Regulatory
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 ..
Judge: PG&E Must Run Ads Publicizing Pipeline Safety Convictions
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced California’s largest utility to pay a $3 million fine and run television commercials publicizing its pipeline safety convictions as punishment in a criminal case stemming from a deadly natural-gas explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area. U...
Trump Names FERC Acting Chairman
President Donald Trump has named Cheryl LaFleur Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “It is an honor to again be asked to serve as Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and I thank President Trump for the opportunity,” LaFleur said. “While I recognize ..
Missouri Utilities Push Law Change to Address Infrastructure
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri utilities want lawmakers to pass a law to help them get money more quickly from customers to pay for infrastructure improvements. Ameren Missouri and other utilities told a panel of state senators Wednesday that a proposed bill to recover costs would enable moder..
Providence Mayor Issues Plan for Improving Infrastructure
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The mayor of Providence has unveiled a five-year capital improvement plan that calls for spending between $16 million and $34 million annually on repairs and infrastructure improvement projects in the city. The Providence Journal reports that Democratic Mayor Jorge Elorza’s ..
Judge Delays Sentencing PG&E for Natural Gas Explosion
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge says he is inclined to require Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to mention its convictions in ads and have employees do thousands of hours of community service as part of its sentence in a criminal case stemming from a deadly natural gas explosion in the San Francisco ..
Flint Water Falls Below Federal Lead Limit
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Flint’s water system no longer has levels of lead exceeding the federal limit, a key finding that Michigan state environmental officials said Tuesday is good news for a city whose 100,000 residents have been grappling with the man-made water crisis. The 90th percentile of lead..
New York Communities Receive More than $6 Million for Water, Sewer Infrastructure
New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gellibrand have announced more than $6 million in federal water and sewer infrastructure funding for the Village of Red Hook in Duchess County and the Town of New Haven in Oswego County. The federal funding was allocated through the U.S. Department of A..
Fiber, Sewer and Water Part of $1 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday will propose spending $1 trillion on transportation and other infrastructure projects over 10 years in an attempt to engage President Donald Trump on an issue where they hope to find common ground. Details of the plan provided to The Associated Press in..
Infrastructure Upgrades in Michigan Unlikely to be Speedy
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Flint’s man-made water crisis and a football field-sized sinkhole in suburban Detroit have exposed flaws in aging underground pipes that mostly are out of sight, out of mind for a public that is more attuned to the sorry state of Michigan’s roads. But a major influx of money f..
PG&E Found Guilty of Violating Pipeline Safety Regulations
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says it is prepared to pay the maximum fine of $3 million after a jury convicted the company of deliberately violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area. But California’s largest u..
- 2 workers killed, 1 injured while working on sewer line in Mobile, Ala.
- $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