Regulatory
Virginia Regulators OK Key Mountain Valley Pipeline Step
OANOKE, Va. (AP) — Virginia environmental regulators have approved a key step forward for the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline. The state Department of Environmental Quality announced late Monday that it has approved erosion, sediment and storm water control plans for the natural gas pipeline..
FERC: Rover Pipeline Restoration Activities Not Completed by Deadline
Because of a failure to satisfactorily complete restoration activities at two compressor stations associated with the Rover Pipeline Project, FERC today ordered Energy Transfer Partners to file an account within the next two days detailing why such activities were not finished within the committed t..
Lawmakers Wary of Cost to Fund Kentucky Broadband Project
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Sending inmates to private prisons and building a high-speed internet network dominated the second day of budget talks Monday as lawmakers sought to resolve initial disagreements on how to spend more than $70 billion in public funds over the next two years. Lawmakers agreed to..
New Administrator Chosen for Louisiana Utility Commission
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s state utility regulatory agency has a new top administrator, chosen from within the agency’s ranks. The Louisiana Public Service Commission chose Brandon Frey to be its executive secretary, a position that oversees the day-to-day operations of the agency. Frey h..
Equipment Failure Causes Oregon Sewer Spill
MONMOUTH, Ore. (AP) – Officials say about 1.3 million gallons of partially treated sewage went into the Willamette River after an equipment failure at the city of Monmouth’s waste water treatment facility. The Statesman Journal reports that the city of about 10,000 people located near Salem waited ..
NTSB: Dallas Natural Gas Leaks Reported Some 2 Months Before Fatal Blast
DALLAS (AP) — A preliminary federal report indicates natural gas leaks were first detected in a Dallas neighborhood nearly two months before another leak led to a house explosion that killed a 12-year-old girl. The report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board says leaks in the..
Records: Virginia State Police Spent Nearly $50K on Pipeline Hearings
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Documents show Virginia State Police spent nearly $50,000 on personnel and equipment during public meetings on state permits for two controversial natural gas pipelines. The documents, obtained through a public records request and provided to The Associated Press, outline the a..
President Trump Signs Bill Preserving WaterSense Funding
In a victory for consumers, water utilities and water conservation advocates, the EPA’s WaterSense program will be funded at fiscal year 2017 levels until Sept. 30, 2018, as part of a $1.3 trillion government spending bill passed by Congress and signed today by President Donald Trump. Reflecting a ..
New York Awards $500,000 in Funding to Study Ice Jams and Flooding on Mohawk River
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to undertake a $500,000 flooding and ice jam study of the main-stem Mohawk River corridor. The study will analyze storm and ice-jam flood mitigation needs in high-risk areas and include recomm..
Draft EIS Released for Northeast Supply Enhancement Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project proposed by Williams, which would deliver approximately 400,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas to end-use residential and commercial customers..
North Dakota State Broadband Network to Be Upgraded
As part of a contract extension with the North Dakota Information Technology Department, the Dakota Carrier Network (DCN) and its 15 owner companies will upgrade the internet service of all North Dakota K-12 schools, higher education institutions and government to one gigabit by August 2019. The upg..
Ohio EPA Issues Latest Water Quality Report
The Ohio EPA today released its draft 2018 water quality report that outlines the general condition of Ohio’s waters and includes a list that identifies impaired waters that are not meeting their federal or state water quality goals, as well as waters that have improved to meet federal standards. T..
New York City Residents Encouraged to Repair Water Leaks as Part of Fix a Leak Week
In support of Fix a Leak Week, March 19-25, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is encouraging New Yorkers to identify and fix residential water leaks. DEP offers a full range of information on how to detect leaky pipes and toilets including leak detection tablets and a Ho..
Spending Bill Rejects Trump Effort to Gut Water Cleanups
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump has gotten nowhere in his push to kill federal support for cleaning up some of the nation’s most prized waterways, as the U.S. House decided Thursday to keep funding at current levels — and in some cases, boost it. A $1.3 trillion spending package ..
UN Chief: Global Water Crisis has Widespread Impact
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on World Water Day that over 2 billion people lack access to safe water. The U.N. chief told diplomats and activists at Thursday’s launch of the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development that “water is a ..
Algae Leads to 'Impaired' Designation for Western Lake Erie
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Ohio for the first time is designating the entire western end of Lake Erie as an impaired waterway because of the toxic algae that has fouled drinking water and closed beaches in recent years, officials said Thursday. The shallowest of the Great Lakes has seen its largest ..
IEEE Publishes 25 Gb/s Ethernet Standard for Enhanced Enterprise and Metro Network Applications Over Fiber
IEEE today announced it has published IEEE 802.3cc-2017—Standard for Ethernet Amendment: Physical Layer and Management Parameters for Serial 25 Gb/s Ethernet Operation Over Single-Mode Fiber. The new amendment to IEEE 802.3™ represents the first available industry standard developed specifically to ..
Residents near Harvey-Damaged Chemical Plant Wary of Water
CROSBY, Texas (AP) — The skeleton crew at Arkema’s chemical plant knew it was time to go by the morning of Aug. 29. Flooding from Hurricane Harvey had knocked out power. Thousands of gallons of chemical-laden water had spilled into the floodwaters. Soon, the company’s stores of volatile organic per..
Future Uncertain for Kentucky Broadband Network
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Frustrated with repeated delays costing taxpayers millions of dollars, the Kentucky Senate has voted to effectively end a project that would bring high-speed internet capability to one of the poorest states in the country. But officials in Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s administ..
$32 Million Awarded for Texas Sewer, Water Projects
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today approved more than $32 million in financial assistance from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for the following pipeline construction projects: $17.03 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to..
Georgia Public Service Commission OK's Dominion Energy, SCANA Merger
The Georgia Public Service Commission has unanimously approved the merger of Dominion Energy, Inc. and SCANA Corporation, becoming the first state regulatory agency to act on the proposed merger. “We greatly appreciate the prompt action by Chairman McDonald and the other commissioners i..
Judge Lifts Restraining Order Against Pipeline Protesters
UNION, W.Va. (AP) — A judge has lifted the restraining order against natural gas pipeline protesters sitting in trees in West Virginia. News outlets report Judge Robert Irons denied the injunction, reversing course less than two weeks after granting Mountain Valley Pipeline a 10-day restraining ord..
Leading California Business Associations Back Cadiz Water Project
Cadiz Inc. today announced a diverse group of leading business associations in California, including the Valley Industry Commerce Association (VICA), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) California, Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce, Greater Riverside Hispanic Cham..
Water Quality, Policy Meeting to be Held in Pennsylvania
On Tuesday, March 27, 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Pennsylvania Sea Grant will host a meeting of the PA Lake Erie Environmental Forum. The meeting will be held at the Erie County Conservation District office from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM. At the meeting, Vict..
Report: North Carolina Cities Need Powers to Aid Broadband
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The association representing North Carolina’s cities and towns says new legislation is needed to develop partnerships between local governments and private broadband providers so areas still lacking high-speed internet are covered. The North Carolina League of Municipalities re..
Chemical Company Agrees to Provide Safe Drinking Water
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A plastics company believed to be the source of tainted groundwater in several New Hampshire communities has agreed to provide more than 300 homes with safe drinking water. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics reached an a..
Indiana House Member Picked for State Utility Commission
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana House utility committee chairman will be leaving the Legislature for a seat on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that oversees most of the state’s electricity and natural gas companies. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb picked GOP Rep. David Ober of Albion as his ..
NASSCO Names Joy Executive Director
After an extensive, nationwide search, the Executive Board of the National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) today announced the appointment of Sheila Joy as Executive Director, effective April 2, 2018. Joy will report to NASSCO’s Board of Directors and lead NASSCO in its ongoing missi..
American Water Partners with EPA to Promote Fix a Leak Week
American Water and its subsidiaries today announced a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote Fix a Leak Week, which runs from March 19-25. The national campaign, part of the EPA’s WaterSense program, helps to raise awareness about small leaks and what homeowners c..
Platte River Diversion Plan Reaches Lincoln
SMITHFIELD, Neb. (AP) — The first transfer of water from one river in Nebraska to another could be just over the horizon under a proposal that finally floated its way to Lincoln. Or this historic trans-basin diversion from the Platte River to the Republican River could join the list of similar sche..
- 27 pipeline safety violations tied to deadly Pa. chocolate factory explosion
- Contractor gas line strike triggers home explosion in Missouri
- FiberLight to build 1,400-mile West Texas dark fiber network in $350 million expansion
- Fatal trench collapse in Mass. leads to $4.6 million OSHA penalty, dozens of violations
- OSHA investigates fatal trench collapse at Conroe construction site
- T-Mobile to expand fiber broadband infrastructure footprint with $4.9 billion Metronet acquisition
- Cityside launches $100 million fiber build in Corona, Calif.
- FiberLight to build 1,400-mile West Texas dark fiber network in $350 million expansion
- Alaska fiber buildout to expand broadband in rural communities
- 11-mile Texas pipeline replacement upgrades 72-in. PCCP to 102-in. steel