Minister hits back at Apache’s claims

Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore has hit back at suggestions he had misrepresented the public of Western Australia by not releasing certain documents requested by Apache North West. The criticism of the Minister was made in court today by Apache’s legal representative. “All I have done is provide to the public the State Government-commissioned [...]

Road cave-in caused by corrosion in slab

MUMBAI: The Andheri (E) road cave-in on Tuesday was caused by corrosion of steel in a slab, it has been revealed prima facie. Consultant D S Joshi, who made the submission to the BMC, told TOI that material from the site had been sent for laboratory tests to ascertain the reasons for the corrosion. “I [...]

Varanus Island gas explosion report slams Apache

US oil-and-gas giant Apache Energy has failed to block a scathing review of the Varanus Island gas explosion, which cut 30 per cent of Western Australia’s supply and cost the economy an estimated $3 billion. Apache claimed the explosion at its plant off WA’s North-West coast in June 2008 was “unforseen and unforeseeable”. But a [...]

Hammersmith tunnel ‘solution to crumbling flyover’

A west London council has said building a tunnel is the long-term solution to replace a “crumbling” flyover. The Hammersmith Flyover has been under repair works since December and is scheduled to reopen fully on 30 May. Hammersmith and Fulham Council said: “We must continue to push for an alternative solution, and that is a [...]

Lockheed’s Littoral Ship ‘Corroding Before Our Eyes’

Bloomberg — Lawmakers say they want Congress’s auditing agency to investigate how the Navy has handled failings with its new Littoral Combat Ship, including when the service learned of cracks and corrosion. “It’s disturbing the Navy would accept a ship that fails to meet the basic requirements for a tugboat,” Representative Jackie Speier said in [...]

Coastal homeownership has its own challenges

OWNING A home on the coast shouldn’t be a lesson in dreams gone wrong. For Wayne Higson, the coastal environment offered peace, serenity and a place to get away from it all – until corrosion, wind and water created a nightmare in vacation homeownership. “People don’t really know how bad things can get until they [...]

Pipeline that leaked – safe to reopen

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) has asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to allow the reopening of the 117-kilometer Batangas-to-Manila white oil pipeline being operated by the Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) after the leak test it conducted in December indicated no more leaks in the pipeline. In a five-page manifestation [...]

2 of New Jersey’s elected officials call for gas pipeline guidelines to better protect urban areas

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Rep. Albio Sires (D-13th) are calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to better protect highly-populated urban areas from the explosive threat of natural gas pipelines. Arguing that PHMSA fails to safeguard densely-packed large urban populations, the officials are specifically demanding that PHMSA [...]

Anthony Wayne Bridge (Ohio) to close in 2013 for 2 years

Toledo’s Anthony Wayne Bridge will be closed to all traffic for two years, likely to start sometime in 2013, as part of a three-year, $50 million overhaul of the 81-year-old structure by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The fundamental main-span appearance of the bridge — which carries State Rts. 2, 51, and 65 over the [...]

State Hearing to Focus on Increasing Funding for CA Public Utilities Commission

The California Public Utilities Commission is seeking to add seven new positions to its gas safety division  A state assemblyman will be leading a hearing today to talk about possibly beefing up state regulators’ ability to oversee pipeline safety in the wake of the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, who [...]