducted, but they’ve also presented a fallback plan should the judge disagree. The “alternative relief” that Standing Rock Sioux attorne..
Buffalo Suburbs Asked to Restrict Use After Water Main Break
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Residents of more than a dozen Buffalo suburbs are being asked to put off washing their cars, watering lawns and filling swimming pools because of a water main break at a treatment plant. The Erie County Water Authority has issued the temporary restrictions through 6 p.m. Tue..
2 More Homes Condemned Due to Florida Sinkhole
LAND O’LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials have condemned two more homes due to a Florida sinkhole, bringing the total to six homes that are now unlivable. Authorities in Pasco County, a suburban area north of Tampa, said in a news release Sunday that the two additional homes were being condemned...
New Orleans Floods Raise Questions About City Pumping System
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Heavy weekend rainfall in New Orleans overwhelmed the municipal pump stations, leaving parts of the community flooded, and some officials say they’re not satisfied with the city’s response. “Are our city pumps working as they should?” Councilman Jason Williams said, according to ..
School Blast Investigators Probing Gas Meter Work
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Workers may have been moving a gas meter when an explosion tore through a Minneapolis school building this week, killing two people and injuring at least nine others, according to federal investigators. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Minneapolis T..
- 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
- WES tunnel boring machine retrieved from Oregon river after seven-month project
- 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