Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 8/2/2016
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(ACC Mentioned) Study Shows How Plastics Preserves Steak, Other Food
Aug 2, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
Trucost’s study of the environmental costs of plastics vs. other materials released in late July didn't just focus on plastics lightweight advantages. In one example, the report looked at benefits from reducing food waste. -
Chemours’ 900+ Jobs Will Stay Put in Wilmington
Aug 2, 2016 | Delaware Business Times
By Kathy Canavan
...U.S. Senator Tom Carper said the U.S. Congress’ reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act, gave Chemours and businesses like it “the predictability they need.”... -
EPA Issues Final Rule on Formaldehyde
Aug 2, 2016 | Furniture Today
By Furniture Today Staff
...The rule, which added Title VI to the Toxic Substances Control Act, impacts both domestic and imported finished goods... -
Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals Found in Household Dust
Aug 2, 2016 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Celia Henry Arnaud
Thyroid hormone signaling helps regulate many processes, including metabolism, cardiovascular function, and brain development. But manmade chemicals like herbicides and plasticizers that can disrupt this signaling have found their way into the environment. -
Four Risky Myths About SPF
Aug 2, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Megan Boyle
Is the SPF number one of the first things you look for on a sunscreen label? SPF, or Sun Protection Factor, indicates how well a sunscreen blocks out some of the sun’s harmful rays. The number refers to how much longer you can stay in the sun before burning... -
‘Clean’ Power to Produce Half of U.S. Energy by 2025
Aug 2, 2016 | Fuel Fix
By David Hunn
If the U.S. Clean Power Plan takes effect, renewable and nuclear energy will provide almost half of the country’s electricity production by 2025, the Department of Energy said in a report released Tuesday. -
New York Takes a Bite Out of Carbon by Throwing a Bone to Nuclear Energy
Aug 2, 2016 | Forbes
By Ken Silverstein
New York State is enacting a Clean Energy Standard that will at least temporarily save its nuclear plants located upstate. While the tack has wide support among power companies and the labor movement, it is opposed by green energy groups that think state monies... -
Upper Devonian, Utica Shales Helped Drive Up Pennsylvania's 2015 NatGas Production
Aug 1, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
The Upper Devonian and Utica shales contributed meaningfully for the first time to Pennsylvania's natural gas output in 2015, according to an annual oil and gas report that was released on Monday by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). -
Stunned by Equipment Failures, BSEE Issues Wide Call for Help
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
NASA is among a group of agencies being recruited to shore up safety at offshore oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico. -
White House Expected to Release NEPA Guidance
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Hess
Later today, the Obama administration is expected to issue final guidance on how federal agencies should incorporate climate change into their project reviews. -
Companies, Investors Ask Governors to Toughen Up RGGI
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Emily Holden
Around 90 companies and investors are joining a slew of environmental groups urging Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern governors to strengthen a nine-state cap-and-trade program.
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Study Shows How Plastics Preserves Steak, Other Food
Aug 2, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
Trucost’s study of the environmental costs of plastics vs. other materials released in late July didn't just focus on plastics lightweight advantages. In one example, the report looked at benefits from reducing food waste.
“Food was an example we picked because there are certain foods that have very high environmental costs, especially beef and other meats,” said Libby Bernick, senior vice president for North America Trucost, which did the study for the American Chemistry Council.
Lighter food packaging can save resources too. The study predicted an environmental cost savings of $7.28 billion per year if there was a 30 percent reduction in food and beverage packaging weight through “innovative design” in North America and Europe.
But Trucost also looked at the less-cited example of food storage, preservation and waste, pointing out that “plastic-packaged food lasts longer, reducing waste.”
Improving skin-type plastic packaging for sirloin steak could cut food waste almost in half compared to conventional plastic packaging, according to the study, going from 34 percent packaging waste to 18 percent with environmental savings of $606 per metric ton of beef sirloin sold.
“This equates to environmental savings of over $2.2 million for every additional 1 percent of sirloin steak sold in improved packaging in the United Sates,” the study says.
Concerns about food waste are already sparking innovations in plastic packaging, from air exchange barriers to keep food fresher longer to new technology that warns when food is about to rot, “these innovations are driven by a desire to get more out of what we have,” said ACC’s Vice President of Plastics Steve Russell.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160802/NEWS/160809956/study-shows-how-plastics-preserves-steak-other-food
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Chemours’ 900+ Jobs Will Stay Put in Wilmington
Aug 2, 2016 | Delaware Business Times
By Kathy Canavan
The company announced today that the city will be the permanent home of its global corporate headquarters. Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano said the company had scouted several locations in neighboring New Jersey and Pennsylvania before deciding to stay put.
Chemours received a $7.2 million Strategic Fund Performance grant from the state to retain the jobs in Delaware and a $695,000 Capital Expenditure Grant for the headquarters project.
Vergnano said Delaware’s workforce was a competitive advantage for the company. Another was the recent reform of the state’s tax structure.
“While we like to think of ourselves as a 200-year-old start-up, we’ve been an independent, publicly traded company for only just over a year now,” Vergnano said. “We’ve accomplished a good deal in a short time, standing up Chemours and making a host of decisions that ensure a sound and prosperous future. We have considered a number of locations for our world headquarters, but in the end it came down to what locale makes the most financial sense, offers our current workforce the right combination of amenities and conveniences, and allows us to attract great talent. Wilmington is that place, and we look forward to being part of its future growth.”
Chemours, in a statement, said the Delaware Competes Act, which reformed the state’s corporate income tax, was a key factor in the decision. State lawmakers passed the corporate income tax reforms to persuade Chemours to stay on Delaware. The loss of Chemours would have cost the state $554 million in revenue, officials said.
“I know that Chemours leaders conducted a detailed search and looked at several locations, and I am pleased that they have chosen Wilmington as the best option to support the success of their company,” said Governor Jack Markell. “This decision reflects the value of our top quality workforce, the ability to access key global markets from our state, and the responsiveness of government at all levels – all of which helps make Delaware a great place for employers to achieve long term growth.”
U.S. Senator Tom Carper said the U.S. Congress’ reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act, gave Chemours and businesses like it “the predictability they need.” The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, passed June 22 to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act, required the EPA to evaluate existing chemicals with clear and enforceable deadlines.
http://www.delawarebusinesstimes.com/chemours-900-jobs-will-stay-put-wilmington/
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EPA Issues Final Rule on Formaldehyde
Aug 2, 2016 | Furniture Today
By Furniture Today Staff
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its final rule to regulate formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products used as component parts in finished goods sold in the United States.
The rule, which added Title VI to the Toxic Substances Control Act, impacts both domestic and imported finished goods.
The agency worked with the California Air Resources Board to draft implementation measures that are consistent with California requirements, which were adopted in 2008 and put in place the most stringent emission standards in the world for reducing formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance, which has advocated for the furniture industry during the rule-making process, believes the final rule is better news for the industry than EPA’s original proposal three years ago.
“AHFA has reviewed the 273-page rule in detail and consulted directly with EPA officials to confirm the rule’s impact on fabricators and importers of laminated wood products used as component parts of finished goods for the residential furniture industry,” CEO Andy Counts said.
He described the final rule released last week as a “significant improvement” over the EPA’s initial proposal unveiled in 2013.
“The rule proposed in 2013 would have shut our industry down with onerous and unnecessary testing,” Counts said. “Our efforts over the last several years resulted in a final rule based on a sound understanding of the products being regulated. This is a significant accomplishment for our industry.”
Key points in the final rule for home furnishings manufacturers and importers include:
First, the rule exempts laminated products made with synthetic face veneers, oriented strand board (OSB), curved plywood and PS-1 and PS-2 structural plywood.
Second, for covered laminated products (products that are made with a wood or woody-grass veneer attached to medium-density fiberboard or particleboard), fabricators have one year from the rule’s publication date to confirm that their platform/core panel meets the EPA emission limits, which mirror the emission limits in the CARB rule. (Manufacturers who produce finished home furnishings products that contain laminated composite panel components are considered “fabricators” in the EPA and CARB rules.)
Third, fabricators of covered laminated products also have one year from the rule’s publication date to label products TSCA Title VI compliant and to meet the rule’s record-keeping requirements (including a certification statement from the composite wood panel supplier that the platform/core is TSCA Title VI compliant).
Fourth, importers of covered laminated products have two years from the rule’s publication date to obtain TSCA Title VI import certification.
A second phase of compliance kicks in seven years from the rule’s publication date. Key points for home furnishings companies during this second phase include:
First, if a company is still making laminated products using urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins after seven years, it will be subject to all the testing and certification requirements prescribed for hardwood plywood producers.
Second, if a company is using no-added-formaldehyde (NAF) resin or phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin at the end of the seven-year period, that company will remain exempt from testing and certification.
“This last provision will prompt fabricators to move away from UF resins and switch to NAF/PF resins, if it is technically feasible, in order to claim the exemption and take advantage of not having to test/certify the intermediate laminated product and demonstrate compliance via chain-of-custody documentation,” said AHFA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Bill Perdue. “Some companies are currently using NAF or PF resins in laminated products when possible, but this provision in the EPA rule will likely result in a significant increase in the use of NAF and PF resins.”
AHFA continues reviewing the rule and plans more detailed guidance for its member companies in coming weeks. An importer guidance document is planned, along with a compliance toolbox and a workshop with EPA officials in January.
http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/533902-epa-issues-final-rule-formaldehyde
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Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals Found in Household Dust
Aug 2, 2016 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Celia Henry Arnaud
Thyroid hormone signaling helps regulate many processes, including metabolism, cardiovascular function, and brain development. But manmade chemicals like herbicides and plasticizers that can disrupt this signaling have found their way into the environment. And part of that environment is pretty close to home: household dust.
Researchers at Umeå University have developed a model to help identify which of the chemicals found in household dust might be binding to the thyroid receptor and thus disrupting the signaling process.
Kwangho Nam, Patrik L. Andersson, and coworkers incorporated into their model multiple crystal structures of the β1 form of the human thyroid receptor, each complexed with a different ligand and with a slightly different conformation of the ligand binding site (Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.6b00171). They used a set of compounds known to bind to the thyroid receptor to develop computational methods for predicting compounds that interact with the binding site. To get better predictions, they used a molecular mechanics method that better estimates how the solvent affects ligand binding.
They then used this model to screen a collection of 485 previously identified indoor dust contaminants to determine which ones, if any, might target the thyroid receptor. In that set, the model identified 31 of the compounds as possible thyroid receptor binders.
The researchers chose six of the compounds—five binders and one predicted nonbinder—to test experimentally for thyroid receptor binding. They did this using a method called isothermal titration calorimetry which measures the binding affinity of each compound with the receptor’s ligand binding domain.
Four of the five predicted binders turned out to bind weakly to the receptor, but within the range of previously reported thyroid receptor binders. Of these, the herbicide 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid bound most strongly. The other predicted binder—a compound known as cyclanilide, a plant growth regulator used as an herbicide—turned out to be a false positive. Information from the model could be used to prioritize chemicals for experimental testing.
http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/web/2016/08/Thyroid-disrupting-chemicals-found-household.html
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Aug 2, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Megan Boyle
Is the SPF number one of the first things you look for on a sunscreen label?
SPF, or Sun Protection Factor, indicates how well a sunscreen blocks out some of the sun’s harmful rays. The number refers to how much longer you can stay in the sun before burning than you could with no sunscreen.
But this popular number isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Here are four myths that might be putting your family at risk – and tips for finding the right numbers for you.
Myth #1: The higher the SPF, the more time you can spend in the sun.
It’s a common misconception that high SPF values protect skin longer than low ones. In fact, high SPFs provide only a marginal increase in sunburn protection, along with a false sense of security.
Tip: Regardless of SPF, you still need to reapply sunscreen at least once every two hours, and more frequently if your skin gets wet.
Myth #2: Go big! There’s no downside to a high SPF.
On the contrary: Sunscreens with higher SPF values have higher concentrations of chemicals that can disrupt hormones, trigger allergic reactions or damage skin. They may also contain SPF boosters that simply mask the signs of damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) rays, rather than protect you from it.
Tip: Stick with moderate numbers. SPFs of 30 to 50 are enough for even very pale skin.
Myth #3: A sunscreen’s SPF protects you from all harmful UV rays.
Not so. SPF only measures your protection from sunburn caused by UVB rays. In the United States, many sunscreens offer weak protection from the sun’s UVA radiation, leaving skin vulnerable to less obvious damage.
Tip: Don’t use sunscreen as your only line of defense. Cover up with protective clothing, wear sunglasses and hats, stay in the shade and avoid midday sun.
Myth #4: You can count on the SPF protection listed on the label.
Nope. Manufacturers set SPF values based on using far more sunscreen than people apply in real life. If you apply a thin coat of SPF 30, your actual sunburn protection could be less than SPF 5 – making the sunscreen less effective than a cotton T-shirt.
Tip: An adult in a bathing suit needs about an ounce of sunscreen to properly cover skin. Kids need a coat that’s just as thick.
To find the right sunscreen for your family, visit EWG’s Guide to Sunscreens and check out our worst-scoring and best-scoring sunscreens for kids.
http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2016/08/four-risky-myths-about-spf
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‘Clean’ Power to Produce Half of U.S. Energy by 2025
Aug 2, 2016 | Fuel Fix
By David Hunn
If the U.S. Clean Power Plan takes effect, renewable and nuclear energy will provide almost half of the country’s electricity production by 2025, the Department of Energy said in a report released Tuesday.
The projection says renewables and nuclear could grow from 38 percent now to 45 percent in 10 years — a growth of almost 20 percent, but still not enough to meet a recent North American pact.
Canada, Mexico and the U.S. agreed in June to grow clean energy sources to 50 percent of electricity generation by 2025.
U.S. consumers use the vast majority of total North American electricity generation — more than 80 percent. Canada represents about 13 percent; Mexico, 6 percent.
The Department of Energy’s Information Administration report assumes that the Clean Power Plan goes into effect in 2022.
But renewable generation in the U.S. is already ramping up, as companies prepare for the law’s implementation, according to the report. “The extension of certain tax credits, significant cost reductions, and recognition of future (Clean Power Plan) requirements result in a large increase in renewable generation between 2015 and 2025,” the report predicts.
U.S. coal-fired generation is expected to decline by 13 percent in that period; natural gas-fired power should increase by 4 percent.
Canada plans to boost wind, solar and hydroelectric capabilities and phase out the use of existing coal plants by 2025, the report says. It already produces 80 percent of its energy with clean power, thanks to its large hydroelectric capacity. That total should fall some, however, as the country retires nuclear plants and increases natural gas usage.
Mexico has announced national energy goals and electricity market reform to help encourage low-carbon expansion. By 2025, the country’s combined nuclear and renewables share should rise to 29 percent.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2016/08/02/clean-power-to-produce-half-of-u-s-energy-by-2025/
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New York Takes a Bite Out of Carbon by Throwing a Bone to Nuclear Energy
Aug 2, 2016 | Forbes
By Ken Silverstein
New York State is enacting a Clean Energy Standard that will at least temporarily save its nuclear plants located upstate. While the tack has wide support among power companies and the labor movement, it is opposed by green energy groups that think state monies would be better invested in wind and solar.
While nuclear energy is a base-load fuel that runs around the clock and that, generally, is carbon-free, it is unable to compete with cheap natural gas in today’s markets. The paradox, of course, is whether to let free markets work or whether to slant the playing field to achieve environmental standards. To this end, the question doesn’t just apply to nuclear energy but also to green fuels, and coal.
“This is one of the most impressive, progressive and aggressive renewable energy programs a state has ever seen,” says Merrill Kramer, an energy and project finance attorney for Sullivan & Worcester in Washington, in an interview. “The Clean Energy Standard includes nuclear energy because it would be too expensive and too aggressive to achieve success without it.”
The New York Public Service Commission voted Monday to generate half of the state’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2030 — a move that Kramer says will become a magnet for investment in a multitude of energy sources.
What yesterday’s vote does is to provide nuclear energy a subsidy of roughly $17 a megawatt hour so that the plants can stay open and keep producing power. That will grow to about $29 a megawatt hour in 10 years. The aim is to cut carbon levels there by 40 percent in a dozen years; New York’s nuclear energy plants now account for 60 percent of its carbon-free emissions.
The cost to do this will be about $965 million over two years, and an estimated $7.6 billion over 12 years. One of the immediate effects of this move will be topreserve nearly 25,000 nuclear-centric jobs, as well as more than a $3 billion contribution to New York State’s gross domestic product, and $144 million in state and local tax revenues.
A further practical implication means that Exelon Corp. will probably buy one of Entergy Corp.’s units that is located upstate — one that would otherwise be shut down. The Illinois-based utility also said that the commission vote would prompt it to invest $200 million into two other nuclear plants there that is already owns.
“Approval of the Clean Energy Standard makes New York a true leader in terms of support for zero-emissions energy, including both renewables and nuclear power,” says Exelon Chief Executive Chris Crane, in a prepared statement. He is trying to get similar legislation passed in Illinois to prevent further nuclear plant closures.
Green energy groups, however, are questioning the subsidies to be given nuclear energy under the proposal that is to take effect on January 1, 2017. They are saying that the money — the $7.6 billion over 12 years — should go toward the creation of more wind and solar power that is safer and cheaper to build.
The New York Independent System Operator that orders up electric generation and schedules the power deliveries has said that the nuclear plants could close down without endangering reliability, notes the Alliance for a Greener Economy. There would be no need for more natural gas or coal to fill the void, it adds, noting that wind power and energy efficiency measures could, instead, be implemented at far less cost than what New York will now spend to keep the nuclear plants alive.
“This is one of the largest corporate bailouts in New York’s history and it will benefit only one company, Exelon Corporation,” the group writes. “It is not the role of the public to bail out and pay a corporation to maintain a failing business for their private profit.”
But Environmental Progress, which is a think tank that advocates for carbon-free energy, counters that claim by saying renewable energy will get more subsidies than does nuclear power under the New York plan.
It adds that nuclear energy is the only power source that can replace fossil fuels on a megawatt-to-megawatt basis. That’s because wind and solar need a reserve of electricity to kick in when the weather does not permit; that back-up source is almost always natural gas, and sometimes coal.
The group says that after Edison International’s San Onfre plant closed in June 2013 — a persistent radiation leak — is to blame that natural gas usage increased from 45 percent of the California’s electricity to 61 percent. It says that it could rise to 70 percent because more natural gas will be needed to firm up the burgeoning wind and solar business there.
The failure of California to include nuclear energy in its renewable portfolio standards, the think tank adds, has led Pacific Gas & Electric to retire its Diablo Canyon nuclear facility in 2025.
“Reactors elsewhere in the country are under financial stress today, because their attributes are not fully valued while at the same time natural gas prices are at historic lows and renewable energy sources are subsidized via tax credits and/or mandated additions of wind and solar capacity,” says Marvin Fertel, chief executive of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
“Policymakers and leaders in other states should closely review New York’s Clean Energy Standard,” he adds, “and work expeditiously to enact comparable policies that preserve these vital clean energy assets.”
In the quest to serve energy markets, natural gas is winning on the merits alone — its abundance combined with its price. And while its most conspicuous value has been to replace coal, it is also boxing out nuclear and renewable energies that are essential to helping federal and state governments meet their carbon goals.
Policymakers are thus tasked with how to tackle this quandary. With its actions,New York State may set a national example, enabling all the fuel forms to co-exist and to meet both market and environmental objectives.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2016/08/02/new-york-takes-a-bite-out-of-carbon-by-throwing-a-bone-to-nuclear-energy/#6e87a5095601
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Upper Devonian, Utica Shales Helped Drive Up Pennsylvania's 2015 NatGas Production
Aug 1, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
The Upper Devonian and Utica shales contributed meaningfully for the first time to Pennsylvania's natural gas output in 2015, according to an annual oil and gas report that was released on Monday by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The state's shale drillers produced more than 4.6 Tcf of natural gas in 2015, up from the 4.05 Tcf they produced in the prior year and well above the 1.06 Tcf they produced in 2011. While the Marcellus Shale remained the top-producing formation, contributing 4.5 Tcf of natural gas to the unconventional total, companies reported producing 47.2 Bcf from the Upper Devonian and 53.5 Bcf from the Utica.
It was the first time the DEP has included a breakdown of production from those formations in its annual report, marking the turning point for multiple horizons in the state that came last year. About 26.7 Bcf was also reported from the Point Pleasant formation.
Upper Devonian shales, including the Burket, Genesee, Geneseo and Rhinestreet, all had reported production. The Burket produced the most last year at 21.5 Bcf. A group of shallower shales above the Marcellus, the Upper Devonian remains undeveloped by comparison. Much of the development in the state has come through wells drilled off existing Marcellus pads.
Similarly, development in the Utica outside of Ohio started to accelerate in recent years. It was in 2014 that operators began permitting wells and scheduling drilling to target the deep Utica in West Virginia and Pennsylvania (see Shale Daily, March 26, 2014). The Keystone state's first deep Utica test happened at the end of 2014, while one of West Virginia's first commercial Utica wells was drilled that year as well (see Shale Daily, Sept. 25, 2014; Dec. 15, 2014).
Pennsylvania's leading producers remained largely unchanged last year. Chesapeake Energy Corp. produced the most at 675.8 Bcf, followed by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. with 633 Bcf; Range Resources Corp. with 415 Bcf, EQT Corp. with 380.9 Bcf, and Chief Oil & Gas LLC with 271.5 Bcf.
The DEP issued 2,520 drilling permits last year, of which 2,081 were for unconventional wells and 439 were for conventional wells. The most unconventional permits were issued in Southwest Pennsylvania's Washington and Greene counties, where operators received 361 and 328 of them, respectively. Warren County in the Northwest part of the state led the way with the most conventional permits at 130.
The number of wells drilled in the state last year dropped significantly from 2014 as operators shed rigs, cut budgets and managed through the downturn. The DEP said 2,163 wells were drilled, of which 1,372 were unconventional.
DEP also increased its compliance inspections at well sites across the state last year to 34,604 from 14,651 in 2009, the report said. Since 2009, the DEP has collected about $23.2 million in fines and penalties from both conventional and unconventional producers. Most of the fines the agency collected during that time, or $7.1 million, came in 2014. The state collected $3.4 million in fines and penalties during 2015.
From 2010 through 2015, however, the DEP noted that the number of violations at unconventional well sites decreased from 1,280 to 404, representing a 67% reduction. The number of violations at conventional well sites over roughly the same time dropped from 2,092 to 1,024.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/107254-upper-devonian-utica-shales-helped-drive-up-pennsylvanias-2015-natgas-production
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Stunned by Equipment Failures, BSEE Issues Wide Call for Help
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
NASA is among a group of agencies being recruited to shore up safety at offshore oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.
At issue are numerous instances of subsea bolt failures that are now raising alarms at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Interior Department agency created after the 2010 BP oil spill to tighten protections and safeguards in offshore drilling. Investigations into subsea equipment bolts snapping in half or wearing through have been underway since at least 2013.
BSEE is asking sister agency the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Coast Guard, NASA and some 15 other agencies to join an investigative task force. The plea for help indicates that BSEE's initial investigations into the problem have delivered few answers, and regulators there are seeking the help of other agencies to augment their capacities, to hopefully find whatever it is BSEE is missing.
The bolts are failing on subsea equipment supplied by General Electric, National Oilwell Varco and Cameron International Corp., which is now a subdivision of Schlumberger Ltd. But blame for the equipment failures may not necessarily rest with these companies. BSEE spokesman Gregory Julian confirmed that questions are being raised about the subcontractors that are supplying the bolts to manufacturers of larger offshore safety and flow control devices.
"There have been cases where the bolt manufacture production was subcontracted to a third-tier vendor," Julian said in an email.
While regulators are worried about the heat treatment and coatings used for subsea bolts, they are also raising concerns about the quality of the material used to manufacture these bolts. The steel may be not be hard enough, or it becomes too brittle too soon.
The subcontractor companies potentially implicated have yet to be named, though EnergyWirehas reached out to all three main contractors seeking details.
Particularly troubling is the fact that some of these bolt failures are occurring within blowout preventers (BOPs). An offshore rig's BOP is the last line of defense in preventing a catastrophic release of hydrocarbons trapped deep within the Gulf's substrata.
The BOP's failure was a key part of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster, though bolt failures played no role in that disaster. Rather, a design flaw prevented the blind shear ram in the Deepwater Horizon's BOP from cutting off the flow of escaping crude oil, according to federal investigators. New BSEE well control and blowout preventer rules come into effect this week, with the new guidance requiring technology that should prevent this from happening again.
Julian said the connection between a lower marine riser package and BOP is one point of failure discovered by the agency. He pointed to a blog post by BSEE official Candi Hudson on her team's investigation into a December 2012 incident where fluids leaked into the Gulf from this point in the subsea stack. At least in that 2012 incident, the investigators pinpointed the cause.
"The findings of the BSEE evaluation by my team suggested the bolts failed because of stress corrosion cracking, improper heat treatment and the coating processes used by sub-contractors," Hudson wrote. "There were also quality assurance and quality control concerns with the bolt manufacturing and design, including material properties (hardness and strength) concerns."
Since that investigation, the problem has become a recurring one, prompting BSEE Director Brian Salerno's plea to other colleagues for their assistance. Salerno said he's redoubling his efforts to get industry to pay more attention to the problem and come up with a resolution, as well.
The American Petroleum Institute is pushing its members on the issue, too. In a July 15 letter to BSEE, API outlines some of the steps it's recommending. API is pressing its membership toward enhanced quality assurance and quality control for bolts supplied by third-party vendors, better failure reporting, eliminating the use of electroplated zinc coatings for subsea equipment, and more.
"API and Industry are committed to improving training, operating procedures, technology and industry standards," writes API senior policy adviser Holly Hopkins in the letter.
Challenge to industry
BSEE has raised past concerns that offshore operators may be compelled to skimp on safety as they remain preoccupied with surviving the collapse of the price of crude oil.
"I have challenged offshore operators, drilling companies, manufacturers and industry organizations to be more proactive in addressing this safety issue, and it makes sense to bring our federal counterparts into this important effort," Salerno said in a call issued last week. "By engaging with subject matter experts and individuals with knowledge of materials science and metallurgical shearing and corrosion, the team will be the first cross-agency group to address the causes and solutions to the bolt problem."
Hudson said some 10,000 bolts have been replaced on subsea equipment in the Gulf. This means companies across the Gulf of Mexico have been forced to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a day each through temporary shutdowns of their operations while this maintenance work was carried out.
Salerno issued his call for interagency support one week ago (EnergyWire, July 27).
As of Friday, it was still unknown which agencies or individuals would lend a hand to the inquiry.
Salerno and other BSEE officials first publicized their concerns over bolt failures back in May, when the agency's 2015 annual report was released at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. The report itself doesn't delve into the problem.
Salerno has said a couple of documented bolt failure incidents, including the December 2012 case, were "only the tip of the iceberg."
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/08/02/stories/1060041053
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White House Expected to Release NEPA Guidance
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Hess
Later today, the Obama administration is expected to issue final guidance on how federal agencies should incorporate climate change into their project reviews.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality proposed draft guidance nearly 20 months ago spelling out how federal agencies should consider greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of climate change when conducting reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (E&ENews PM, Dec. 18, 2014).
Since then, the proposed guidance has encountered resistance from industry groups and Republicans on Capitol Hill. GOP senators blasted the draft as an "illegitimate expansion" of the key environmental law (Greenwire, March 26).
Delays in issuing the guidance have frustrated some environmentalists.
In 2008, a group of state attorneys general petitioned the George W. Bush administration to promulgate guidance to federal agencies on how to weigh climate change impacts when conducting NEPA reviews.
CEQ first released draft guidance in 2010 but never finalized it.
One of the issues holding up the White House was public land management. Environmentalists lauded changes made in the most recently proposed version, which solidifies how climate change would be considered in federal land-use decisions and directs agencies to consider the vulnerability of the projects they permit.
However, the revised draft guidance still "lacked specificity," said Kyle Ash, a senior legislative representative for Greenpeace USA.
The guidance was not explicit that life-cycle emissions from a project must be considered or that the impact of the loss of carbon sinks must be considered, where relevant.
Another concern was about the context in which a project's emissions will be placed. If an individual project's pollution is merely compared to total yearly emissions, environmentalists say that would be a serious flaw. Individual projects can add up to create a serious threat to the climate, so every industry and geographic region has to do its part, they argue.
Greenpeace USA joined the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth U.S. in a March 2015 letter urging CEQ to address what they saw as significant shortcomings. The groups called the guidance "too vague."
Ash told Greenwire that he hopes the guidance unveiled today will validate concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel projects where the federal government plays a role.
"Hopefully, [the guidance] is at least a step in right direction, not a lost opportunity," Ash said.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/08/02/stories/1060041098
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Companies, Investors Ask Governors to Toughen Up RGGI
Aug 2, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Emily Holden
Around 90 companies and investors are joining a slew of environmental groups urging Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern governors to strengthen a nine-state cap-and-trade program.
Unilever, Ikea and Gap Inc. are among the businesses calling on members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to cut carbon emissions 5 percent per year after 2020, up from 2.5 percent per year currently.
"Climate change poses a risk to our business, but it also presents an opportunity -- and we applaud policymakers who rise to meet the challenge," one letter organized by the sustainable business group Ceres reads.
"RGGI has been successful, but in order to meet long-term state emissions reductions goals, it must do more. Continuing reductions beyond 2020 will provide certainty for companies to plan and invest for the future, make the region an attractive place to do business, and continue to lower electricity rates for customers," it says.
Anne Kelly, a senior program director at Ceres, said that in some ways RGGI has been a "victim of its own success" because the cap-and-trade program has worked well enough that states may not be under serious pressure to ramp it up.
"Given the numbers, and given its track record, we felt this time we are really in a position to lower the cap more dramatically," Kelly said. "And we felt like we should mobilize businesses and investors around this cause."
The letters note that RGGI states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont -- have cut power-sector greenhouse gas emissions almost in half since 2005. At the same time, the cap-and-trade program has raised $2.5 billion for green programs and cut electricity rates by an average of 2 percent.
RGGI is considered a national leader in using a carbon cap and market to control emissions levels. If the program is successful with tougher goals, it could set an example for the rest of the country, advocates argue.
Environment agency staffers from RGGI states are working through whether to make changes to the program as part of a periodic review. They are also scoping out how to make RGGI fit within U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
They must wrap up their plans by the end of the year to give legislatures time to incorporate any revisions.
Ceres' signatories join many environmental advocates urging RGGI states to set stricter goals, including the Acadia Center, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Entrepreneurs, Environment America and Physicians for Social Responsibility. Those groups believe a 5 percent annual reduction is economically feasible and more in line with state climate policies.
Advocates following the RGGI program review process have suggested some Republican governors in particular may be wary of aiming for stricter greenhouse gas limits, although no governors have spoken publicly about their preferences.
Tim Smith, a director of shareholder engagement for Walden Asset Management, said the companies and investors signing on with Ceres are trying to directly contrast big business interests like the Chamber of Commerce, which is fighting climate regulations, including the Clean Power Plan.
The small Massachusetts-based investment firm manages $2.8 billion for individuals and organizations and actively supports climate-friendly public policy. All of the investment firms signing on to Ceres' letters represent a total of $35 billion in managed assets, Kelly said.
Smith said governors should be aware "investors globally are raising the bar with companies on climate change."
He noted governors in RGGI states may not feel pressed to strengthen the initiative's goals because they are already participating in one of the most advanced carbon programs in the country, but after the Paris climate change agreement, "expectations have changed considerably."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/08/02/stories/1060041071
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