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.
Fatal
Articles from Fatal
Enbridge Blasted for Oil Pipeline Rupture
As California regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) have found in the wake of what has been termed a preventable fatal pipeline incident, Enbridge Energy Partners LP is learning similar lessons from the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) assessment released earlier this month on the 2010 30-inch diameter oil pipeline rupture and spill in the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, MI. As in the PG&E pipe rupture two months later in San Bruno, CA, the NTSB report clearly pointed to company and regulatory failures.
San Bruno ‘Closure’ Coming, But PG&E Still Faces Criticism, Says CEO
The CEO of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) told financial analysts Wednesday that “closure” is coming for the fatal natural pipeline tragedy in San Bruno, CA, in September 2010, but before it is reached the combination utility will be subjected to more public scrutiny.
PG&E Exec: Gas System Better; New Tech ‘Revolutionary’
Beleaguered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), whose natural gas pipeline system and management have gone through regulatory hell since the fatal San Bruno transmission pipeline rupture and explosion in 2010, is in the early stages of a “long journey” to become the nation’s premier gas operator, and has some technology changes in the offing that could accelerate its transformation, according to executive vice president Nick Stavropoulos.
San Bruno Cost to PG&E Exceeds $1B, CEO Says
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) faces longer-term costs in excess of $1 billion related to its fatal natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion last year in San Bruno, CA, the combination utility’s new CEO Anthony Earley told reporters Monday.
California Butane Tanks Causing Safety Concerns
The fallout from last year’s fatal San Bruno natural gas transmission pipeline rupture has spilled into Southern California where two 40-year-old butane storage tanks operated by a unit of a Houston-based company are stirring up local safety concerns. Three different risk scenarios completed in the past two years have stimulated debate.
Pipeline Rules Are a Focus in Many States; PG&E Pushes On
Eyes have been opened and ears perked throughout the West, if not most states, since the fatal San Bruno pipeline rupture a year ago and the serious flaws exposed in Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) natural gas operations. California stakeholders and regulators in other states have taken action or are contemplating new measures aimed at ensuring gas pipeline safety in their states.
Final Report Spreads Blame for Deepwater Horizon Disaster
A joint agency investigative report released last Wednesday on the Macondo well blowout and fatal explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig spread the blame for the disaster among BP plc, Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron International Corp., but BP got the brunt of it.
Final Report Spreads Blame for Deepwater Horizon Disaster
A joint agency investigative report released on Wednesday of the April 2010 Macondo well blowout and fatal explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig spread the blame for the disaster among BP plc, Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron International Corp., but BP got the brunt of it.
Two ‘Other’ California Pipe Operators Offer Contrast
A year after the fatal Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) San Bruno, CA, pipeline rupture, California’s two other state-regulated pipe operators offer a marked contrast when it comes to safety practices. They vary greatly from each other as well as from PG&E.
