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 [...]

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey visits Allentown to call for greater transparency on pipeline safety information

Visiting the site of last year’s massive gas explosion in Allentown, U.S. Sen.Bob Casey, D-Pa., announced he was pushing for Pennsylvania to improve public transparency regarding pipeline safety information. In a letter he sent today to the chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Casey said improving that transparency will help reduce the amount gas pipeline incidents and [...]

Pipeline set to link pair of projects – Marcellus Shale

Mike Stice, President of Chesapeake Midstream Development, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, spoke during the Marcellus Midstream Conference & Exhibition in Pittsburgh this week. He said the potential for collecting methane, ethane, butane, propane, pentane and even oil make the Utica and Marcellus shale formations very attractive to companies like his. “The diversity of the [...]

New Jersey Natural Gas wants to spend $204M on new pipes

New Jersey Natural Gas wants to replace about 343 miles of distribution pipes, old mains that are in danger of corrosion and leaks. If approved by state regulators, the proposed five-year, $204 million project will occur throughout Monmouth, Ocean and Morris counties. The Wall-based utility sent the proposal to the state Board of Public Utilities [...]

Corrosion cited in Alabama pipeline explosion

A corroded pipe has been deemed the culprit of a massive natural gasoline explosion in Sweet Water, AL last December. A Transco natural gas pipeline ruptured at approximately 3:07 p.m. Dec. 3 with an explosion that could be heard for more than 30 miles while shooting flames nearly 100 feet in the air for over [...]

City of San Francisco sues to force feds to improve pipeline safety

The city of San Francisco took the unusual step Tuesday of asking a judge to force federal natural-gas safety regulators to step up efforts in California, saying the government “abjectly failed” to enforce pipeline laws before and after the 2010 explosion that devastated a San Bruno neighborhood. At issue in City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s lawsuit, filed in [...]

Gas explosion investigation renders few answers, but corroded pipeline became evident

On Dec. 19, 2010, the home that Thuan Nguyen shared with his family in Chantilly, VA exploded. More than a year later, regulators still have not been able to pinpoint an exact cause for the disaster. In a November 2011 report, the Virginia State Corporation Commission released disturbing new details about the gas explosion, citing Washington [...]

$520 million Marcellus Lateral pipeline project in doubt

A $520 million pipeline project thought to have the potential to support 2,500 Ohio construction jobs might be dead. The Ohio Power Siting Board, the body that regulates major utility projects in Ohio, rejected the application for the Marcellus Lateral Pipeline more than a year ago. Kinder Morgan, a pipeline developer, owner and operator out [...]

Bill package targets gas pipeline safety

A state lawmaker who represents the San Bruno neighborhood devastated by a natural-gas explosion in 2010 introduced a package of bills Monday designed to prevent a repeat of the disaster, including one that would tie Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s rates to its safety performance. Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, whose district includes the Crestmoor [...]

Obama signs pipeline safety bill

On Tuesday, President Obama signed into law a pipeline safety bill that gained momentum after a string of high-profile incidents, including a deadly Northern California explosion in 2010. The bill, which passed Congress with rare bipartisan support, doubles the maximum fine for safety violations to $2 million, authorizes more pipeline inspectors and requires automatic shut-off valves on new or replaced pipelines “where [...]