Regulatory
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..
Virginia Citizens Can Weigh in on Pipeline Water Quality Conditions
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) – Virginia environmental officials are hearing from residents this week about steps the state is taking to protect water quality along the routes of two proposed natural gas pipelines. The Department of Environmental Quality is considering whether to issue what’s called a “40..
Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Favorable Ruling
CONESTOGA, Pa. (AP) – A federal judge in Pennsylvania says authorities can condemn and seize property in order to make way for the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Jeffrey Schmehl has issued an order that gave Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company the right to condemn a..
Florida Parcels Out $50 Million To Help Restore Springs
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida has picked 40 projects from across the state that will get a share of $50 million aimed at restoring some of the state’s springs including Silver Springs. The administration of Gov. Rick Scott announced the list of state-funded projects on Monday. The list includes..
Florida Sinkhole Forces Condemnation of 7th Home
LAND O’LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials have condemned a seventh home due to a massive sinkhole. Authorities in Pasco County, a suburban area north of Tampa, said in a news release Monday that the additional home was being condemned. This follows two on Sunday and two on Friday, and two other h..
Oklahoma Cites Several Counties for Water Systems Violations
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — In the last two years, Oklahoma has cited several counties for health violations at 36 water systems. The Oklahoman reports the violators in Cleveland, Canadian and Oklahoma counties range from those who operate single-well systems serving a handful of public users to municipal..
Nebraska Commission Begins Hearing on Keystone XL Pipeline
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state commission that will decide whether to approve or deny the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska has kicked off the first day of legal hearings on the project. The Nebraska Public Service Commission is scheduled to hear testimony in a series of hearings that could run from M..
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...
Better Broadband Coming to 7 Vermont Towns Thanks to Grants
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — People in seven rural Vermont communities will be getting better broadband internet service thanks to a series of grants through Connectivity Initiative distributed by the Department of Public Service. The Connectivity Initiative works to expand high-speed broadband service s..
Key Eastern New Mexico Water Plan Set to be Released
CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A key task force in eastern New Mexico is set to unveil its plan to conserve water from a massive groundwater supply that underlies parts of New Mexico, Texas and several other states. The Eastern New Mexico News reports (https://goo.gl/y7LmqU) the Water Policy Advisory Committe..
Feds Back in 'Gasland' Town to Test Water, Air
(AP) — The federal government has returned to a Pennsylvania village that became a flashpoint in the national debate over fracking to investigate ongoing complaints about the quality of the drinking water. Government scientists are collecting water and air samples this week from about 25 homes in D..
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..
Senate Approves FERC Nominees, Restores Voting Quorum
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved two Republicans nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the federal commission that oversees the nation’s power grid and natural gas pipelines. Senators’ unanimous votes Thursday approving Senate aide Neil Chatterjee and Pennsylvania utility regulat..
Black Water Near Niagara Falls Leads to Call for Resignations
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Several lawmakers want the board that runs Niagara Falls’ wastewater treatment plant to resign after a foul-smelling discharge darkened the water near the base of the falls during a busy tourist weekend. Members of the Niagara County Legislature’s Republican majority said Thurs..
West Texas Water Pipeline to Oilfield Gets Approval
VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — A 60-mile (96.56-million kilometer) pipeline intended to carry 5.4 million gallons (20.44 million liters) of water daily from a West Texas desert aquifer to the Permian Basin oilfield has won approval despite objections of ranchers, farmers and environmentalists. The Culberso..
NTSB Investigates Explosion that Killed 2 at Minnesota School
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were sent to a Minneapolis school Thursday to look into an apparent natural gas explosion and partial building collapse that killed two people and injured at least nine, including one critically. The explosion at Minneha..
Small New Mexico Communities Struggle to Deliver Clean Water
SANTA CRUZ, N.M. (AP) — Eloy Jacquez lives in the house his parents built on Los Lujans Road in 1948. There was no water in Santa Cruz then. The family waited several more years before the first well was drilled just up the street, next to land used as an informal waste dump. Old cars were left to..
Niagara Falls Board, State Regulators Discuss Black Water
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Operators of a wastewater treatment plant that discharged a plume of stinky, black water near the base of Niagara Falls say they’re cooperating with investigators. The Niagara Falls Water Board has said little publicly about the discharge that turned the water near the fa..
Group Drops Fight over Letting City Use Lake Michigan Water
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A group representing mayors and cities in the Great Lakes region has dropped its fight against letting Waukesha, Wisconsin, draw water from Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative says it has reached a settlement with a council representing the regi..
North Dakota Regulators Investigating Minnesota Contractor
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A Minnesota contractor that damaged a natural gas pipeline in North Dakota last week has a history of striking pipelines. The damage caused the release of 126,000 gallons of natural gas liquids and shut down a gas processing plant for three days. State regulators who recently..
Financing Planned for 8 Wastewater Projects in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia officials say eight wastewater infrastructure projects across the state will share $45 million in financing from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The low-interest loans for construction are intended to help protect and improve water quality in rivers, l..
Cause of Home Explosion that Killed Utility Worker Still Unknown
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board has not identified the cause of a Pennsylvania home explosion that killed a utility worker and injured three others. In a preliminary report released Tuesday, the NTSB says a tapping tee leading to the Manor Township home was leaking ga..
Santa Cruz County: Sewage No Longer Spilling from Pipeline
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Santa Cruz County in southern Arizona says there is no longer any wastewater or raw sewage spilling from an international pipeline that broke last week. Repair work on the underground pipeline began after authorities found the breach on July 25 in a sparsely populated area n..
North Carolina Officials: Equipment Being Set Aside when Outage Happened
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina transportation officials say workers were setting aside equipment that wasn’t in use when they caused a massive power outage that drove tourists from two islands in the Outer Banks. Transportation department spokesman Tim Hass says construction workers stuck the ..
New York Gov. Orders Probe into Niagara Falls "Black Water"
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday cast doubt on a city agency’s claims surrounding a foul-smelling discharge that turned the water near the base of Niagara Falls black at the height of a busy tourist weekend. A day after directing state regulators to investigate, Cuomo, a Demo..
Report: Pipeline Review Underestimated Forest Fragmentation
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation along with several state agencies say an analysis by the Mountain Valley Pipeline on the project’s impact on intact forests underestimated the effects by more than 300 percent. The Roanoke Times reports that in a July 21 fil..
Minnesota Officials, 3M Struggle Over Clean Water Agreement
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials say manufacturing company 3M Co. has violated a decade-old legal agreement that outlines how the business pays for clean drinking water in Minneapolis. The Star Tribune reports that about 200 residents in the city’s southeastern suburb..
Utility Panel: Poland Spring Plan Won't Harm Water System
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Poland Spring is clearing regulatory hurdles for its plan to pump up to 172 million gallons of water a year from a public water district well. The Maine Public Utilities Commission said Tuesday a permit application filed by parent company Nestle Waters to withdraw municipal wa..
Regulators Seek More Work for Mississippi Utility Companies
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi regulators have finalized an effort to push utilities to do more to hire locally based companies. The Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday to adopt its “Hire Mississippi” rule, after proposing it in May. The rule requires regulated private utilities to kee..
EPA Finalizes WIFIA Fee Rules, Congress Provides Additional Funding
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took another major step toward issuing its first credit subsidies for water infrastructure projects. It published a final rule in June, specifying fees it would charge counties and cities expected to vie for money in the first round of funding under the Wate..
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- $5.3 billion, 516-mile pipeline to connect Texas to Arizona through New Mexico
- Tunnel boring continues under Chesapeake Bay for $3.9 billion HRBT Expansion project
- Judge approves construction for key portion of $485 million pipeline in Larimer County, Colo.
- 31 workers rescued after LA tunnel partially collapses
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- 31 workers rescued after LA tunnel partially collapses
- 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