Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 4/8/17
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(ACC Mentioned) New NWRA President & CEO: 'Safety is in my Blood'
Aug 4, 2017 | Waste Dive
By Cole Rosengreen
One of the industry's top trade associations just got a new leader who may be fresh to solid waste, but is well-acquainted with safety, and ready to spread his experience throughout the country. -
Walmart Joins Chemical Disclosure Program, Could Pressure Other Companies To Follow Suit
Aug 4, 2017 | ChemInfo
By Andy Szal
Walmart this year became the first major retailer to join a list of companies that detailed the hazardous chemicals used in their products and supply chain. -
Antimony Compounds: US Tox Programme Publishes Assessment Protocol
Aug 4, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has outlined the approach it intends to take for its assessment of the carcinogenicity of antimony compounds. -
FERC Confirmations Set to Unleash a Backlog of Stalled Infrastructure Work
Aug 4, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Eric Wolff and Darius Dixon
Billions of dollars' worth of shovel-ready infrastructure projects have been held up by a bureaucratic morass that President Donald Trump helped to create. -
Toshiba Takes a Stab at LNG Market
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
The troubled technology titan Toshiba Corp. is staking out a new business direction: liquefied natural gas. -
Watchdog Probes Use of Regulators' 'Limited Inspection Resources'
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Pipeline safety officials "cannot demonstrate the effectiveness" of the model used to monitor corrosion, according to a government watchdog. -
These Charts Show Why Communities Are Demanding Common Sense Standards to Protect Them from Oil and Gas Pollution
Aug 4, 2017 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Felice Stadler
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been trying every trick in the book to suspend rules that require oil and gas companies to limit pollution from their operations as they look to expand drilling across the country. -
Feds Back in 'Gasland' Town to Test Water, Air
Aug 4, 2017 | AP (in The New York Times
The federal government has returned to a Pennsylvania village that became a flashpoint in the national debate over fracking to investigate ongoing complaints about the quality of the drinking water. -
Researchers Hope for More Than 'Bright Light'
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Adam Aton
Drillers are burning off methane, the oil byproduct that forms the primary component of natural gas. It has about 30 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, but there's little market value in piping it from the remote areas driving the country's energy boom. So fuel producers ignite it. -
Sources: Trump Administration to Deliver Notice It Intends to Withdraw from Paris Climate Deal
Aug 4, 2017 | Politico Pro Energy Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
The Trump administration will release a notice today outlining the United States’ intention to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, two sources familiar with the issue said. -
Schwarzenegger Launches New Effort to Counter Trump on Climate
Aug 4, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By John Bowden
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is launching a database of legislation to help combat climate change in response to President Trump's decision to leave the Paris accord. -
Critics Make Another Plea for Speedy Defeat of Obama EPA Rule
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Critics of an Obama-era rule to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are making what may be their final push to quickly sideline the regulation.
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(ACC Mentioned) New NWRA President & CEO: 'Safety is in my Blood'
Aug 4, 2017 | Waste Dive
By Cole Rosengreen
One of the industry's top trade associations just got a new leader who may be fresh to solid waste, but is well-acquainted with safety, and ready to spread his experience throughout the country.
Darrell Smith was announced as the new president and CEO of the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) in July. Industry professionals have been speculating about who would take the helm since previous president Sharon Kneiss resigned abruptly in November 2016. Kevin Kraushaar, vice president of government affairs and chapter operations, took over her duties on an interim basis as the search was conducted.
Coming from a position as the executive vice president of the Industrial Minerals Association - North America, Smith has a long background in environmental industries. He has also worked for the National Association of Shell Marketers, the American Chemistry Council and other trade organizations. With a doctorate in environmental science and policy from George Mason University, and accreditation as a certified industrial hygienist, Smith is seen as having relevant new perspectives for the waste and recycling industry.
Waste Dive spoke to Smith on August 2, his ninth day on the job, to learn more about his plans for NWRA.
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.WASTE DIVE: What have you been up to so far since you started at NWRA?
DARREL SMITH: For these nine days I've been largely in listening mode. People have not been shy about sharing their views, and where they think things should be headed. I’m thrilled that I have such a talented and capable staff. One priority I have is to make NWRA a very happy, healthy and fun environment to work in. In addition, I've been hearing from a lot of our members. They’ve been reaching out to me and I've been reaching out to them. So far they are just fabulous people that are very excited. They're very confident and hopeful in the future of NWRA, as am I. With the understanding that you're new to the role, are there any new directions or new programs you'd like to implement?
SMITH: Keeping in mind this is day nine, but when people take control of an organization or come into a new organization, they're always looking for ways to make their mark and that’s certainly on my mind as well. I'm also looking at things that are already working. I'm trying to identify those programs and not meddle in them. One of those programs is something that our members like and cherish — our chapter operations. I don’t have immediate plans to meddle too much in those operations. I think the chapter operations are one of the most valuable benefits of NWRA membership. I plan to be supportive and try to get out and meet everybody, try to see what has worked over the years. There are literally decades of experience in the chapter operations and I'm try to give them the respect that they’ve earned and figure out how NWRA at the national level can be supportive.
As far as new approaches, my general management style is one of results. I like to achieve results. I like to measure results. I like to figure out what we can do so that we can actually show that we’re being effective, whether it be in advocacy, or communications, or safety. I like to move the needle and I like to be responsible for my results and that’s one thing that I’m trying to coordinate here with staff.As I'm sure you've been hearing, safety is main area where people are looking for results. Coming from other industries that also had a big focus on safety, what are your general impressions on where the waste industry stands?
SMITH: I'm concerned about our industry being in the top five most dangerous occupations and that’s going to be a big emphasis for me. I think it's probably one of the reasons I was brought on. Safety is in my blood. It was my first job and nearly all of my positions have had a focus on safety. I approach safety in the same way I do all things. I want to see results. I’m working now to start the collection of good data on the industry. That’s always step one with safety is to figure out where people are being hurt, how they're being hurt, what equipment is involved, what actions are involved, how injuries and fatalities are occurring.
Shotgun approaches to safety certainly have value, but in my experience, a laser-focused approach yields the most results. So my first priority here relative to safety is to gather data and start implementing programs that can be effective in reducing injuries and fatalities. Technology comes up a lot as one way to address some of these challenges. How does the waste industry compare to other industries in terms of safety technology?
In the mining industry there are a lot of new technologies, such as motion detection, that are helping out a great deal. I could name a lot of technology that has come about in the last decade in the mining industry that has had an effect on safety and all of that is great. In the end, safety is just a lot of hard work. Some injuries are preventable by technology and some injuries are preventable the same way they’ve been preventable for decades. So we just need to take a look at the data and start working on that.
Data in the mining industry was a lot easier to come by. In the mining industry all accidents are reported to the regulators, so you have all of that data. In this industry, it's going to be a little more challenging, but with the support of our members we can get all that data together and do some good analysis and put in some good programs.Is the current labor shortage for drivers and mechanics something you’ve experienced elsewhere, or do you think it's unique to the waste industry?
SMITH: I think all heavy industry is experiencing a shortage of qualified workers. In the mining industry we have a huge shortage of laborers and engineers. I think it’s just a problem of modern society that people are, for whatever reason, shying away from more industrial positions. We need to do a better job of showing the public the great opportunities that lie in industrial work. That is a focus for us. Trying to recruit veterans for instance. In addition to that, bringing more women into the waste industry is also a priority and a great opportunity.Where do you see NWRA's role in communicating what the waste industry does to the public?
SMITH: It’s something that I've been thinking about. It's really a great industry that touches every home and every business in the country. Everyone generates waste, so everyone should have a role and responsibility in properly managing waste. In the mining industry, there are people in the country that believe we don’t even mine things anymore. So the waste industry is well-positioned in relation to that. Everyone knows we generate waste and everybody sees waste management taking place. We need to capitalize on that and develop some campaigns and methods to improve the image of the industry. For as many contact hours as we have with the public there should be some good opportunities there. On the advocacy side, does that include more of a national profile?
One cry I’ve heard from members and staff is that, "garbage is local." Which I respect and understand. I also think that there are opportunities at the federal level. So we’re going to be dividing our advocacy at the federal level and at the local level and the state level, and doing what needs to be done to protect the industry.
http://www.wastedive.com/news/new-nwra-president-ceo-safety-is-in-my-blood/448599/
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Walmart Joins Chemical Disclosure Program, Could Pressure Other Companies To Follow Suit
Aug 4, 2017 | ChemInfo
By Andy Szal
Walmart this year became the first major retailer to join a list of companies that detailed the hazardous chemicals used in their products and supply chain.
The Chemical Footprint Project this week announced that its 2017 report included survey responses from companies with combined annual revenues of more than $670 billion — including the world's largest retailer.
Johnson & Johnson, HP and Staples also reportedly took the group's latest survey.
The project aims to allow manufacturers across a wide range of industries to identify the chemicals used throughout their operations and take steps to reduce chemicals of concern. According to a report in Bloomberg, Walmart’s participation in the program could put pressure on other major retailers to do the same.
Organizers said that participating companies curbed their use of those chemicals by 416 million pounds over the past two years.
“For the first time ever, companies are quantitatively measuring and reporting their chemical footprint,” said Mark Rossi, the executive director of Clean Production Action, a Massachusetts-based group that promotes the use of environmentally friendly materials.
The report also allows companies, along with their investors and customers, to measure themselves based on chemical benchmarks and the policies of peer businesses.
Most participating businesses — including Walmart — did not publicly disclose their scores, but CFP said that large companies tended to fare better, particularly in durable goods production, due to more operations oversight, more financial resources and a greater need for strong corporate policies.
“CFP is making data available for benchmarking and gap analysis, which are critical for us to understand where our company and our suppliers are on the journey to more sustainable chemicals,” Walmart Senior Director for Sustainability Zach Freeze said in a statement.
Walmart previously drew praise from another advocacy group for its efforts to curb chemical use. The company said last year that high-priority chemicals were reduced in its products by 95 percent by weight, and later pressured suppliers to eliminate formaldehyde, toluene and six other hazardous substances from their operations.
https://www.chem.info/news/2017/08/walmart-joins-chemical-disclosure-program-could-pressure-other-companies-follow-suit
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Antimony Compounds: US Tox Programme Publishes Assessment Protocol
Aug 4, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has outlined the approach it intends to take for its assessment of the carcinogenicity of antimony compounds.
The assessment will focus on antimony trioxide, but the scope will include relevant information about other antimony species, according to the protocol.
The NTP is aiming to answer the following questions:
· is antimony trioxide carcinogenic?
· what role do antimony chemical species play in the substance's carcinogenic potential?
· to what extent does transformation between trivalent form of antimony, Sb(III), and pentavalent form of antimony, Sb(V), occur in vivo?
· is there a difference in toxicity or carcinogenic potential between Sb(V) and Sb(III)?
· can antimony trioxide be considered a representative antimony species for cancer hazard evaluation?
· are any other antimony compounds (excluding antimony trioxide) carcinogenic?
It describes antimony trioxide as the most important antimony species, based on a range of factors including the amount produced, its use and the potential for the general public to be exposed to it through inhalation.
The substance is used as a synergist for halogenated flame retardants in plastics – such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – rubber and textiles. It is also used as a catalyst in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production, as an additive in glass manufacture and pigments and as an additive in paints and ceramics.
The primary exposure route is inhalation by workers in the metal ore mining and smelting sectors.
Other species include:
· antimony trisulfide, used as a plasticiser and pigment, as well as in pyrotechnics and explosives;
· two drugs for treating leishmaniasis: sodium antimony gluconate and meglumine antimoniate; and
· antimony potassium tartrate, a drug for treating schistosomiasis.Evaluation in the EU
In October last year the International Antimony Association (I2A) asked the NTP to consider postponing its assessment until completion of similar work in the EU.
Under the EU classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP), the substance has a mandatory category 2 carcinogenicity classification. This means that it does not currently meet the criteria to be considered for addition to the REACH candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHCs).
But it it is scheduled for substance evaluation in 2018 by the German competent authority (CA), which in its justification document, says that reclassification may be required based on results of a two-year study conducted by the NTP.
The German CA also says:
· a key use of antimony trioxide in cement was not addressed in a previous risk assessment conducted by the Swedish CA;
· there are indications that the REACH registrants did not calculate the derived no effect level (Dnel) correctly; and
· the large quantities manufactured in, and imported into, as well as the nature of the occupational uses, suggest that exposures could be high.
The NTP published a peer review draft of its study report, technical report (TR) 590, in February last year. It concluded that there was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity in mice and some evidence in rats.
The NTP references its draft of TR 590 in its draft protocol, but provides no details about how the conclusions might be used.
Although it is almost universally known as antimony trioxide, the more correct term – or 'systematic name' – for the substance is diantimony trioxide, because the chemical formula contains two antimony atoms.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58052/antimony-compounds-us-tox-programme-publishes-assessment-protocol
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FERC Confirmations Set to Unleash a Backlog of Stalled Infrastructure Work
Aug 4, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Eric Wolff and Darius Dixon
Billions of dollars' worth of shovel-ready infrastructure projects have been held up by a bureaucratic morass that President Donald Trump helped to create.
Trump's promise of a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill has so far failed to materialize on Capitol Hill, but even the executive branch he oversees has a growing backlog of natural gas pipelines and a gas export terminal waiting for approval.
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed enough nominees at the FERC to let the agency get back to business — but now FERC must work through a backlog that has grown to at least $13 billion worth of projects expected to generate more than 23,000 construction jobs, according to a POLITICO analysis of late-stage applications waiting for approval. FERC oversees interstate pipelines, liquefied natural gas exports and wholesale electricity markets. The commission has been crippled by vacancies since February, after Trump demoted its former chairman, who promptly quit — leaving it unable to conduct any major business until the Senate confirms new commissioners.
The confirmation of Pennsylvania regulator Rob Powelson and Republican Senate aide Neil Chatterjee could not come too soon.
“I would not begin to minimize even the passage of another month," said former FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable, "because there are high stakes in the matters that come before FERC each and every day — vast amounts of capital at issue, vast amounts of consumer cost or savings at stake.”
Many of the largest pipeline projects run right through Trump country, carrying gas out of shale plays in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio — all states Trump won last year and hopes to win again. One project alone, called Atlantic Coast, would bring 10,000 jobs to West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, and the $2 billion NEXUS line would put 3,300 people to work in Michigan and Pennsylvania, states Trump flipped to red for the first time in decades.
The holdup comes as FERC, which has a $350 million annual budget and 1,500 employees, has found its once-quiet regulatory responsibilities increasingly politicized as its work draws closer to the center of some of the most significant energy and climate policy debates facing the country. The small independent agency does not formally take direction from the White House, but it has ample power to shape Trump's agenda of U.S. "energy dominance." FERC is in charge of authorizing facilities to export natural gas; balancing the environmental risks and benefits of the fracking boom; setting rates for increasingly complicated energy markets; and deciding how far states can go in propping up nuclear power plants by paying more for their carbon-free energy.
Environmentalists, who besieged the agency’s board meetings with protests last year, say FERC takes too narrow a view of its mandate to ensure affordable, reliable energy supplies and has ignored larger questions of climate change and environmental protection. Their protests have intensified in the wake of the fracking boom that led to higher demand for new pipelines and export terminals.
Industry supporters say any policy changes need to come from Congress and complain that their projects are falling victim to partisan infighting.
But virtually everyone who has a history with FERC agrees that the polarization around the agency did not begin this year. The agency's long state of paralysis is complex enough that Trump is not solely at fault.
“There are a number of things that had to go wrong to put FERC in this current position, and every single one of them went wrong,” said Marc Spitzer, a former Republican FERC commissioner. “It’s unfair to put all the blame on any one person."
FERC was set at the precipice of dysfunction by former President Barack Obama, when GOP Commissioner Phil Moeller resigned in October 2015 and fellow Republican Tony Clark followed him out the door 11 months later. Obama never nominated anyone to fill the two GOP-designated seats, in part because of Democrats’ larger political feud with Senate Republicans after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court without any hearings or votes.
But it was Trump who pushed FERC off that cliff, when he stripped the chairmanship from Norman Bay and gave it to Cheryl LaFleur, another Democrat. Bay followed the lead of most chairs who lose the gavel and resigned, taking the agency’s quorum with him. As of July 1, when Honorable resigned, LaFleur became the agency’s sole member.
Democrats fault the White House for the pace of confirming new commissioners.The Senate has traditionally confirmed nominees to bipartisan commissions such as FERC by packaging picks from both parties together before bringing them to the floor for votes. But the White House only formally nominated Democratic aide Rich Glick on Wednesday, five weeks after announcing plans to do so.
Others blame the lack of trust in a polarized Washington.
“The Senate functions based on trust and unanimous consent. If everything in the Senate has to go the whole nine yards, then virtually nothing gets done,” said one longtime industry official close to pending projects who asked not to be named in order to speak freely. The Senate can move swiftly, the source added, "but in order for that to happen, there needs to be some measure of trust.”
Two of Trump’s FERC picks, Republicans Chatterjee and Powelson, cleared the Senate energy committee in June, but without Glick’s nomination, Senate Democrats were unlikely to allow a delay-free confirmation. Once Glick's papers came in, Democrats let them through on the last day before a monthlong recess.
But industry spent the intervening months watching the clock tick while projects stayed frozen.
"FERC's lack of a quorum since early February represents an unnecessary drag on the economy, sidelining billions of dollars in private capital otherwise poised to put thousands of Americans to work expanding and improving our nation's energy delivery system," said Adam Parker, a spokesman for the NEXUS pipeline project being built by Enbridge.
Enbridge will miss a year-end deadline to begin operating the $2 billion, 256-mile natural gas link between a Marcellus shale natural gas field in eastern Ohio and markets in Michigan and Canada. The project, which would put 3,365 people to work, finished its environmental review in November — the penultimate regulatory step before construction can begin — and has been waiting since for the commission to get staffed up.
NEXUS is one of 18 pipelines and gas projects that have completed environmental reviews since last fall but could not receive FERC's final OK while it lacked a quorum. Others include TransCanada's WB Xpress; the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has six companies behind it; the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, being built by a partnership of Duke, Dominion, Piedmont Gas and Southern Company; and PennEast, whose backers include Southern Company and Spectra Energy. Each of these projects will carry natural gas out of the Marcellus shale to population centers in the East or Midwest.
An unusual deep-water LNG export terminal that Delfin LNG wants to build at Port Delfin in Louisiana has its Department of Energy approval, but it needs FERC to sign off on-shore parts of the project before construction can begin.
Together, the projects stand to employ more than 23,000 people in mostly temporary construction jobs and would inject more than $13 billion in investments into the economy, according to the companies behind them.
For many of these pipelines, the lack of a quorum may have cost them a year of work: Summer and fall are ideal times to build in much of the country. Foul weather stops construction in winter, and environmental considerations often make spring work untenable.
The delays provided a temporary win to the growing ranks of anti-pipeline protesters, who have been arrested at FERC meetings and sometimes even camped outside of commissioners' homes to protest approvals of the infrastructure necessary to move all the new natural gas unlocked by the fracking boom.
Some of those same activists were hoping Senate Democrats would do everything possible to keep the open seats from ever being filled. But that pressure was responsible for the delay, and no Senate Democrats have endorsed the blockade. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whom activists cite as an ally, opposed the two nominated commissioners in committee, and he opposes a bipartisan energy bill that would speed up pipeline approvals.
Keeping FERC without a quorum slowed that process.
"As long as there's no quorum established, no pipelines are being approved. That helps us," said Karen Feridun, founder of Berks Gas Truth, an anti-fracking group out of Berks County, Penn., that is part of the umbrella FERC Vacancies Coalition.
Pipeline approvals are not the only backlog awaiting Trump's new FERC commissioners. They will also be thrust into the center of testy regional and state-level battles over programs designed to address climate change by subsidizing nuclear power plants, and potentially price carbon emissions.
“FERC, and what’s subject to its jurisdiction, kind of got dragged into the climate debate,” the industry official said, noting that the agency has found itself the target of ever-increasing interest on Capitol Hill from “those in Congress who wanted to stop the Clean Power Plan and were unable to do so.”
Figuring out a way to bridge — or block — expansive state energy policies is among the biggest issues that FERC has struggled with over the past several years. Those policies are horrendously complex and tend not to break down along traditional partisan lines, but the task will nonetheless end up on Kevin McIntyre’s desk if he’s confirmed as chairman.
Those looming policy issues have largely focused on New York and Illinois, which both approved nuclear power incentive programs last year that could have a big impact on electricity markets overseen by FERC, as well as any other state-level policy tailored to specific energy sources.
The Electric Power Supply Association, which represents a range of independent generators, filed complaints in January hoping FERC might stop state programs subsidizing struggling nuclear plants in the New York and PJM Interconnection markets, by arguing those plans would artificially low power prices. EPSA had hoped for FERC action before plans in New York and Illinois took effect this spring. But without a quorum, FERC’s hands are tied.
And an Illinois judge wasn't sympathetic when he knocked down the group's lawsuit to quash the program, saying "FERC's current paralysis does not change the structural limitations on judicial power."
Meanwhile, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have started to mull their options for helping power plants in their states just as state regulators and a broad swath of the energy industry have increasingly looked to FERC for policy guidance. Many of the nonprofit organizations that operate regions of the electric grid are also trying to develop a market-based way to give states what they want, which may include a price on carbon.
“One of the greatest challenges that this new commission will face," Honorable said, "is how to support moving through the challenges associated with the implementation of state energy policy and the operation of wholesale energy and capacity markets."
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/story/2017/08/trumps-big-infrastructure-talk-undercut-by-neutered-agency-160050
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Toshiba Takes a Stab at LNG Market
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
The troubled technology titan Toshiba Corp. is staking out a new business direction: liquefied natural gas.
Still reeling from its failing Westinghouse Electric Corp. nuclear power business and the fallout from bankruptcy proceedings, Toshiba America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese electronics giant, announced yesterday a new energy business division to be headquartered in this oil and gas capital. Toshiba America LNG Corp. will be tasked with capturing volumes of gas, having it liquefied and then marketing it to major demand centers.
The new LNG venture will be headquartered in Houston's Galleria district, putting it close to the Houston offices of major Japanese LNG buyers that have recently set up shop here to do business with companies pursuing LNG export ventures. Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. and Chubu Electric Power Co. have established offices here as a result of new major LNG export projects being built along the Gulf of Mexico region.
Toshiba has been present in Houston for a long time, with Toshiba International Corp. facilities in the western part of the city building systems for natural gas power plants, among other product and business lines. And the company already has familiarity with LNG technology, as it was hired to help construct the Freeport LNG export hub.
But Toshiba spokesman Eddie Temistokle said the new LNG business will be run as a separate division.
"Toshiba America LNG Corporation and Toshiba International Corporation on W. Little York Road are two separate operating companies in Houston and both are part of the larger Toshiba America Group of companies," Temistokle said in an email.
In this new venture, Toshiba America LNG appears to be set to purchase gas, pay for its liquefaction and then export the LNG to clients overseas. The company says it will focus on import markets in the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia.
The new LNG unit will be "responsible for coordinating and assembling the necessary infrastructure chain to produce U.S. LNG which can then be marketed by the broader Toshiba group to key focus geographies," Toshiba representatives said in a release.
The new company will be "one of five tolling customers at the Freeport LNG project," they said. Toshiba also said its new LNG company has entered into an agreement with pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. to deliver natural gas to the Freeport LNG facility.
Toshiba America LNG will be initially led by Takayuki Shibano, a veteran of the parent company since 1987, officials said.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/08/04/stories/1060058383
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Watchdog Probes Use of Regulators' 'Limited Inspection Resources'
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Pipeline safety officials "cannot demonstrate the effectiveness" of the model used to monitor corrosion, according to a government watchdog.
The Government Accountability Office called on U.S. pipeline regulators to better account for "limited inspection resources" sent to far-flung oil and gas pipelines. The review published yesterday focused on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), part of the Department of Transportation, which concurred with the recommendations.
"We found that PHMSA uses its own professional judgment but didn't really document key decisions, and also didn't take that necessary step to determine whether or not its overall approach is effective and prioritizing the right segments for inspection," Susan Fleming, director of GAO's physical infrastructure team, said in a recording released alongside the report.
Fleming urged the regulator to "take that step back" and look at the overall approach to inspecting potentially at-risk pipelines.
GAO noted in the report that corrosion, along with material and weld failures, accounted for roughly a third of all major pipeline incidents between 2010 and 2015. The government watchdog said ruptures such as a 2012 breach and explosion that burned down several houses in West Virginia "have raised questions" about corrosion prevention and "the training and experience of personnel that prevent and manage" such disasters.
In 2010, a poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric Co. natural gas pipeline erupted in San Bruno, Calif., killing eight people and injuring 58 in the ensuing fire. That incident largely stemmed from faulty welding, rather than corrosion.
Pipeline safety issues have come to the forefront in the past decade amid a surge in domestic crude oil and natural gas production.
GAO observed that the nation's 2.7-million-mile pipework network is "relatively safe when compared with other transportation modes, such as rail and truck," though the agency noted that pipeline incidents can be deadly when they do occur. GAO pointed out that pipeline operators often coat steel along major lines with corrosion-resistant material, among other preventive steps.
Five years ago, PHMSA developed a "Risk Ranking Index Model" to prioritize when and where to dispatch inspectors. But GAO said the agency can't show how effective this model was in allocating staff "to the greatest threats" along the system. GAO based its findings on interviews with pipeline safety experts and inspectors.
In 2016, PHMSA carried out more than 70 percent of its inspections on the longer pipeline systems classified as "high-risk" under the model, spending just 1 percent of inspections on "low-risk" systems.
"Without documentation, the rationale for the chosen mileage weighting and the assumed risk of this factor relative to other factors is unclear," GAO said.
Bryan Slater, assistant secretary for administration at PHMSA, said in a written response to GAO's findings that "finding better ways to reduce the number of corrosion-related incidents is a priority" for the agency.
He pointed to several recent actions on the issue, including agency work with a private engineering group "to share corrosion and pipeline safety information."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/08/04/stories/1060058381
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Aug 4, 2017 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Felice Stadler
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been trying every trick in the book to suspend rules that require oil and gas companies to limit pollution from their operations as they look to expand drilling across the country. His attempted delay tactics follows a cozy relationship he’s had with the worst elements of the oil and gas industry in his prior role as Attorney General of Oklahoma, where he sued to block these very rules on the behalf of his oil and gas allies.
Following a historic court decision and subsequent mandate, EPA’s New Source Performance Standards (which set first-ever national methane pollution limits for the industry) are now in effect. However, Administrator Pruitt continues to push to delay these standards with a proposed two-year suspension. The impact of this action is sweeping: Hundreds of thousands of Americans live near the 23,000 oil and gas wells that should be covered by these rules.
The senseless delays of common sense pollution standards have major implications for the health and welfare of communities living downwind of oil and gas development in the U.S. Here’s why:
There is a lot of oil and gas drilling happening.
EPA’s new pollution rules apply to all wells built or updated since September 2015. Over 1,000 wells a month (on average) have been built or updated during this period; each new drilling operation can lead to more methane pollution, more smog pollution, and more cancer-causing pollution.
They also lead to more wasted American energy since methane pollution is essentially natural gas leaking into the atmosphere. Methane leaks and other intentional releases from oil and gas operations nationwide in 2015 could have met the heating and cooking needs of over 5 million American homes.
Oil and gas drilling is happening without common sense oversight
Oil and gas drilling is happening all across the country, with new wells dotting the landscapes of nearly two dozen states (click hereto find out if you live near one of the new 23,000 wells). While some operators are complying with pollution limits set by the state – like in Colorado, which has in place statewide methane standards – the majority are operating without any methane pollution requirements, where the only thing in place are the suspended federal standards.
That’s the case in Texas, where there are over 6,500 new and modified wells, or Oklahoma with almost 2,000 new and update wells. In these states, oil and gas companies have no accountability for their methane pollution, and communities are left to bear the burden from this energy development.
As we know, however, air pollution does not respect state lines, so even Coloradans will pay the public health price for not having federal standards in place, as pollution drift can drift over from New Mexico, Utah, and other nearby states.
Regulatory chaos leads to environmental uncertainty
The Trump administration, and its allies in Congress, has been sending signals to the oil and gas industry since the day after the elections that rolling back environmental protections was their top priority. The industry also knows that this decision does not just lie in the hands of the administration, but rather in the courts, which is where the fate of the oil and gas methane rules now sits.
Regulatory uncertainty often leads to industry delaying investments in new technology or practices, which only delays providing much-needed public health protections and seeds distrust in energy development.
Despite these rules being highly cost-effective to implement, few top energy operators have made public statements indicating that they will comply with the rules. Regardless of the regulatory chaos, proactively taking steps to address pollution isn’t just the right thing to do; it also manages reputational risk and positions companies for future compliance as rules tighten.
It’s unfortunate that more companies haven’t publicly come forward in staying the course for cutting methane rather than accepting the Trump free pass to pollute. The public is left to assume that communities all across the country are likely left unprotected and exposed to the release of thousands of tons of methane and toxic pollution.
Majority of Americans demand protections
During EPA’s only public comment period on the proposed suspension of its pollution rule, only two stakeholders out of 118 supported EPA’s move including the nation’s main oil and gas lobby, the American Petroleum Institute. The other 98 percent representing public health groups, businesses, tribes, Latino communities, ranchers, and others spoke opposition to the delay, sharing their experience of what it’s like to live adjacent to or downwind of the expanding oil and gas development that’s occurring nationwide.
Citizens came from vastly different regional, political, and religious backgrounds with one shared goal: to express their frustration and concern about EPA’s latest action to undo public health protections for the nation’s largest polluters.
As Elizabeth Chun Hye Lee of the United Methodist Women said at the hearing: “How many more children must suffer before EPA says enough?”
EPA’s comment period for the public to weigh in on this senseless two year delay is coming to a close. The public doesn’t want more pollution and it’s important that Scott Pruitt hear that message loud and clear. Make your voice heard.
http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2017/08/04/these-charts-show-why-communities-are-demanding-common-sense-standards-to-protect-them-from-oil-and-gas-pollution/
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Feds Back in 'Gasland' Town to Test Water, Air
Aug 4, 2017 | AP (in The New York Times
The federal government has returned to a Pennsylvania village that became a flashpoint in the national debate over fracking to investigate ongoing complaints about the quality of the drinking water.
Government scientists are collecting water and air samples this week from about 25 homes in Dimock, a tiny crossroads about 150 miles north of Philadelphia.
"Take a skunk and every household chemical, put it in a blender, puree it for five minutes and take a whiff," said Dimock resident Ray Kemble, 61, describing the smell of his well water. "It burns the back of your throat, makes you gag, makes you want to puke."
He said investigators from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency, were at his house Monday to collect samples.
Fracking is a method that uses huge amounts of pressurized water, along with sand and chemicals, to extract oil and natural gas from rock formations deep underground.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/03/us/ap-us-gas-drilling-dimock.html
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Researchers Hope for More Than 'Bright Light'
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Adam Aton
North Dakota's night sky burns with enough gas flares to see them from space.
Drillers are burning off methane, the oil byproduct that forms the primary component of natural gas. It has about 30 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, but there's little market value in piping it from the remote areas driving the country's energy boom. So fuel producers ignite it.
As much as a third of the gas goes up in flames, accounting for an estimated 3.5 percent of the world's natural gas consumption.
Now, researchers think they've found a better way to use it — potentially driving down net emissions and creating a new revenue source for energy companies.
"Right now, the only thing we get from flaring methane gas is bright light," said Su Ha, a professor at Washington State University and director of the O.H. Reaugh Laboratory for Oil and Gas Research. "Everyone wants to convert methane to something ... that has more value."
Ha and a team of researchers have developed a reactor that uses water, an inexpensive nickel catalyst and an electric current to decompose methane into carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas — the ingredients for synthetic gas.
That can be stored as liquid gasoline, Ha said, which can more easily be transported from remote locations.
Ha, Washington State professor Jean-Sabin McEwen and other researchers published their findings in the journal ACS Catalysis.
The idea isn't exactly new, but the method is.
"It's like a combination lock," Ha said of unbinding methane's molecular structure. "When you apply the right combination, when you apply the electric field with the right strength and right direction, it's like you are applying a combination to a lock, and click, it opens."
It's cheaper, uses about half the amount of water that other methods use, and functions at a much lower temperature.
Although it still produces hydrocarbon fuel, that product could offset other fossil fuel use instead of going directly into the atmosphere, Ha said.
The reactor is still only a lab model, and it will take about five years before the researchers have scaled it up to present as a prototype.
Flaring around the Bakken play is already declining as the infrastructure catches up to the drilling, said Matt Harrison, vice president of engineering consulting company AECOM, which works to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This idea could potentially present an option for areas where infrastructure development is toughest or will take the longest, he said.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/08/04/stories/1060058395
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Sources: Trump Administration to Deliver Notice It Intends to Withdraw from Paris Climate Deal
Aug 4, 2017 | Politico Pro Energy Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
The Trump administration will release a notice today outlining the United States’ intention to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, two sources familiar with the issue said.
The notice, which will be released by the State Department and transmitted by the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, will be the first written notice that the administration plans to pull out of the 2015 pact, which has won the support of nearly 200 nations.
Trump announced in June that the U.S. will leave the agreement.
Under the terms of the Paris deal, the U.S. can’t fully withdraw until Nov. 4, 2020 — one day after the next presidential election. The next president could decide to rejoin the agreement if Trump doesn’t win a second term.
In addition, the U.S. can’t even formally notify the United Nations that it is withdrawing until 2019. As a result, today’s notice will largely be a symbolic statement with no legal weight. And the sources said the statement likely will leave some room for the administration to remain in the deal.
International diplomats are still holding out hope that Trump might change his mind, or reach some kind of compromise that would allow the United States to stay in.
In the June speech in which Trump announced he would pull out, the president held out the possibility that the U.S. would “begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States.”
Other countries have said they will not negotiate a totally new climate deal, as the Paris agreement was the product of decades of laborious talks. But they believe the U.S. might opt to stay in if Trump publicly abandons former President Barack Obama’s domestic emissions reduction commitment.
It remains unclear what the Trump administration’s next steps might be.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment, and a State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Schwarzenegger Launches New Effort to Counter Trump on Climate
Aug 4, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By John Bowden
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is launching a database of legislation to help combat climate change in response to President Trump's decision to leave the Paris accord.
The website, envirolaws.org, is a cooperative effort between the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of South Carolina and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. It contains a searchable database of environmental bills and laws. The database is meant to help lawmakers across the country craft their own climate change legislation.
In an interview with Politico, Schwarzenegger called it a direct challenge to Trump.
"There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have a digital legislative handbook — and make it available to people who wanted to create environmental action now — because of the situation with Trump," Schwarzenegger said Thursday.
"With his decision on the Paris agreement, it is even more so important to make this information available because it shows the kinds of wonderful things states can do without waiting for the federal government."
According to Schwarzenegger, his new website will empower state legislators to go further than the Trump administration is willing to go on environmental issues.
"The message to legislators with the project is now 'you have the power to do it yourselves,'" he told Politico. "The reality is each state now goes to work and passes great legislation that helps them ... make great decisions."
Schwarzenegger has long been a proponent of legislation to address climate change and is a strong supporter of the Paris climate agreement.
In June, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss green issues and called the centrist French president a "great leader" on Twitter.
"I'm here with President Macron, we're talking about environmental issues and a green future," Schwarzenegger says in a video with Macron in June.
"And now we will deliver together to make the planet great again," Macron added.
Trump announced in June that he will withdraw the United States from the Paris agreement.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/345300-schwarzenegger-hits-trump-on-climate
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Critics Make Another Plea for Speedy Defeat of Obama EPA Rule
Aug 4, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Critics of an Obama-era rule to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are making what may be their final push to quickly sideline the regulation.
In a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, two dozen oil and gas industry groups argued that the full court should reconsider a panel decision that revived U.S. EPA's 2016 methane restrictions last month.
The Trump administration is rethinking the methane standards and in June issued a 90-day stay of core elements of the rule. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit last month ruled that EPA's attempt to delay the rule was unlawful and ordered the agency to begin enforcing it (Greenwire, July 3).
Industry groups are pushing the court's 11 active judges to rehear the case. They say the panel erred because EPA's decision to use a Clean Air Act reconsideration process to justify pausing the rule does not amount to a final agency action that would fall under the court's jurisdiction. Instead, they argue, EPA's actions are not ripe for judicial review until EPA completes its reconsideration process.
"The reconsideration grant merely began a proceeding in which EPA will decide whether or not to revise the rule," the groups said in yesterday's filing.
Industry lawyers further argue that EPA's decision to stay the standards is not reviewable because it falls within the agency's discretion and merely preserves the status quo.
"The Panel identified what it believed to be a tension in the law — i.e., how to review EPA's stay decision when that decision follows a non-final, non-reviewable agency action. It resolved that tension by reviewing the non-final, non-reviewable action, expanding judicial review jurisdiction contrary to law and precedent," they wrote.
EPA has not made its own request for rehearing. A coalition of states opposed to the methane standards requested rehearing but did not file a reply defending their position yesterday. If the court does not grant rehearing, EPA will have to enforce the standards while it goes through a public notice and comment process for a proposed two-year delay.
Environmental and state supporters of the standards, meanwhile, have pushed the D.C. Circuit to reject the rehearing request and maintain the panel's decision.
The full court is expected to issue a decision soon on whether to reconsider the panel's decision. Nine of the court's 11 active judges earlier this week ordered EPA to enforce the rule for now (Energywire, Aug. 1).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/08/04/stories/1060058384
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