Clean

Transocean Ltd., which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties in relation to the April 2010 deepwater Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

Transocean Ltd., which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties in relation to the April 2010 deepwater Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) said activity in the energy industry was a mixed bag and mentioned shale only once — but in a positive light — in the latest edition of the “Beige Book,” a report published eight times a year with data provided by the 12 Federal Reserve Districts.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled a Clean Water Act (CWA) case for wetlands violations, requiring PDC Mountaineer (PDCM) to pay a penalty of $177,500 to resolve violations involving construction activities at Marcellus Shale gas extraction facilities in northern West Virginia. According to EPA, Bridgeport, WV-based PDCM failed to apply for necessary permits to discharge fill materials into wetlands or streams in Harrison County, WV. PDCM, which also agreed to restore and/or complete mitigation projects at four sites in the state pursuant to separate CWA orders, did not admit to violating the CWA. Earlier this month, PDC Energy reported that PDCM, a joint venture of PDC and Lime Rock Partners V LP, completed three horizontal Marcellus wells since mid-September. The wells were expected to be turned-in-line by year’s end, once a permit for a gathering line river crossing is received, PDC said.

A report issued by American Clean Skies Foundation last Thursday projects that technology-driven changes in oil and gas production since 2007 will lead to annual employment gains of 835,000 to 1.6 million new jobs nationwide by 2017 — more than the entire U.S. auto manufacturing industry — and increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by $167 billion to $245 billion net.

A report issued by American Clean Skies Foundation Thursday projects that technology-driven changes in oil and gas production since 2007 will lead to annual employment gains of 835,000 to 1.6 million new jobs nationwide by 2017 (more than the entire U.S. auto manufacturing industry), and increase the country’s gross domestic product by $167 billion to $245 billion on a net basis.

Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission voted to partially adopt federal clean air rules that target hydraulic fracturing (fracking) emissions and hold public meetings next year to consider full implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules.

Kinder Morgan Upstream LLC has agreed to pay $316,000 in penalties for allegedly violating the risk management plan requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its natural gas plants in Casper and Douglas, WY, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday.

Officials from North Dakota’s Health and Mineral Resources Departments were busy over the weekend as part of the clean up following a fatal oil well blowout that occurred last Tuesday night, spewing about 400 barrels of crude over surrounding agricultural fields. A health department environmental scientist was assessing the risks of contamination to crops and local water supplies, and the Department of Mineral and Resources coordinated the cordoning off and management of the site itself. New Mexico-based Black Hawk Energy Services was in the process of putting production pumping equipment into place at the partially completed well. One worker was killed when he was run over by a truck being relocated away from the well site. The Williams County Sheriff’s Office told local news media in Williston that the incident is still under investigation. Two parts of the well’s pre-production work had been done, but it was not ready to begin commercial production, state officials told local news media.