Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 30/5/2017
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(ACC Mentioned) Disclosure Bill On Cleaning Product Ingredients Introduced In Congress
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
A bill has been reintroduced in the US House of Representatives that would require ingredient disclosure for commercial and consumer cleaning products. -
SC Johnson Reveals 368 Potential Skin Allergens In Its Products
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
Consumer products conglomerate SC Johnson has disclosed the 368 potential skin allergens that may be used in its products, including household brands such as Glade, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles and Shout. -
Further Delay In EDC Criteria Vote
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has again postponed a vote on its latest proposed criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). -
Consultation On EU Chemicals Customs Inventory Closes Soon
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission’s consultation on the European Customs Inventory of Chemical Substances (Ecics) ends on 6 June. -
Cancer Expert Defiant In Weedkiller Row
May 30, 2017 | The Times
By Jerome Starkey
A leading British scientist has defended his role in a controversy over whether a widely used weedkiller causes cancer. -
Emails Reveal EPA Sought To Calm Friends After Court Ruling
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly and Kevin Bogardus
U.S. EPA officials last year raced to soothe allies' fears from home and abroad after the agency's signature climate change initiative was dealt a devastating legal blow. -
The Oil Play That Could Flood the Natural-Gas Market
May 30, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Timothy Puko and Christopher M. Matthews
The oil-rich Permian Basin is emerging as a major source of new natural gas, a development that could deepen an existing glut and pressure gas prices for years. -
East Cheyenne Gas Storage Leak Capped; Evacuations End
May 30, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Well-control contractors Saturday afternoon capped a natural gas storage well leak and began returning the site to normal at Houston-based Midstream Energy Holdings LLC's underground gas storage facility near Peetz, CO, in Logan County. -
(ACC Mentioned) BNSF Honors 117 Shippers For Hazmat Product Safety
May 30, 2017 | Progressive Rail Roading
BNSF Railway Co. last week recognized 117 shippers with the railroad's 20th Annual Product Stewardship Award for the safe transportation of hazardous materials by rail during 2016. -
Trump's Climate Research Cuts 'A Good Start,' GOP Says
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Kellie Lunney
The White House wants to slash roughly $8 million from the budget of an Interior federal research center that studies climate change. -
EPA Appeals Order On Timing Of Emissions Standards
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA is appealing a federal judge's order setting a three-year timetable for completion of tardy reviews of emission standards from foundries and a dozen other industrial source categories. -
'Bad For The Party' If Trump Exits Deal — Sen. Graham
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Hess,
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that if President Trump withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, it would affirm to the world that he believes climate change to be a "hoax" and would harm the GOP and the country. -
Ewire: A Daily News Roundup
May 30, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's vocal opposition to the Paris climate agreement will likely be a contributing factor when President Donald Trump announces his expected decision to withdraw from the deal, though his high-profile advocacy is drawing some concern from the White House.
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Disclosure Bill On Cleaning Product Ingredients Introduced In Congress
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
A bill has been reintroduced in the US House of Representatives that would require ingredient disclosure for commercial and consumer cleaning products.
Like similar measures considered in past sessions, the Cleaning Product Labeling Act of 2017 (HR 2728) would require the products to bear a label with a "complete and accurate list" of ingredients. This would include all individual components in dyes, fragrances and preservatives, with each listed in descending order by weight.
Additionally, product manufacturers would need to make available on their websites – in English and Spanish – further details on each ingredient, including Cas number and an explanation of its function in the product.
The measure would cover consumer and institutional cleaning products, such as air care and automotive, disinfectants, and polish or floor maintenance products.
Its introduction comes as California considers a similar measure. While backed by an array of NGOs and product manufacturers like the Honest Company, it is opposed by several major industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council (ACC), American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA).
California’s SB 258 passed through its final committee last week, setting up a potential vote in the Senate this week; 2 June is the deadline by which a bill must pass its chamber of origin.
Introduction of the federal right to know bill was welcomed by Seventh Generation and the American Sustainable Business Council, among others.
It has been referred to the House committees for energy and commerce and for education and the workforce.
https://chemicalwatch.com/56145/disclosure-bill-on-cleaning-product-ingredients-introduced-in-congress
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SC Johnson Reveals 368 Potential Skin Allergens In Its Products
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
Consumer products conglomerate SC Johnson has disclosed the 368 potential skin allergens that may be used in its products, including household brands such as Glade, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles and Shout.
The international company has added the list of fragrance and non-fragrance ingredients to its transparency website, WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com. It says that by 2018, it will also indicate which skin allergens are contained within each product.
To determine the list of ingredients to disclose, SC Johnson scientists analysed more than 3,000 data sets from public and industry sources for potential skin allergens identified on country regulatory lists, fragrance industry lists, the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety reviews, dermatology clinic data and individual supplier safety data sheets. This included both natural and synthetic skin allergens.
The company then validated its findings with a panel of experts.
Potential skin allergens down to 0.01% will be disclosed. In a press release, SC Johnson says this is the standard in the EU and that "the general consensus among the scientific community is that a dose of less than 0.01% is unlikely to cause a reaction for most skin allergens in rinse-off products."
But Kelly Semrau, SC Johnson’s senior vice president of global corporate affairs, communication & sustainability, told Chemical Watch the company is not planning to reformulate its products to avoid their use because they are "not a safety concern at all".
"We use such a low level of these allergens that they’re designed to not induce an allergy, or even elicit an allergy if you’ve already been exposed."
"This is to inform and educate consumers so they can make a choice," she said.
Ms Semrau emphasised that the skin allergens were also used in similar products by other companies.
"We understand that other companies might choose not to do the work to communicate low levels of potential skin allergens in their products," said Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO. "With our decades-long commitment to being more and more transparent, we are continuing on a path to provide more and more information to the people who buy our products so they can make choices that are best for them and their families," he added.Raising the bar
Ken Cook, president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group (EWG), called the move "groundbreaking" and said that SC Johnson was "raising the bar for other companies".
"This level of transparency is sweeping across other industries and is rapidly becoming the new normal for companies, like SC Johnson, who place a premium on giving consumers more, rather than less, ingredient information," he added.
Dev Gowda, toxics advocate for the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), called the initiative "a great move for chemical transparency in consumer products".
But he added that while this is a good first step, the company should "take the next step and completely remove skin allergens from its products."
Ms Semrau said this is the latest in a series of SC Johnson transparency initiatives. Later this year there are plans to release a product which is 100% natural and fully disclosed.
And she says the company will reveal the science behind its green list programme.
Previously, it has published its fragrance palette with a list of its 1,300 approved fragrance ingredients as well as a list of its ingredient restrictions.
In 2015, it began rolling out product-specific fragrance disclosure, sharing more than 99.9% of ingredients in most product formulas. And last year, it launched a product collection with 100% fragrance ingredient transparency and started its European ingredient transparency programme.
Such initiatives are on the rise among consumer goods companies. Earlier this year, Unilever announcedplans to provide consumers with information about specific fragrance ingredients used in its personal care products. P&G also announced the launch of a website that allows consumers to see which preservatives are in its products.
There has also been increasing pressure for ingredient transparency in cleaning products in the US. Bills have been introduced in Congress and California that would require products to bear a label listing ingredients, and New York has floated a proposal for manufacturers to publicly disclose ingredients and identify chemicals of concern used in formulations.
https://chemicalwatch.com/56134/sc-johnson-reveals-368-potential-skin-allergens-in-its-products
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Further Delay In EDC Criteria Vote
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has again postponed a vote on its latest proposed criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) was expected to discuss, and possibly vote, on the criteria on 30 May.
Chemical Watch understands that the proposal continues to cause disagreements among EU member states.
The Commission has not indicated when it will reopen discussions.
https://chemicalwatch.com/56161/further-delay-in-edc-criteria-vote
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Consultation On EU Chemicals Customs Inventory Closes Soon
May 30, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission’s consultation on the European Customs Inventory of Chemical Substances (Ecics) ends on 6 June.
It forms part of the Commission REFIT evaluation of the tool, which is used to track imports into the EU.
The evaluation is looking at a number of issues, including future financing and coherence with other substance databases, such as those for REACH and the classification and labelling inventory.
More than 150 responses have been received so far, consultancy Coffey told Chemical Watch.
https://chemicalwatch.com/56150/consultation-on-eu-chemicals-customs-inventory-closes-soon
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Cancer Expert Defiant In Weedkiller Row
May 30, 2017 | The Times
By Jerome Starkey
A leading British scientist has defended his role in a controversy over whether a widely used weedkiller causes cancer.
David Kirkland, 67, a world expert on how chemicals cause cancer, was paid by the chemical company Monsanto to help it to counter claims by the United Nations that its bestselling product, glyphosate, causes the disease. Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Roundup, a widely used weedkiller found in most garden sheds.
The UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that the chemical caused cancer in animals and might cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans. Glyphosate is due to be relicensed in Europe this year.
Allegations have emerged that Monsanto planned to publish fake research on glyphosate’s safety. Emails from William Heydens, a Monsanto executive, appeared to suggest to Donna Farmer, the company’s toxicologist, that they “ghostwrite” research to show that the chemical was not harmful.
The executive then suggested that Dr Kirkland and two other academics “would just edit and sign their names, so to speak” in order to finalise the report.
However, Dr Kirkland has said the suggestion that he would put his name to a “ghostwritten” paper was “crazy”, naive and should never have been written down. He argued that the executive’s idea to add his name to the paper was an endorsement of his reputation, not a slight on his integrity.
“I have never signed up to a ghostwritten manuscript and I would never sign up to a ghostwritten manuscript,” Dr Kirkland, who did his PhD research at the government’s chemical and biological warfare establishment at Porton Down, in Wiltshire, said.
“If somebody wants to float crazy ideas over a beer or at the water cooler . . . but to put it in an email is extraordinary,” Dr Kirkland said. “I see it as, ‘If you can get the name of someone like Kirkland on it, it will carry weight’. I see it as an endorsement of my reputation, not a slight on my integrity.”
Scott Partridge, Monsanto’s vice-president for global strategy, has tried to dampen the allegations by arguing that “ghostwriting” was just “an unfortunate choice of terminology”. He said all the science showed that glyphosate was safe.
More than 9.4 million tonnes of glyphosate have been sold since 1974, enough for half a kilogram on every hectare of cultivated farmland worldwide, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe.
The IARC warned that the compound was “probably carcinogenic to humans”. However, two EU agencies concluded that it was safe. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Commission, dismissed concerns from 30 MEPs who raised questions over Dr Kirkland’s science. However, he acknowledged that the EU had agreed “to minimise [glyphosate’s] use in public parks, public playgrounds and gardens”.
Monsanto is facing hundreds of lawsuits in the United States from people who claim that glyphosate gave them cancer.
Dr Kirkland, a former president of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS), rejected comparisons with the tobacco industry, which relied on questionable science to claim that smoking was safe, but he said there was no way he could know if the company had withheld contrary research. “I wasn’t in the archive digging out the reports,” he said. “In all the years I have been involved in regulatory testing I have not seen any elements of bias, and attempts by a client to influence a result.”
The National Farmers Union said that farmers needed glyphosate to remain competitive.
Frank Martin, president of UKEMS from 2014-16, said that he was uncomfortable with Dr Kirkland’s relations with Monsanto. “It comes down to the point of bias,” Professor Martin said. “In this particular case I would be keen to heed the concerns and objectivity of someone who is independent of Monsanto.”
Michael Green, from the US-based Centre for Environmental Health, said: “There’s an inherent conflict of interest in companies being involved in science that affects their bottom line.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scientist-defends-role-in-monsanto-row-h7pt6h66l
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Emails Reveal EPA Sought To Calm Friends After Court Ruling
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly and Kevin Bogardus
U.S. EPA officials last year raced to soothe allies' fears from home and abroad after the agency's signature climate change initiative was dealt a devastating legal blow.
In February 2016, the Supreme Court issued a stay on EPA's Clean Power Plan, designed to reduce power plants' carbon emissions. E&E News has reviewed 1,204 pages of emails and other records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showing how the agency mounted a domestic and global campaign to assuage friends' worries that the United States was retreating from the battle against climate change.
The documents shed light on a much different time at the agency, then under control of the Obama administration. Today, EPA under President Trump has begun the rollback of the Clean Power Plan and has sought to boost fossil fuels, which have been targeted by the agency's environmental regulations.
E&E News previously reported on internal emails detailing the deep disappointment Obama EPA officials felt in the days after the Supreme Court stay (Greenwire, June 3, 2016).
Backed by the court's conservative wing, justices voted 5-4 to grant requests to halt implementation of the rule until the massive litigation over it was resolved. It was the last vote cast by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died less than a week later.
The rule remains stayed today as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is weighing what to do with the litigation, given that the Trump administration plans to get rid of the Clean Power Plan.
The new batch of emails shed more detail on the efforts by the Obama administration to control both the national and international messaging over the court's unprecedented decision.
Within 24 hours of the Supreme Court stay, Melissa Harrison, then EPA's press secretary, emailed out a wide range of talking points on the court's action to the agency's top press officials.
"Below are final talking points on the Clean Power Plan stay. These can be shared with [assistant administrators], [regional administrators], and staff as needed," Harrison said.
In the days after the stay, EPA headquarters also sent out a list of key points to regional offices, including that the agency "firmly" believed the rule was within the law.
But a line about EPA continuing to provide flexibility to states and tribes prompted some confusion about whether the agency intended to move deadlines in the rule.
Vera Kornylak, an air quality specialist at EPA, said it was still "too early to say" and urged regional offices to stick to the points and not "read between the lines."
"I think it's very important that Regional messaging be as precise as possible to avoid the perception that different regions are sending different messages," she wrote. "So I would encourage folks to not read between the lines. We are being as direct as possible."'We've heard from countries'
Obama officials in other federal agencies were also sharply focused on climate messaging in their preparation for meetings with international counterparts, according to the emails.
A day after the Supreme Court issued the stay, the State Department sent out pages of talking points expressing disappointment with the court's decision but also confidence that the rule would eventually be upheld by the courts.
A Feb. 12 document urges officials to recall "where appropriate" the story of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that failed to pass Congress during the Obama administration's first term.
"Our 2020 target was based expressly on cap and trade legislation, which ultimately failed," according to the document. "The President then made clear we'd stand by our target anyway and we are on track to meet that target."
In the weeks following, administration officials appeared to be concerned, though, about the perception of the Supreme Court stay in the international community.
On March 9, the Department of Energy requested talking points on the Clean Power Plan for then-Secretary Ernest Moniz's trip to China later in the month.
The following week, the office of Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also asked for a set of talking points and an information packet on the Supreme Court stay.
"We've heard from countries in New York that they're following the decision and worry it will impact the U.S. climate agenda," wrote Julia Brower, a policy adviser in Power's office, to EPA.
That climate agenda has gone in a different direction under Trump.
This week, Trump said he would decide on whether the United States would remain in or withdraw from the Paris Agreement. On the campaign trail, the president pledged to leave the climate change accord.
But during the Obama administration, EPA worked with the White House to fine-tune a message that, while EPA was not implementing the Clean Power Plan, it would still work with states that wanted to voluntarily reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"The Supreme Court stay of the rule means that EPA cannot enforce it and states do not have to meet deadlines while the stay is in effect," then-EPA air chief Janet McCabe wrote in a March 9 email. "But it does not prevent the states from voluntarily moving forward with climate action, including actions related to power plants, and many of them are."
Others in the federal government wanted to be kept in the loop after the stay was issued against the Clean Power Plan.
In an email the morning after the court action, Jenny Devine, then a legislative analyst at the Department of Agriculture, asked EPA for updated talking points.
"We're trying to tweak our TPs now and want to make sure we're on the same page," Devine said.
Joe Goffman, then lead attorney in EPA's air office, was also drafted to deal with fallout from the stay. He was asked to alleviate Capitol Hill Democrats' anxiety over the Clean Power Plan.
"I got this request from Senate Democrats and also an earlier [request] from House Democrats on the SCOTUS ruling. You have any time to get on the phone with them to keep them calm," said Ed Walsh, a senior policy adviser at EPA, in an email to Goffman the afternoon after the stay was issued.Next legal moves
The emails also show EPA officials did not think asking the Supreme Court to reconsider the stay was a viable option.
On March 1, 2016, environmental lawyer Michael Levin sent an email asking, "Has anyone looked at petitioning the Supremes to reconsider the stay?"
But Goffman was skeptical about the idea, noting in a response that a 4-4 vote in the Supreme Court following Scalia's death would leave the stay in place. He wrote that he was "not sure" how to get justices to reconsider the earlier decision by the D.C. Circuit to deny the stay.
Levin later responded that it appeared the "best prudential route" was to wait until the D.C. Circuit rules on the merits of the Clean Power Plan before attempting to dissolve the stay.
He wondered whether "at least one vote could be peeled away" from the four remaining justices who voted in favor of the stay, given that the decision started an "avalanche" of other stay requests, including for the high court to pause EPA's mercury and air toxics standards for power plants.
Allies of the Clean Power Plan from outside the agency also began making plans to support EPA in court.
Days after the stay was issued, Kyle Danish, a partner at Van Ness Feldman, emailed Avi Garbow, then EPA's general counsel, to say that Silicon Valley was about to join the legal fight.
"Google is now interested in submitting an amicus brief if they can recruit some other companies that are also purchasers of clean energy. They are in the process of doing that outreach now," Danish said.
By April 2016, the search engine giant — as well as Amazon.com Inc., Apple and Microsoft Corp. — filed such a brief with the D.C. Circuit (Greenwire, April 1, 2016).
The emails also show that top EPA officials speculated about the late Scalia's open Supreme Court seat and how potential nominees could affect the Clean Power Plan litigation.
In a Feb. 14, 2016, email, a day after Scalia died, Deputy General Counsel Ethan Shenkman told other EPA attorneys that D.C. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan was being talked about as a leading contender for the seat.
Shenkman speculated whether Srinivasan, an Obama appointee who may have been a vote in favor of the Clean Power Plan in the D.C. Circuit, would "feel like he needed to recuse himself" from the litigation over the rule.
"There is no precedent for this," Shenkman wrote, "so it's anyone's guess."
Srinivasan, however, was not nominated for the Supreme Court. Obama's pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Merrick Garland, never received a hearing or a vote in the Senate due to Republicans' objections.
More than a year after Scalia's death, Neil Gorsuch, Trump's nominee, was confirmed by the Senate and took his seat on the Supreme Court this April.
Click here, here, here and here to see EPA's emails responding to the Supreme Court stay on the Clean Power Plan.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/30/stories/1060055296
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The Oil Play That Could Flood the Natural-Gas Market
May 30, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Timothy Puko and Christopher M. Matthews
The oil-rich Permian Basin is emerging as a major source of new natural gas, a development that could deepen an existing glut and pressure gas prices for years.
The West Texas region has become the most prolific spot for horizontal oil drilling and fracking. The new oil wells also produce natural gas, making it a nearly free byproduct that energy companies can then sell on top of the more-sought-after crude.
Gas production in the Permian basin is likely to triple by 2020 from its 2010 levels, analysts say. The region is poised to rival new gas output from the Appalachian Marcellus, the country’s biggest gas producing region.
Businesses and investment firms are earmarking billions for new pipeline connections to take away gas so drillers can keep pumping oil.
Blackstone Group BX +1.41% LP last month agreed to pay $2 billion for EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC, a gas-focused pipeline company in the region. Kinder Morgan Inc. KMI -3.51% and at least two others have announced plans to spend billions of dollars on new pipelines.
The rapid growth among oil drillers and the support for pipeline projects both in Texas and from President Donald Trump’s administration is helping make those investment decisions easier.
Gas prices are down 13% year to date, with near-record production and tepid winter-heating demand leaving storage levels 11% higher than the five-year average.
Gas production in the Permian is expected to increase by 5.5 billion cubic feet a day from the end of last year to reach 12.5 bcf by the end of 2020, according to energy investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in Houston.
The Marcellus, which has long been the fastest-growing gas field, is likely to add 6.1 bcf during the same period, not much more than the Permian, though its total production will be two times more than Permian by 2020.
All that fresh output could send gas prices back down to historic lows next year, said Brandon Blossman, analyst at Tudor.
Permian “producers are concerned they can’t get rid of it,” he said. “They’re not really concerned what they’re going to get for it.”
Six months ago, many analysts and executives thought a slowdown in drilling nationwide and increasing export demand could reverse the oversupply of natural gas. Some producers expected a shortage of pipelines to ship gas out of the oil patch might hamper their rush back into the Permian.
But that picture has changed with the wave of new, cheap gas from the Permian and pipeline companies willing to spend on new connections.
New long-haul pipelines also are slated to unlock Marcellus supply for the Midwest and Southeast. Resurgent Haynesville-shale drilling is likely to boost output from Louisiana. All that potential supply is helping keep prices in the futures market at the lower end of their range from the last two decades.
Oil wells nationwide are expected to generate another 9 bcf a day of natural gas over the next several years, nearly covering for all new demand, according to estimates from Tudor, Pickering and Macquarie Group .
Many analysts expect the growing supply to keep international prices, low, too, as the U.S. becomes more of a global supplier. U.S. producers are shipping vast new amounts of gas to Mexico and several export terminals are set to open that will ship gas by sea.
But because Permian drillers are after oil, gas prices could hit historic lows, probably as little as $1.50 a million British thermal units, before it stopped them from drilling, according to energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.
Anywhere from a fifth to a half of what comes up from a Permian oil well is actually natural gas, or ethane, propane and other fuels called natural-gas liquids. Producers in the region are starting to concentrate in a part of the Permian called the Delaware, where volumes of everything are higher.
Oil companies want to move gas as quickly as possible so they can produce more oil, said Duane Kokinda, Kinder Morgan president. His firm held talks with customers this year and received bids in excess of the capacity on Kinder’s natural-gas pipeline, Mr. Kokinda said.
“Based on the demand we got,” he said “We’re looking at making it bigger.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-oil-play-that-could-flood-the-natural-gas-market-1496136602
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East Cheyenne Gas Storage Leak Capped; Evacuations End
May 30, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Well-control contractors Saturday afternoon capped a natural gas storage well leak and began returning the site to normal at Houston-based Midstream Energy Holdings LLC's underground gas storage facility near Peetz, CO, in Logan County.
The contractors shut in the well and halted the venting of natural gas into the atmosphere at East Cheyenne Gas Storage facility, a FERC-certificated interstate gas storage facility. The facility is located about 23 miles north of Sterling, CO, and is near the Rockies Express and Trailblazer interstate transmission pipelines east of the Cheyenne Hub. The storage field is currently interconnected with Trailblazer Pipeline.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, East Cheyenne's contractors and local officials began securing the wellsite, opening roads surrounding the well, and notifying evacuated homeowners that they could return. East Cheyenne plans to reimburse evacuated homeowners for their expenses.
There were no interruptions to the storage field's normal operations or its customers, spokesperson Paul Rabb told NGI late Saturday.
"After arriving onsite Thursday night, the well-control team spent Friday assessing the situation, developing a plan to shut in the well and preparing the site for well-control operations, including improving access, de-powering the well, removing fences, and staging cranes, water tanks, trucks and other equipment nearby," he said.
Actual work to bring the well under control began at 6 a.m. MDT on Saturday, and the well was shut-in at about 1 p.m. MDT.
Contractors last Thursday were working on one of the site’s 16 wells when a safety device failed, resulting in gas from the single well escaping into the atmosphere.
The storage facility has been in service since late 2011 and is considered to be the newest gas storage facility in the western United States, able to provide up to 19 Bcf of capacity, according to Houston-based Midstream Energy.
Midstream Energy last December said East Cheyenne had reached an operational milestone, hitting a peak withdrawal record of 180,000 Dth/d, with additional capacity available to support more withdrawals.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/110618-east-cheyenne-gas-storage-leak-capped-evacuations-end
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(ACC Mentioned) BNSF Honors 117 Shippers For Hazmat Product Safety
May 30, 2017 | Progressive Rail Roading
BNSF Railway Co. last week recognized 117 shippers with the railroad's 20th Annual Product Stewardship Award for the safe transportation of hazardous materials by rail during 2016.
The companies were chosen for the award for transporting a minimum of 500 loaded tank cars of hazardous materials during the previous year with zero non-accident releases during the entire transportation cycle and for successfully implementing the ethics of Product Stewardship under the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® initiative, BNSF officials said in a press release.
"Transporting hazardous materials safely is a collaborative effort between BNSF and our customers and, with these strong partnerships, we have maintained the status of rail as the safest way to move freight on land," said Dave Freeman, BNSF executive vice president, operations.
Many of this year's honorees were repeat winners, including 28 companies that have received the honor for 10 or more years.
Click here for a list of this year's award winners.http://www.progressiverailroading.com/bnsf_railway/news/BNSF-honors-117-shippers-for-hazmat-product-safety--51728
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Trump's Climate Research Cuts 'A Good Start,' GOP Says
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Kellie Lunney
The White House wants to slash roughly $8 million from the budget of an Interior federal research center that studies climate change.
The Trump administration is requesting $17.4 million for the "National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers" in fiscal 2018. That's about $8 million less than what the center, housed in the U.S. Geological Survey, received for fiscal 2017.
The fiscal 2016 enacted funding level for the climate science centers was $26.4 million, which the April omnibus reduced to $25.3 million.
The proposed cut is "a good start, but there's still oversight to be done to combat the duplicative efforts and lack of coordination over similar programs within the Interior Department," said Molly Block, press secretary for the majority at the House Natural Resources Committee.
The fiscal 2018 requested funds "will focus on adaptation research to respond to stressors across broader geographic regions and at a national level," the Interior budget said. "Consistent with this broader geographic focus, the budget proposes to reduce the eight existing regional centers to four and eliminates several smaller projects."
Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, asked Interior in early May to provide data on both its climate science centers and landscape conservation cooperatives (LCCs), which the Fish and Wildlife Service oversees (E&E News PM, May 3).
Both centers were established under former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar during the Obama administration.
"Despite a significant federal investment of at least $149 million, their effectiveness, management, and levels of oversight remain serious concerns to the Committee," the Republican lawmakers wrote.
Interior inspector general audits have found that the centers do not have an adequate process for avoiding the duplication of research grants or for keeping track of projects in a central database.
The Trump budget would eliminate funding altogether for the LCCs, which received about $13 million for fiscal 2017 (Climatewire, May 25). The LCC program, created in 2009, aimed to bring together partners across broad regions to improve the resilience of ecosystems and species affected by climate change and other threats.
Supporters of LCCs say the centers have improved coordination between agencies on things like watersheds and wildlife corridors.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/30/stories/1060055289
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EPA Appeals Order On Timing Of Emissions Standards
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA is appealing a federal judge's order setting a three-year timetable for completion of tardy reviews of emission standards from foundries and a dozen other industrial source categories.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of the District of Columbia had issued the order in March in response to a lawsuit brought by four environmental groups; it requires EPA to complete seven of the overdue reviews by the end of next year, with the other six due by June 2020 (E&E News PM, March 23).
EPA, which had wanted a more lenient schedule, appealed Cooper's decision earlier this month to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, according to online federal court records. The agency's decision was first reported by Inside EPA.
Under the Clean Air Act, the agency is supposed to undertake the follow-up reviews for hazardous air pollutants within eight years of setting the initial standards, based on the remaining risk to public health and advances in pollution control technology. In practice, EPA regulators, citing budget and workforce limits, are chronically behind.
The agency has not sought appellate court review of a similar decision by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, also of the District of Columbia, laying out a schedule for reviews of standards for another 20 source categories (Greenwire, March 15).
The Trump administration alluded to the combined 33 reviews in its proposed fiscal 2018 budget for EPA released last week, saying that "a substantial portion of the work" on those rulemakings will have to start next year (Greenwire, May 24). The administration is meanwhile seeking to cut EPA's budget for the coming year by 30 percent.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/30/stories/1060055287
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'Bad For The Party' If Trump Exits Deal — Sen. Graham
May 30, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Hess,
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that if President Trump withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, it would affirm to the world that he believes climate change to be a "hoax" and would harm the GOP and the country.
"It means that the leader of the Republican Party is in a different spot than the rest of the world," Graham said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"It would be taken as a statement that climate change is not a problem, not real," he added. "That would be bad for the party, bad for the country. Stay in the agreement, because it's voluntary, and try to make the world respond to better business practices when it comes to cleaning up carbon."
Polls showing strong support for renewable energy, and stronger belief in human-made climate change among younger generations, have led Graham to encourage the GOP to speak more positively about clean energy sources and solutions to global warming.
Climate change surfaced briefly during a Republican presidential debate in 2015, when Graham was campaigning against Trump for the nomination.
"You can trust me to do the following — that when I get on the stage with Hillary Clinton, we won't be debating about the science. We'll be debating about the solutions," Graham said (Climatewire, Aug. 7, 2015).
Graham recently told a Capitol Hill event that he was optimistic his side of the aisle would come around on climate (E&E Daily, May 17).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/30/stories/1060055264
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May 30, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's vocal opposition to the Paris climate agreement will likely be a contributing factor when President Donald Trump announces his expected decision to withdraw from the deal, though his high-profile advocacy is drawing some concern from the White House.
Axios scooped over the weekend that Trump has told several people, including Pruitt, that he intends to pull the United States from the Paris deal.
Pruitt has been a strong supporter of exiting the agreement -- which he has repeatedly called a “bad deal” for the United States -- in part due to concerns that staying in the deal could complicate the rollback of Obama-era climate policies that he is spearheading.
But some White House officials are also concerned that Pruitt may get too much credit for the decision. The publication says that White House has told Pruitt to lay off doing TV appearances until Trump announces his final decision.
Axios writes:
In past weeks, the EPA Administrator has gone on TV to say the U.S. needs to quit Paris, but Pruitt told aides he'll be keeping a lower profile. He doesn't want a Paris withdrawal to be seen as his victory. “It needs to be the President's victory,” one source said, paraphrasing what Pruitt has told aides.
Pruitt's aides have told associates in recent days that they remain confident the President will withdraw from Paris but they've been worried about him being overseas and exposed to pressure from European leaders and the environmentalist views of his top aides like Ivanka [Trump] and economic adviser Gary Cohn. Top EPA staff were relieved when Trump refused to join the other six nations of the G7 in reaffirming "strong commitment" to the Paris agreement.
According to Axios, Pruitt in a meeting last week told his aides to “pump the brakes” on a public push for Trump to withdraw from Paris, though EPA staff are still quietly working with outside supporters to place op-eds favoring withdrawal from Paris.
No matter Trump’s decision, other countries are moving forward on climate and are poised to take on the leadership void left by the United States -- particularly China. Just last week, the leaders of China, Canada and the European Union announced they are planning a ministerial-level meeting for September in support of the Paris Agreement. This week, China and the EU are hosting a climate summit.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-daily-news-roundup-134
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