Damage

Columbia Gas Transmission LLC’s (TCO) Leach XPress pipeline was still out of service on Thursday, a week after an explosion and fire in Marshall County, WV, knocked out volumes and forced the company to issue a force majeure.

Under increasing criticism for being too soft on oil and natural gas operators, California regulators on Monday ordered the exploration unit of Freeport-McMoRan Corp. to provide additional data on the Inglewood Oilfield in the greater Los Angeles area.

On the third anniversary of the Sept. 9, 2010 San Bruno natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion pipeline owner/operator Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said it has settled substantially all of the legal claims that resulted from the blast.

Chevron U.S.A. Inc.’s lease with a Marcellus Shale landowner in Fayette County, PA, allows the producer to construct an 11-acre freshwater impoundment to assist in drilling for natural gas, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

Researchers at Columbia University said earthquakes that occur on the other side of the world could create smaller temblors near wastewater injection sites in the United States.

The Pennsylvania State Senate unanimously passed a bill last Monday absolving mine operators and landowners from liability for any injury or damage caused by the use of acid mine drainage (AMD) in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.

The drilling boom in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas has increased instances of illegal drilling waste hauling in the region, while some South Texas counties have seen highway fatalities skyrocket, blamed largely on increased commercial truck traffic.

California’s recently streamlined oil/gas drilling permits process has been achieved after warnings about the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were stifled and two top state officials were fired by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to a front-page report in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the East Coast over the weekend, potentially causing billions in damage, but it may be only the first of eight major Atlantic hurricanes, according to Andover, MA-based WSI Corp., which last week said it expects a total of 15-18 named storms, including eight hurricanes, four of them Category Three or greater, to form this year. The forecasters also said they expect much of the northern United States to experience temperatures averaging significantly above normal over the next three months.