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Taconite Plant-park Haze Rules Put on Hold
June 19, 2013 9:34 am | CommentsA federal appeals court has put a hold on regulations aimed at reducing haze over national parks and wilderness areas from taconite plants in Minnesota and Michigan. The stay was sought by Cliffs Natural Resources, which operates three taconite plants in Minnesota and one in Michigan, and ArcelorMittal, which runs another in Minnesota.
SW Ind. County Allowed to Develop Fertilizer Plant
June 19, 2013 9:20 am | CommentsThe state won't stand in the way of a fertilizer plant that a Pakistan-based group is developing in southwestern Indiana despite reservations expressed by Gov. Mike Pence, his office said Tuesday. Pence directed the Indiana Finance Authority not to block Posey County from backing the Midwest Fertilizer Corp. plant.
Anti-fracking Groups Rally Outside NY Capitol
June 18, 2013 10:11 am | by MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press | CommentsAbout 2,000 opponents of a natural-gas drilling process that involves blasting chemical-laden water deep into the ground rallied outside New York's Capitol on Monday as a new statewide poll showed a slight increase among voters who are against it.
Lawmakers: Put Dangerous Chemical Site Info Online
June 18, 2013 10:01 am | by WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press | CommentsThere are 16 fertilizer production sites in Texas like the one that exploded in West, but authorities aren't clear how many of those might be located near schools or other residential centers, top state officials said Monday. Other state officials told lawmakers that 129 facilities store at least 5 tons of ammonium nitrate and other potentially explosive materials.
Cloud Peak Seeks 198M ton Coal Lease in Montana
June 18, 2013 9:56 am | by MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press | CommentsFederal and state officials will weigh in this week on a Wyoming company's application to lease 198 million tons of coal adjacent to a southeastern Montana mine, amid an emerging debate over whether the government is undervaluing the coal from such projects. Cloud Peak Energy is seeking to expand its lease at the Spring Creek Mine near Decker by more than 1,600 acres.
Gov. Signs Fracking Regulations Law
June 18, 2013 9:52 am | CommentsIllinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation giving the state the nation's strictest regulations for high-volume oil and gas drilling. In a news release, Quinn's office says the governor signed the bill Monday. Quinn says the law will "unlock the potential" for thousands of jobs in southern Illinois while protecting the environment.
Va. Agency Upholds Denial of Surface mine permit
June 18, 2013 9:46 am | CommentsState regulators have upheld the denial of a permit for a proposed mountaintop removal mine in Southwest Virginia. The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy denied the permit for A&G Coal Corp.'s proposed 1,300-acre Ison Rock Ridge mine in February.
Smithfield Lays Off 120
June 18, 2013 9:41 am | by MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, AP Business Writer | CommentsSmithfield Foods Inc. is laying off 120 more workers as part of its previously announced closure of a Virginia facility that makes hot dogs and deli meat. The Smithfield, Va.-based pork producer said Tuesday that it plans to close the Portsmouth plant in the middle of August.
NRP to Buy Oil and Gas Interests for About $35.3M
June 17, 2013 10:53 am | CommentsNatural Resource Partners LP said Monday that it reached a deal to buy non-operated working interests in producing oil and gas properties in North Dakota and Montana from Abraxas Petroleum Corp. for about $35.3 million in cash. The acquisition consists of about 13,500 net acres with an estimated average working interest of 11 percent in the Bakken and Three Forks play.
2 Remain Hospitalized After Explosions in La.
June 17, 2013 10:43 am | CommentsFederal investigators are at two chemical plants that were the sites of fatal explosions last week, and two people remain hospitalized. CF Industries Holdings Inc. spokeswoman Blythe Lamonica says a team from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was at the plant Sunday.
Nine Lawsuits Filed for Unpaid Work at Mines
June 17, 2013 10:34 am | by DYLAN LOVAN, Associated Press | CommentsJim Justice's coal operations in Appalachia are struggling as business owners have filed at least nine lawsuits since late 2011 claiming they are not being paid for work at Justice mines. Still others say they are owed money but haven't yet sued.
Nuclear Weapons Plant to Improve Fire Safety
June 17, 2013 10:00 am | CommentsPantex, the country's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly plant, has completed main construction on a $35 million project that is designed to improve fire protection at the facility. The new construction comes after the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board raised safety concerns earlier this year about more than a decade of delays in completing improvements to an aging fire protection system at the West Texas facility.
OSHA to Join La. Blast Investigation
June 17, 2013 9:53 am | CommentsFederal investigators are expected in south Louisiana over the weekend at the site of an explosion that killed one worker at chemical plant in Donaldsonville -- the second such blast in the area in as many days. State Police Trooper Jared Sandifer said Saturday officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were coming to the CF Industries facility as soon as the site was safe.
Fracking Fuels Water Fights
June 17, 2013 9:30 am | by GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press | CommentsThe latest domestic energy boom is sweeping through some of the nation's driest pockets, drawing millions of gallons of water to unlock oil and gas reserves from beneath the Earth's surface. Hydraulic fracturing, or the drilling technique commonly known as fracking, has been used for decades to blast huge volumes of water, fine sand and chemicals into the ground to crack open valuable shale formations.
Hoboken, NJ Embraces Electric Grid Pilot Program
June 14, 2013 9:15 am | CommentsThe city of Hoboken has agreed to be the guinea pig for a federal and state program to fortify its electrical system against storms like Superstorm Sandy. Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced the agreement Thursday with the federal Department of Energy, state Board of Public Utilities, PSE&G and Sandia National Laboratories.
