Pipelines

Pipeline Construction Equipment Damage is Suspected Arson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Machinery located at three oil pipeline construction sites in central Iowa was found extensively damaged by fire Monday in what the company building the pipeline called a shameful act. There’s little doubt the fires were intentionally set along the Dakota Access pipeline, sa..

Partnering Agreement Improves Coordination for Large Texas Water Supply Projects

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Southwestern Division (USACE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) have signed a Partnering Agreement that will improve interagency coordination related to large water supply projects in th..

Pipeline Safety Bill Becomes Law; New Proposed Regs Become More Significant

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new rule requiring transmission pipelines to plug methane leaks at compressor stations includes some softening of earlier-proposed requirements, but will still impose substantial costs as companies move to repair leaks at new or modified compressors and co..

Record-Setting Pipeline Equipment Auction Set for September

On September 28 – 29, more than 160 pipelayers, along with massive dozers and support equipment, will be sold by Ritchie Bros. This will be Ritchie Bros.’ largest-ever pipeline equipment auction, with the majority of the inventory coming from Sheehan Pipeline Construction Company, in operation for ..

Environmentalists Take Aim at TransCanada Pipeline Project

BOSTON (AP) — Environmentalists are again taking aim at the company that proposed the Keystone XL pipeline — this time for another of its projects they fear would send hundreds of supertankers laden with crude oil down the Atlantic coast to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. TransCanada is behind t..

Canada to Ban Rail Cars Involved in Fiery Crash

MONTREAL (AP) – Canada’s transport minister says the rail car model involved in a fiery crash that killed 47 people in Quebec three years ago will no longer be allowed to transport oil in Canada as of Nov. 1. Marc Garneau said Monday that older tankers, called DOT-111 cars, and a version jacketed w..

Dakota Access Pipeline Receives Federal Permit Approvals in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A crude oil pipeline that will cut across Iowa has received the final federal permit approvals needed to proceed with construction. Documents posted by the Iowa Utilities Board Tuesday show the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved 60 river crossings in Iowa, a decision pipe..

Developers Seek Extension for Constitution Pipeline

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Constitution Pipeline Company is asking federal regulators for more time to build a 124-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania’s shale fields to eastern New York. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a permit for the pipeline in December 2014 on condition..

Canadian City Gets Backup Water Supply Ready After Oil Spill

PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan (AP) — Officials in Saskatchewan are preparing a city of more than 35,000 people to deal with the disruption of its water supply as oil from a pipeline leak makes it way along a major river in the province. Sam Ferris with Saskatchewan’s water security agency says Pr..

FERC Issues Draft EIS for PennEast Pipeline Project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the PennEast Pipeline Project proposed by PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC. The EIS has been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council ..

p-CAT Quickly Tests Thousands Of Feet Of Pipe To Identify Hot Spots

Hydromax USA and Detection Services have come together to deliver p-CAT, a low-cost, non-invasive, non-destructive, reliable and safe solution for pipe condition assessment, while the system is in operation. Often described as a pipe screening tool, p-CAT can quickly test thousands of feet of pipe ..

Maine Regulators Vote to Expand Natural Gas Capacity

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a plan, against the recommendation of its staff and objections from environmentalists, to require utility ratepayers to help pay for expanded natural gas — if other New England states follow suit. The three commissioners appoi..

Enbridge to Pay $61M Penalty for 2010 Michigan Oil Spill

Enbridge Energy Partners will pay a $61 million penalty for the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history — a pipeline rupture in southwestern Michigan that polluted a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River, federal officials said Wednesday. The settlement between U.S. government agencies a..

Aegion Awarded $12.4 Million Contract from Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

Aegion Corporation has been awarded a $12.4 million contract by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to its Infrastructure Solutions platform for the rehabilitation of wastewater pipelines in the Village of Tinley Park, the Village of Oak Forest, Cook County Forest Reserve ..

Oilfield Water Logistics Completes 30-Mile Red Hills Produced Water Pipeline in New Mexico

Oilfield Water Logistics, LLC has completed and opened the Red Hills Produced Water Transportation Pipeline in New Mexico. The 30-mile, 16” fiberglass pipeline is capable of carrying over 150,000 barrels of water per day across the Delaware Basin in Lea County. Chevron and other major operators in ..

Companies Will Study Risks, Changes to Underwater Pipeline

MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) — The state of Michigan has tapped two companies to analyze the financial risk of an oil pipeline rupture in the Straits of Mackinac and evaluate any alternatives to two underwater lines in the waterway, officials said Tuesday. Enbridge Energy, based in Calgary, Alberta, h..

N.J. Court Throws Out Trespassing Lawsuit Against PennEast

On July 7, A New Jersey State Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by HALT, an association of New Jersey landowners that hoped to prevent the PennEast Pipeline from being built. The $1 billion underground pipeline will span the 118-miles between Dallas, in northeast Pennsylvania, and a Tr..

North Dakota Gets $240K for Pipeline Safety Programs

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the state $240,000 for pipeline safety programs. The federal funds were granted to reimburse the state for public safety programs, including inspection and enforcement of pipeline safety regulations, incident investigations and..

Lawsuit: Utility Misled Company into Building $100M Pipeline

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A company that had planned to buy carbon dioxide from Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County power plant has sued, alleging the utility misled it into building a $100 million pipeline. Treetop Midstream Services, an affiliate of an oil company that planned to pump carbon dioxid..

Congresswoman to Introduce Legislation Strengthening FERC Oversight Of Proposed Pipelines

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) is expected to introduce legislation to toughen Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) oversight by requiring it to apply more comprehensive procedures to its review of proposed pipeline applications before granting a certificate of public convenience ..

Firm: California Spill Went Undetected Due to Pipeline Work

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — The operator of a pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a Southern California ravine said Friday it didn’t detect the leak because the line was undergoing maintenance. Crimson Pipeline said the remotely monitored line was emptied on Wednesday to ..

Cleanup Begins After Oil Pipeline Spill in California

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled Thursday from a pipeline and flowed down a ravine in Southern California but did not reach the ocean, officials said. As much as 29,400 gallons of oil spilled and flowed a quarter- to half-mile from the spill, fire authorities said. ..

Obama Approves Pipeline Safety Legislation

President Obama has signed the PIPES Act into law, which: Reauthorizes various programs of the Transportation Department’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through FY 2019 Requires DOT to develop minimum safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities ..

EIV Capital and Partners Commit $100 Million to H2O Midstream

H2O Midstream, LLC has secured an initial funding commitment of $100 million, with investments from EIV Capital and co-investments from several of EIV’s institutional partners, as the company pursues oil and gas opportunities related to water infrastructure throughout North America. “We see a treme..

TPH Partners Form Multi-Service Water Business

Houston-based TPH Partners formed EnWater Solutions by combining of its existing water business in the Permian with assets acquired from Abilene, TX-based Pelagic Water Systems. The new company’s services are applicable to high-volume saltwater disposal facilities, and permanent and temporary water ..

Bakken Pipeline Will Run Under Sacred Tribal Site in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials will allow work on a four-state oil pipeline to go forward after the company submitted a plan to avoid disrupting an American Indian burial ground. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins tells The Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/28KnoyM )..

Cincinnati Opposing Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline

BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) – Cincinnati is opposing proposals to build a 12-mile natural gas pipeline that would replace an existing line that has been in place since the 1950s. Duke Energy met with residents in a Cincinnati suburb Wednesday to answer questions about the company’s pipeline proposals in Ha..

Senate Hearing Highlights Importance of Pipeline Infrastructure

At a hearing Tuesday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, examined our nation’s energy infrastructure and highlighted the important role that oil and gas pipelines play in moving energy resources, creating jobs, and growing local economies. “Without i..

Repairs to Pipeline that Waters Largest Navajo Farm Finished

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) – Repairs to a pipeline that supplies water to the largest farm on the Navajo Nation are finished. The Farmington Daily Times reports that testing will begin this weekend on the fixed pipe, which supplies water to 72,000 acres of farmland in northwestern New Mexico. A decades..

House Unanimously Passes Pipeline Safety Act

The House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill reauthorizing the Federal Pipeline Safety Oversight Board. It now goes back to the Senate where it already passed on voice vote in its initial version. The legislation, known as the PIPES Act, would change PHMSA safety policies by adding greater tr..