Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Tuesday that his office has opened an investigation of a crude oil spill near Mayflower, AR, which ExxonMobil was working to clean up. The cause of the spill is still under investigation, but Exxon said the spill did not involve tar sands oil.
Emergency
Articles from Emergency
Enviros Call for Rehearing of Tenn. 300 Line Upgrade
Accusing Tennessee Gas Pipeline of “improperly segmenting” its expansion projects to avoid rigorous environmental reviews, three environmental groups have filed an emergency motion asking FERC to expedite consideration of their request for the agency to rehear a May order approving the pipeline’s Northeast Upgrade Project.
CEGT Notifies FERC of Landslide on Pipeline System
CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Co. (CEGT), an indirect unit of Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc., notified FERC Monday that it began emergency right-of-way (ROW) remediation activities to stabilize an area of a landslide on its system in an effort to avoid disruption of service to customers.
Flash Fire Reported at Pennsylvania Compressor Station
Emergency crews from three northeastern Pennsylvania counties responded Thursday afternoon to an apparent flash fire at the Lathrop compressor station in Springville Township. The 12,000-square-foot facility, operated by Williams Partners LP, houses seven compressors.
Another Colorado Town Halts Oil/Gas Development
Elected officials in a third town in Colorado, Erie, on Wednesday night adopted a six-month moratorium on oil/gas development on an emergency basis, making the halt effective immediately.
Pennsylvania Natural Gas Impact Fee on Its Last Lap
As a compromise bill to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas plodded through the Pennsylvania legislature Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett assumed a favorable outcome, commending lawmakers for their cooperation, saying he was “looking forward to signing the legislation into law.”
County Association Backs Pennsylvania Impact Fee
After expressing initial reservations, a group representing county governments in Pennsylvania is now supporting a county-level impact fee proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
PA Township Fracking Ban Question Cleared for Ballot Inclusion
A Pennsylvania judge has denied a request from a wealthy Pittsburgh suburb, apparently clearing the way for a controversial referendum that would ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to be placed on the Nov. 8 ballot, according to Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness (PTMSA), an environmental group that drafted the proposed referendum.
Industry Briefs
Emergency responders were wrapping up their work Thursday afternoon at the site of a reported explosion at a drilling rig in the Eagle Ford Shale in Falls City in Karnes County, TX. According to press reports, two people had been hospitalized. The explosion reportedly occurred just before noon. The Karnes County sheriff was not available for comment, but a deputy said at 2:30 CDT that crews were preparing to leave the scene. The rig was reported to be targeting oil; the name of its owner/operator was not available at press time. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Jason Reyes told the San Antonio Express-News that a truck driver who was transferring oil was injured when a truck was set on fire and ignited the explosion. The driver received second- and third-degree burns, he said. In a separate incident Monday night an explosion and fire occurred at a Continental Resources natural gas well in Oklahoma; there were no injuries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 21).
Transportation Notes
El Paso said during its annual bottom-hole survey and emergency shutdown/Department of Transportation inspection at the Washington Ranch Storage Facility, scheduled for Monday through Sept. 19, its “operational flexibility will be extremely limited as no injection or withdrawal will be possible.” This is in addition to limitations from ongoing unscheduled anomaly remediations on Lines 1100, 1103 and 1110 between the Pecos River and Guadalupe compressor stations, El Paso said in an appeal to shippers asking them to stay balanced on transportation nominations during this time.