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 [...]

Allentown, UGI differ over whether pace of gas pipeline replacement is enough

The gas pipe that leaked and is believed to have caused a massive gas explosion in Allentown nearly one year ago was first installed in 1928. Eighty-three years old at the time, the pipe was slightly below the average age of the cast-iron pipelines running through the city. Out of about 72 miles of cast-iron pipe in Allentown, [...]

Valley residents want old pipelines out

Poll shows most customers willing to pay more to replace aging pipes. Lehigh Valley residents think the state should push utilities to get aging natural gas lines out of the ground, and they’re willing to help shoulder the cost. A new Morning Call-Muhlenberg College Quality of Life poll shows that more than 80 percent of [...]

Danger underground: Aging natural gas lines a concern

More than 120 miles of cast-iron natural gas lines still lie beneath streets and byways in Northeast Pennsylvania, an aging infrastructure UGI Utilities Inc. says it is already aggressively replacing amid growing pressure on utilities nationwide to step up the pace. With the investigation into a deadly gas explosion two months ago in Allentown squarely [...]

Feds call on industry to repair aging pipelines

  ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Federal transportation officials demanded Monday that pipeline companies speed up efforts to repair and replace aging oil and gas lines, saying recent deadly explosions in Pennsylvania and California highlight the urgent need for safety improvements. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced plans to strengthen oversight of companies that operate a 2.5 million-mile [...]

U.S. DOT head to talk pipeline safety in Allentown

Secretary Ray LaHood will visit Monday to speak about the Obama administration’s commitment to pipeline safety. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will visit Allentown on Monday to tour the site of the Feb. 9 natural gas explosion that killed five people and put a spotlight on the city’s aging pipeline infrastructure and the slow and [...]

Federal hearing in Pa. addresses gas pipelines

By PATRICK WALTERS Associated Press A Pennsylvania utility executive says it’s possible a leak in a natural gas pipeline developed after an inspection a day before an explosion that killed five people in Allentown. UGI CEO John Walsh says the investigation into the Feb. 9 explosion will take an additional six to eight weeks before [...]