Regulatory
Developers Ask Regulators to OK Atlantic Coast Pipeline Soon
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Developers of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline are asking federal regulators to approve the project this month. Executives with Dominion Energy, Duke Energy and Southern Company Gas made the request in a letter Thursday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The 600-..
TransCanada Requests Suspension Of Oil Pipeline
TransCanada has asked for a 30-day suspension of its application for the Energy East pipeline that should transport crude oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan to the eastern part of Canada. According to the company, it wants to review the National Energy Board’s August decision to toughen the pipeline ..
Search Is on for Cost-Friendly Cesspool Alternatives in Hawaii
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Community members are pressing Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim to do something about the contamination from cesspools leaking into the nearby sea. The county Environmental Management Commission is working to find a cost-effective solution for the communities in Kailua-Kona and Pua..
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..
Federal Agency Approves Use of Ohio Natural Gas Pipeline
COLUMBUS (AP) – A federal agency has given a company permission to begin using completed sections of its high-pressure natural gas pipeline in Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reports the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told Dallas-based Energy Transfer it can use its completed 42-inch diameter..
Cities Not Yet Paying Sioux City's Wastewater Service Charge
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Three neighboring cities have yet to pay Sioux City’s long-overlooked wastewater service charge, lest they have to raise local sewage charges. The Sioux City Journal reports that the city discovered the neglected charge during an audit and notified officials in Sergeant Bluf..
FERC Names New General Counsel
FERC has named James P. Danly General Counsel, effective Sept. 18, 2017. He will replace David Morenoff, who has served as General Counsel since February 2017 and will assume the position of Deputy General Counsel once the transition is complete. Danly comes to FERC from the energy regulation and l..
Hurricane Impacts Talks Between Pipeline Company, North Dakota Regulators
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Hurricane Harvey has impacted the pace of negotiations between the company that built the Dakota Access oil pipeline and North Dakota regulators investigating potential violations of state rules during construction. Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak says attorney neg..
Mississippi Town Increases Water Rates to Meet Federal Requirement
MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi city is increasing its water and sewer rates to make federally mandated improvements. Local news outlets report that the Meridian City Council on Tuesday approved a 10 percent rate increase for the new budget year that begins Oct. 1. The new revenue will help p..
City, County Dispute Left Large Pothole Open for 5 Years
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The ankle-deep, sloping hole in the sidewalk is smack dab between two curb cut outs and uneven chunks of concrete. It’s been there so long — at least five years — that grass has grown underneath the sidewalk at the corner of Parkview Terrace and Lyons Avenue in Newark. ..
Permits OK'd for Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline
CONESTOGA, Pa. (AP) — A company building a controversial $3 billion pipeline to carry natural gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to southern states has been granted critical permits for construction. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday approved water-crossing permits..
California Lawmakers Pass Bill on Stormwater Fees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Californians could see their water bills increase under a measure passed by lawmakers Thursday. The legislative bill approved by the state Assembly would let local governments charge residents for storm water management systems without voter approval. Supporters of the me..
Tribes Say Dakota Access Shutdown Impact Overstated
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – American Indian tribes hoping to persuade a federal judge to turn off the Dakota Access oil pipeline maintain in last-minute court filings that the project’s developer has overstated the potential impacts of a shutdown. Standing Rock Sioux attorney Jan Hasselman also argues th..
Clean Energy Petition Targets Pollution in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and consumer advocates are petitioning state regulators to consider a new energy standard they say would protect utility customers and shareholders from the costs and risks associated with future environmental regulations. The propos..
FERC OK's Construction of Major Gas Pipeline
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved construction of the 255-mile NEXUS Transmission Pipeline Project, which will transport 1.5 Bcf/d of clean-burning natural gas from receipt points in eastern Ohio to existing pipeline system interconnects in southeastern Michigan. FERC issu..
Nearly $6 Million Awarded for Sewer, Water Projects in Ohio
The Ohio EPA has awarded more than $5.8 million in funding for water and sewer construction infrastructure upgrades. The projects receiving funding include: $1.66 million to the village of Montpelier to continue separating wastewater and storm sewers, a continuing project that will eliminate com..
Texas Town Receives $455,000 for Water Pipeline Replacement Project
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved financial assistance in the amount of $455,000 from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to the city of Booker. The city will use the assistance to finance the planning, design, and construction costs associated with water system improvements..
New York City Completes Largest Ever Expansion of the Bluebelt System on Staten Island
On Aug. 16, 2017, New York City Department of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza and Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Ana Barrio announced the completion of the largest ever expansion of the Staten Island Bluebelt system. Previously, very few stre..
Pennsylvania DEP Implements Plan to Improve Drinking Water Quality Inspections
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced plans to expedite the filling of vacancies and the training of new staff to bolster program resources for the Safe Drinking Water (SDW) program. “Ensuring that Pennsylvania’s drinking water is clean and safe to drink is one..
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..
NASSCO: Purdue's CIPP Report Flawed
The National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) has released its response to the Purdue University study, Worksite Chemical Air Emissions and Worker Exposure during Sanitary Sewer and Stormwater Pipe Rehabilitation Using Cured-in-Place-Pipe (CIPP), published July 26, 2017 in the Environ..
OSHA Cites South Dakota Company After Worker Buried in Trench Collapse
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited First Dakota Enterprises Inc., for failing to protect its workers from trench collapse hazards. The Fort Pierre-based company faces proposed penalties of $95,064. On May 23, 2017, a 34-year-old worker was ..
Judge Sends Vegas Water Pipeline Plan Back to Feds for a Fix
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge tapped the brakes but didn’t stop a proposal for a massive and expensive water pipeline to draw underground water from rural valleys in eastern Nevada to supply the growing Las Vegas metropolitan area. U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon on Thursday ordered the federa..
Judge Grants Pipeline Easements on Holdout Properties
COLUMBIA, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge in Pennsylvania says a gas pipeline company can seize easements it needs from five final holdout property owners including land owned by nuns on which activists built an outdoor chapel to protest the project. Wednesday’s ruling means Transcontinental Pipe Line C..
Nebraska Town Lifts Restrictions on Drinking Water
SEWARD, Neb. (AP) — Seward has lifted restrictions on drinking water, now that health officials have determined the water is safe. The city made the announcement Wednesday afternoon. The water system lost pressure and integrity after a water main broke under an area flooded by the Big Bl..
Water Agencies Testify Against Bill to Establish California’s First-Ever Water Tax
Yesterday, in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, water agencies from throughout California joined with the Association of California Water Agencies to publicly voice their opposition to a bill that would establish the state’s first-ever tax on drinking water and to pledge their commitment to ens..
Federal Utility OKs $10.4B Budget, 1.5 Percent Rate Increase
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A federal utility says it has included a 1.5 percent rate increase in its budget that takes effect in October. The Tennessee Valley Authority says its board approved a $10.4 billion budget and the rate increase Wednesday. The budget keeps operating and maintenance spending f..
N.C. Politicians Probe Unregulated Chemical in Water Supply
RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina legislators began grappling Wednesday with a growing environmental and health alarm about an unregulated and little-studied chemical compound its maker released for years into a river supplying drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people Nearly two dozen la..
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..
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- Ohio Supreme Court rules sewer line location isn’t a ‘defect’ in property dispute
- Faulconer Construction begins rock blasting for water pipeline project in Charlottesville, Va.
- $5.3 billion, 516-mile pipeline to connect Texas to Arizona through New Mexico