Environmental

The Bellingham, WA-based Pipeline Safety Trust Wednesday named Carl Weimer, a local leader in an environmental advocacy group, as its first executive director. The organization was founded and funded in the aftermath of a petroleum pipeline explosion in 1999 in the state that claimed three lives and drew court-ordered criminal fines of $4 million to establish an endowment. The group was one of the driving forces behind the “SAFE Bellingham” program formed as a result of the 1999 pipeline explosion. The chief executive of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, the state’s pipeline safety agency, Carole Washburn, praised Weimer as an “excellent choice” to head the pipeline safety unit, noting that he has “fostered a good partnership” between the state regulatory commission and SAFE Bellingham. He understands both the rules and the stakeholders’ interests, Washburn said. The Trust was formed from the efforts of SAFE Bellingham and the families of two of the 1999 explosion’s victims, advocating better pipeline oversight and accident prevention programs.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service announced Tuesday it had awarded ExxonMobil the SOAR award for excellence in offshore operational safety and environmental compliance; excellence in mineral revenues payment, reporting and compliance; and for superior partnership efforts with the federal government.

Because Washington State’s environmental regulators did not act within the allotted statutory time frame, FERC said the state agency is “deemed” to have waived the certification requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Costal Zone Management Act (CZMA) with respect to Georgia Strait Pipeline Co. LP’s natural gas pipeline project in the Pacific Northwest.

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia offshore regulators have expanded a draft environmental review of their shared Laurentian sub-basin because of stepped up interest by producers holding leases in the region. The Canada-Newfoundland and Canada-Nova Scotia offshore petroleum boards said the preliminary strategic assessment was a first step toward expected exploration and production.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review (NSR) routine maintenance rule, which was issued last month, may remove some of the emission requirement burdens from utilities, but it could play havoc with natural gas markets and send prices “much lower than currently expected,” according to a new study by Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc. (SEER).

The Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review (NSR) routine maintenance rule, which was issued last month, may remove some of the emission requirement burdens from utilities, but it could play havoc with natural gas markets and send prices “much lower than currently expected,” according to a new study by Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc. (SEER).

The Minerals Management Service has issued the final notice of sale for Beaufort Sea OCS Lease Sale 186 scheduled for Sept. 24. The final notice describes the sale area and environmental protection requirements. The entire sale area will be offered, with the exception of two deferral areas encompassing 26 blocks off Barrow and 28 blocks off Kaktovik used for subsistence whaling by certain communities. The sale area extends from the Canadian border on the east to near Barrow on the west and includes 1,794 whole or partial blocks that encompass about 9.4 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast in the Beaufort Sea. The final notice suspends royalties on certain volumes of oil and condensate production, subject to price thresholds, and restructures the minimum bid and rental rates to be more comparable with state and other federal North Slope oil and gas leasing terms. A final notice of sale may be requested from akwebmaster@mms.gov or by calling 1-800-764-2627.

A Canadian environmental review panel approved the proposed Georgia Strait Crossing natural gas pipeline in British Columbia, BC Hydro said on Wednesday. The National Energy Board panel’s ruling will be submitted to federal Environment Minister David Anderson. It is a significant regulatory step forward for the project, which extends from Sumas, Washington, to Vancouver Island. The 85-mile pipeline is a joint proposal of BC Hydro and Williams.

Inconsistent federal policies of encouraging natural gas use for environmental purposes and then restricting access to gas reserves are part of today’s disconnect in supply and demand, which has led to the shut-down of manufacturing plants that can’t pay the high prices, Lee Gooch, head of the Process Gas Consumers (PGC), said last week.