Oil/Gas Pipelines
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..
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..
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- $227 million Garnet Valley water project advances, set to create 73,000 jobs in Nevada
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
- Construction underway for $1.4 billion, 60-mile water pipeline in Chicago
- Worker dies after trench collapse at sewer project site in Norwich, Conn.
- Gehl and Mustang offer world’s largest skid loader
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish