Regulatory
Iowa Considers Dismantling Water Utilities in Three Cities
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An overflow crowd jammed a legislative hearing to oppose a bill they argued would make it more difficult to ensure safe water. At Monday’s public hearing on a bill that would dismantle water utilities in Des Moines, West Des Moines and Urbandale, opponents criticized the pro..
PHMSA Makes Some Positive Changes in Final Safety Rule
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced in January a number of changes in the pipeline safety laws in a final rule covering some of the provisions in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011. The key provisions dealt with the timefr..
Flint: More Corrosion Control Studies on Water Needed
FLINT, MI (AP) – Mayor Karen Weaver has told the Environmental Protection Agency that more corrosion control studies have to be done and Flint will need more than two years before the city can begin to supply its own water. The Flint Journal reports that the plan and a letter from Weaver were filed..
Mexican Sewer Spill Flares US Noses and Tempers
For more than two weeks, a stench of feces, ammonium and laundry detergent wafted through the air in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. Residents who contacted government offices got no answers. Finally, a U.S. official released a report that sparked a furious reaction: sewer..
EPA Tier 4 Mandates Driving Up Demand Of Non-Tier 4 Used Construction
According to a survey of Independent Equipment Dealers Association (IEDA) members, the EPA’s Tier 4 mandates are driving up the demand of non- Tier 4 used construction equipment, and this trend will continue for the next several years. For many equipment categories, used equipment availability is ..
Texas Town Gets $15 Million for Water Improvements
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved financial assistance in the amount of $15 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to the city of Granbury. The assistance will finance water system improvements and enable the city to save approximately $2.1 million. With this fundi..
York Water to Expedite Replacement of Lead Service Lines
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has approved a joint settlement with York Water Company for the immediate replacement of both company-owned and customer-owned lead service lines, with the total line replacement done at the same time and solely at the company’s cost. The Commission voted ..
Coalition Asks EPA to Act on Lead in East Chicago Water
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — A coalition of community and environmental groups and law clinics has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act immediately to protect East Chicago residents from lead in their drinking water. The petition Thursday from the NAACP, the Natural Resources Def..
Great Lakes Commission: Billions Needed for Water Upgrades
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Great Lakes organization wants governments in the U.S. and Canada to fund massive infrastructure upgrades to provide safe drinking water and support waterborne freight transport. The Great Lakes Commission says drinking water crises in Toledo, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan, sh..
Pennsylvania Eyes New Fees to Add Drinking Water Inspectors
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says it wants to impose new fees on public water utilities to pay for more inspectors and resolve a federal official’s warning it isn’t adequately enforcing safe drinking water standards. Wolf’s Department of Environmental Protection says it hop..
Corpus Christi Gets $51 Million for Water Improvements
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved more than 51 million in financial assistance from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to the city of Corpus Christi. The city will use the assistance to refinance water system improvements and could save approximately $8.2 million over the li..
California Water Leaders to Push for Infrastructure Investments
More than 130 local California water leaders will be in Washington, D.C. this week to meet with key members of California’s congressional delegation and highlight the critical role of water infrastructure as part of the Association of California Water Agencies’ annual DC Conference. ACWA members re..
Maine Utility Regulators to Consider $1.5B FairPoint Sale
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine utility regulators are ready to delve into details of the proposed $1.5 billion sale of FairPoint Communications, the country’s eighth-largest phone and internet company. Consolidated Communications, based in Illinois, announced in December it was buying FairPoint, assum..
New York Lawmakers Propose Program for Crumbling Water Pipes
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Small upstate New York communities faced with dilapidated wooden pipes rumored to be more than 100 years old need state money to repair water system infrastructure on the verge of collapse, a group of lawmakers said Thursday. A bipartisan group of lawmakers joined officials in p..
Utility Altered Water Treatment Chemicals Without Approval
PITTSBURGH (AP) — State environmental officials found that the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority altered its water treatment chemicals without approval, although there is so far no evidence that this move has caused any public health risk. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly..
North Dakota Town Gets $1.2 Million for Sewer Project
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $1.2 million to the city of Fargo. The money is to help protect the city’s wastewater treatment plant from flooding. The grant is part of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and will cover 75 percent of the cost to..
Senate Confirms Scott Pruitt to Lead EPA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Friday won Senate confirmation to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency he repeatedly sued to rein in its reach during the Obama administration. The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party’s narrow Senate..
New Hampshire Town Appeals Order to Replace Sewer Force Mains
HAMPTON (AP) — Hampton officials are appealing a state order directing the town to replace two sewer force mains at the beach after one of the pipes leaked sewage into the town’s marsh. The state Department of Environmental Services handed down the order last month, instructing the town to replace ..
New York Invests $40 Million for Sewer Upgrades
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state is investing $40 million in efforts to improve local wastewater systems. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the funding Thursday. It will go to several communities in the North Country, the Hudson River Valley and on Long Island in the form of grants and low-cost loans. ..
Contractors Facing Increased Pressure to Turn Down the Noise
Sound regulations dictate work hours and required equipment decibel ratings in residential and commercial neighborhoods. The rules vary by country, state and municipality, which can make it tricky for contractors to stay on top of the current guidelines. These regulations are already affecting contr..
Utility to Pay $8.5 Million to Settle Suit Over Gas Blowout
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Southern California Gas Co. agreed Wednesday to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over a well blowout that spewed natural gas for nearly four months and drove thousands of residents from their Los Angeles homes. The utility signed an agreement with the South Coast Air Qu..
Corps Ignores Pleas To Restrict Pipeline Construction Permits
The Army Corps of Engineers turned back efforts by environmental groups to limit availability of nationwide permits (NWPs) that pipelines use when they want to build facilities that cross streams and tributaries but cause insubstantial environmental damage. The Corps issued its revisions to 50 NWPs ..
EPA Announces WIFIA Program For Financing Large Water Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program that will provide long-term, low-cost credit assistance in the form of direct loans and loan guarantees to creditworthy water projects. WIFIA provides another option for ..
Colorado City to Vote on Fluoride in Water
DURANGO, Colo. (AP) – Voters will decide in April whether water in their southwestern Colorado community should continue to be fluoridated. The Durango Herald reports that the Durango City Council voted to place the question on the ballot after more than a year of meetings and debate. The council c..
EPA: East Chicago Residents Should Filter Water
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — Federal officials say all East Chicago residents should assume they have lead water lines and use a properly certified filter. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist Miguel Del Toral repeated the recommendation Friday after initially making it last month while resp..
Corps to Grant Dakota Access Pipeline Easement
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army told Congress on Tuesday that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, completing the disputed four-state project. The Army intends to allow the Lake Oahe crossing as early as Wednesday,..
Sanitary District in Indiana Reaches Deal on Sewer Overflows
The district says it’s working with the town of Highland to finalize a similar agreement. “We learned lessons from other Indiana communities to make sure that we understand what projects would be required and ensure we had the maximum reasonable time possible to construct them,”..
Wisconsin Bill Would Let Utilities Finance Lead Line Replacements
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican chairman of the state Senate’s Natural Resources Committee wants to give water utilities the authority to offer customers low interest loans or other forms of financial assistance to replace dangerous lead services lines. Sen. Robert Cowles introduced a bill Thur..
Michigan Extends Emergency Declaration After Sewer Line Collapse
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan lawmakers have extended an emergency declaration for a county north of Detroit following the collapse of a sewer line that caused a sinkhole the size of a football field. The measure approved Wednesday means Macomb County and Clinton Township will remain under an emer..
New York Water Tests Come Back Clean
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Statewide targeted sampling for two cancer-causing industrial chemicals found no new cases of drinking water contamination, New York health and environmental regulators said Tuesday. The Water Quality Rapid Response Team, led by the state’s health and environmental conservation ..
- OSHA cites Florida contractors for trench safety violations at sewer and excavation sites
- Biden-Harris administration invests $849 million in aging water infrastructure, drought resilience
- Cadiz to reuse steel from terminated Keystone XL pipeline for California groundwater project
- Texas contractor penalized by OSHA for repeated trench safety violations
- West Virginia approves $67 million for water, sewer projects