Chemicals/Petroleum
The Lead
TransCanada: Pipeline Would Not Affect Climate
February 20, 2013 8:00 am | by Matthew Daly, Associated Press | News | Comments
Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada's president for energy and oil pipelines, said opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline have grossly inflated its likely impact on emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Canada represents just 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pourbaix said at a forum sponsored by a manufacturing group that supports the pipeline.
Lawmakers: Put Dangerous Chemical Site Info Online
June 18, 2013 7:51 am | by Will Weissert, Associated Press | News | CommentsOther state officials told lawmakers that 129 facilities store at least 5 tons of ammonium nitrate and other potentially explosive materials. Sixteen of those were fertilizer-mixing facilities similar to the West Fertilizer Co., which blew up following a fire that ignited ammonium nitrate.
Nuclear Weapons Plant To Improve Fire Safety
June 17, 2013 1:52 pm | News | CommentsThe new construction comes after the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board raised safety concerns earlier this year about more than a decade of delays in completing improvements to an aging fire protection system at the West Texas facility, the Amarillo Globe-News reported Sunday.
Police: 1 Dead, 7 Hurt In 2nd La. Plant Blast
June 17, 2013 8:22 am | News | CommentsState Police Trooper Jared Sandifer said Saturday officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were coming to the CF Industries facility as soon as the site was safe. Sandifer said the state police's hazardous materials unit was at the plant overnight.
U.S. Wholesale Prices Rise 0.5 Percent In May
June 14, 2013 8:57 am | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsA rise in food and gas costs drove a measure of wholesale prices up sharply in May. But outside those volatile categories, inflation was mild.The Labor Department said Friday that the producer price index rose 0.5 percent in May from April.
Kodak Ending Production Of Acetate Film Base
June 14, 2013 7:13 am | News | CommentsEastman Kodak Co. says it's ending in-house production of one of the key components of camera film and cutting 61 jobs. The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester reports (http://on.rocne.ws/11cAOIs ) that Kodak plans to shut down its acetate base manufacturing operations next week. Light-sensitive chemicals are spread on the acetate base for photographic film.
1 Dead, At Least 30 Hurt In La. Plant Explosion
June 13, 2013 1:44 pm | by Stacey Plaisance, Associated Press | News | CommentsState police say at least one person was killed and at least 30 were injured in an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Louisiana. State police Capt. Doug Cain said a hazardous material crew going through the plant in Geismar after the Thursday morning explosion found one person dead.
AP: FEMA Denies Aid To Texas For Blast
June 12, 2013 1:41 pm | by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe blast killed 10 first responders and brought national attention to the agricultural community. President Barack Obama traveled to the area to attend a memorial service for the first responders and others who died trying to help. The FEMA funds would have helped pay for public repairs such as roads, sewer lines, pipes and a school that were destroyed.
BP: U.S. Oil Production Surged In 2012
June 12, 2013 8:35 am | News | CommentsBP says the United States saw its biggest-ever annual increase in oil production in 2012, while the world's demand for energy grew at a slower pace than the year before. In its annual Statistical Review of World Energy released Wednesday, BP PLC says the U.S. produced 8.9 million barrels a day, up 13.9 percent from 2011.
Cleanup Work After BP Oil Spill Ends In 3 States
June 10, 2013 1:20 pm | News | CommentsCleanup work has ended in three of the states affected by BP PLC's massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Monday. The London-based oil giant said the Coast Guard has concluded "active cleanup operations" in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, but the work continues along 84 miles of Louisiana's shoreline.
Exxon Mobil Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit Over Spill
June 7, 2013 10:58 am | News | CommentsAttorneys for Exxon Mobil Corp. and Exxon Pipeline Co. have filed a motion asking for dismissal of a lawsuit by Mayflower residents over a recent oil spill. ExxonMobil Pipeline's Pegasus pipeline ruptured March 29 and spilled thousands of barrels of oil in the town about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock and forced the evacuation of about 20 homes.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Reprimands CEO
June 4, 2013 1:52 pm | News | CommentsScotts Miracle-Gro Co. has reprimanded CEO and Chairman Jim Hagedorn for using inappropriate language. The lawn care products maker also announced that three board members have resigned, and that it will stick with a smaller board.
BP Rig Supervisors Challenge Manslaughter Counts
May 31, 2013 1:46 pm | by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press | News | CommentsTwo BP rig supervisors charged in the deaths of 11 workers in the Deepwater Horizon disaster claim the manslaughter counts in their indictment must be dismissed because they don't apply to conduct on a foreign-owned vessel operating outside U.S. territory.
Estonia Eager To Teach World About Oil Shale
May 30, 2013 8:13 am | by Gary Peach, Associated Press | News | CommentsHome to the creators of Skype and the first country to use online voting, Estonia relishes its image as a technological pioneer. But the tiny East European country's most far-reaching economic achievement could come from how it has learned to squeeze oil from a rock.
Terror Fears Keep Toxic Plants Hidden From Public
May 30, 2013 8:10 am | by Dina Cappiello, Jack Gillum and Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | CommentsUntil the local fertilizer company in West, Texas, blew up last month and demolished scores of homes, many in that town of 2,800 didn't know what chemicals were stored alongside the railroad tracks or how dangerous they were. Even rescue workers didn't know what they were up against.
CSX: Train Explosion Caused By Chemical Cargo
May 30, 2013 8:05 am | by Ben Nuckols and David Dishneau, Associated Press | News | CommentsRobert Sumwalt, a member of the NTSB, said investigators were examining evidence on the scene and reviewing train video that shows the collision with a garbage truck that led to the derailment. The fire that followed sent a plume of black and gray smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.
Oil Giant Total To Pay $245M In Bribery Case
May 30, 2013 7:52 am | by Matthew Barakat, Associated Press | News | CommentsCourt papers filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria indicate Total paid $60 million in bribes between 1995 and 2004 that allowed it to re-renter the Iranian oil and gas market. The bribes helped Total land contracts with the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company to develop oil and gas fields in and around Iran's Sirri Island in the Persian Gulf.
Eastman Adding 300 Jobs, Spending $1.6B
May 29, 2013 1:33 pm | News | CommentsEastman Chemical Co. will put $1.6 billion into an expansion in Tennessee that will create 300 new jobs. The expansion is called Project Inspire. Eastman management said it will invest in new growth opportunities, safety and environmental projects, increased warehouse space, building renovations and expansion of its corporate campus in Kingsport.
Wal-Mart To Pay $81.6M For Illegal Waste Disposal
May 29, 2013 8:39 am | by Greg Risling and Paul Elias, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe company entered the guilty plea in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday to misdemeanor counts of violating the Clean Water Act and a law regulating pesticides. The charges came from Wal-Mart's disposal of hazardous products that had been pulled from store shelves in California and Missouri because of problems like damaged packaging.
Fire Marshal's Office: Panel Had Blast Site Access
May 23, 2013 1:53 pm | News | CommentsHowever, in a statement issued Wednesday, the state agency said the CSB was given access to the scene, worked with other agencies during excavations and neighborhood surveys, and collected its own chemical samples with ATF assistance. The statement says no evidence was destroyed or compromised.
Baldor Electric Introduces Full Line Of ER-Style Ball Bearings
May 22, 2013 4:20 pm | Product Releases | CommentsBaldor Electric Company has introduced its line of Dodge ER-Style ball bearings, which are available in two shaft attachment methods. The set screw version has a 65° set screw angle for better shaft grip, while the D-Lok product uses a clamp collar grip to minimize vibration.
Safety Board: ATF Blocking Plant Blast Probe
May 22, 2013 7:38 am | News | CommentsFederal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel's chairman said.
Precise Flow Measurements On Small Pipelines
May 21, 2013 2:41 pm | Product Releases | CommentsEmerson Process Management has added the Micro Motion ELITE CMFS sensor platform to its line of Coriolis flowmeters in the effort to bring more precise measurement to pipelines smaller than 2” or DN50. According to the company, the new sensor platform features better scalability and standardization.
Marine Who Dumped Toxins Felt Illness Was Payback
May 20, 2013 1:55 pm | by Allen G. Breed, AP National Writer | News | CommentsAs a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history.
U.S.: Pakistan Moves To Curb Dangerous Fertilizers
May 20, 2013 10:43 am | by Rebecca Santana, Associated Press | News | CommentsA top American military officer says Pakistan has taken steps to prevent fertilizers made in Pakistan from being used for roadside bombs targeting American troops in Afghanistan. Brig. Gen. Robert P. Walters Jr. spoke Monday in Islamabad on ways to counter the bombs often referred to as improvised explosive devices.
Authorities: Crime Not Ruled Out In Texas Blast
May 17, 2013 7:49 am | by Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press | News | CommentsInvestigators working in the remnants of an exploded Texas fertilizer plant sifted by hand through untold kernels of corn, moved tons of debris and conducted more than 400 interviews, while searching for the missing piece to solve what many officials compared to an extraordinary puzzle.
