Northwestern Energy blames frost, not negligence, for fatal Montana blast

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Natural external forces, like frost heaving, may have been
responsible for a natural gas pipe failure that caused a fatal explosion in downtown Bozeman last March, Northwestern Energy chief executive officer Bob Rowe said on Aug. 24.
Rowe was seeking to answer the question, at least in his view, of who is liable for the millions that will be required to rebuild half the 200 block of East Main Street in Bozeman.
"What (investigators) are seeing so far is not showing liability on our part," Rowe told about 50 people gathered at the Bozeman Public Library. "If there's a natural occurrence, it's not a liability." Liability is based on negligence, he said.
Although the investigation is still not complete, there is nothing to suggest the service line that failed had undergone gradual deterioration, Rowe said.
The "freshness" of the 7.5-inch crack that went three-quarters of the way around the 2-inch service line, indicated it was caused by "sudden forces" and "very close to the time of the explosion," Rowe said.
As to which came first, the crack in the pipe or the explosion, Rowe said after the meeting: "There may never be a definitive answer."
Rowe acknowledged that the various insurance companies involved in the investigation may have different opinions. "It's probable, rather likely, that conclusions will differ," Rowe said.
And though the mood at the meeting was more than civil - many who had questions for Rowe also thanked him for his company's response to the blast - that didn't deter those people from voicing their frustration.
"It took 15 to 16 hours to turn the gas off two years ago" when there was a significant natural gas leak behind the parking garage construction on East Mendenhall Street, said Mike Hope, owner of the Rocking R Bar that was destroyed in the March 5 blast. "Didn't you learn something then? Was there anything done back then?"

Russian hackers vandalized BTC Pipeline data servers

According to Aviation Week, Russian hackers have been attacking the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline data server.
Hacker attacks have caused suspensions in BTC operations, forcing the Eastern Oil Consortium to redirect the oil through the Baku-Novorossiysk Russian pipeline. “After U.S. experts restored the BTC server, the pipeline operation was recovered,” Aviation Week says.
The publication said the attacks had the same IPs as those of Estonian websites swamped during the 2007 Estonian Cyberwar. The source stressed that cyber crime officers of the Intelligence Service and FBI got BTC data servers under control and migrated them to Washington.

Enbridge Alberta Clipper permit sparks criticism in Canada and U.S.

FORT McMURRAY, Alta. - The U.S. presidential permit granted Aug. 20 for Enbridge's controversial Alberta Clipper pipeline has launched environmental protests on both sides of the border, with opponents vowing a legal challenge.
According to a coalition of environmental and Native American groups, the decision goes against U.S. President Barack Obama's promise to cut global warming pollution and America’s addition to oil while investing in clean energy.
The groups - Earthjustice and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy as well as the Canadian and American offices of the Sierra Club and the Indigenous Environmental Network - have vowed to challenge the decision in court.
In addition, the indigenous network based in Minnesota is looking into the validity of the permit, as it wasn't signed by Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, as required. Marty Cobenais of the network said it was signed by the deputy assistant director instead, and he wants to check its validity. Cobenais says the coalition, especially the Leech Lake Band, which stands to be the most affected by the pipeline, is in for a David and Goliath fight with a multibillion-dollar industry and the American government.
“This fight isn't even just about the pipeline. We're fighting this fight down here … because we're against the expansion of the (Alberta) tar sands also,” said Cobenais.
The $3.6-billion Alberta Clipper pipeline will carry oil sands product from Hardisty, Alta. It will extend 525 kilometers from the U.S.-Canadian border near Neche, N.D., across northern Minnesota to an Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wis. The project also includes associated pumping and terminal stations. Scheduled to be up and running in 2010, the pipeline will have an initial capacity of 450,000 b/d of heavy bituminous syncrude. A second 51-centimeter parallel pipeline, Southern Lights, will extend 307 kilometers from Superior to an Enbridge terminal in Clearbrook, Minn.

Environmental groups still hope to halt Enbridge Alberta Clipper line

WASHINGTON – In an announcement on Aug. 20 that surprised no one, the Obama administration approved construction of the proposed Enbridge Alberta Clipper Pipeline to carry oil-sands fuel from Canada into Superior, Wis., saying its action was designed to send "a positive economic signal in a difficult economic period".
Many environmentalists had expressed hopes that Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, would reject a permit to build the Alberta Clipper, a 1,000-mile pipeline designed to carry up to 800,000 b/d of bitumen from Canada's oil sands.
The State Department said greenhouse-gas emissions are best addressed through each country's domestic policies and a strong international agreement.
After undertaking what it said was considerable evaluation, the State Department said it would permit Enbridge Energy to build the pipeline to advance a number of U.S. strategic interests.
These interests include increasing the diversity of oil supplies for the U.S., amid political tension in many major oil-producing regions; shortening the transportation path for crude oil supplies; and increasing crude oil supplies from a major non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producer.
"Canada is a stable and reliable ally and trading partner of the United States, with which we have free trade agreements, which augment the security of this energy supply," the State Department said ina prepared news release. "Approval of the permit sends a positive economic signal, in a difficult economic period, about the future reliability and availability of a portion of the United States' energy imports.''
The State Department also said the project would provide construction jobs for U.S. workers.
Environmentalists on both sides of the border seized on the approval as a contradiction of Washington's promise to cut global warming pollution and the U.S. addiction to oil.
"Importing dirty tar-sands oil is not in our national interest," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, an environmental group. "At a time when concern is growing about the national security threat posted by global warming, it doesn't make sense to open our gates to one of the dirtiest fuels on earth."
Pope said that approving such a big, long-term project locked the U.S. into a dirty energy infrastructure for years to come. "This is exactly the kind of project the State Department should be protecting us from," he said.
An international coalition of environmental and Native American groups said they would challenge the permit in court to ensure all impacts of the pipeline were considered.
"The tar-sands pipeline connects U.S. refiners and consumers with the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive crude oil on earth," said Kevin Reuther, legal director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

Oil cos. fund astroturf rallies against federal regulation of greenhouse gas

HOUSTON - Some 3,500 people, most of them oil industry employees bused in for the event, packed a downtown theater here on Aug. 18 for a lunchtime rally against Washington’s energy policies, which many here fear will raise energy prices.
The keynote speaker was Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros and chairman of the McLane Group, which operates food distribution enterprises and military services. The master of ceremonies, Bill Bailey, is best known for his work as announcer at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.
The event was organized by a group called Energy Citizens, which is backed by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s main trade group. Many of the people attending the demonstration were employees of oil companies who work in Houston and were bused from their workplaces.
In public relations, the term “third party fronts” is used to describe creation of what are supposed to appear to be grass-roots groups that are in fact funded by industry. Shortly after World War II, in the case of Noerr Motor Freight v. Eastern Railroad Presidents, the Supreme Court considered the legality of such fronts. The Supremes ultimately ruled that such fronts are legal but unethical.
The Houston event was the first of a series of about 20 rallies planned for Southern and oil-producing states to organize resistance to proposed legislation that would set a limit on emissions of heat-trapping gases, requiring many companies to buy emission permits. Participants described the system as an energy tax that would undermine the economy of Houston, the nation’s energy capital.

U.S. State Department approves Enbridge Alberta Clipper construction

WASHINGTON – In an announcement on Aug. 20 that surprised no one, the Obama administration approved construction of the proposed Enbridge Alberta Clipper Pipeline to carry oil-sands fuel from Canada into Superior, Wis., saying its action was designed to send "a positive economic signal in a difficult economic period".
Many environmentalists had expressed hopes that Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, would reject a permit to build the Alberta Clipper, a 1,000-mile pipeline designed to carry up to 800,000 b/d of fuel from Canada's oil sands.
The State Department said greenhouse-gas emissions are best addressed through each country's domestic policies and a strong international agreement.
After undertaking what it said was considerable evaluation, the State Department said it would permit Enbridge Energy to build the pipeline to advance a number of U.S. strategic interests.
These interests include increasing the diversity of oil supplies for the U.S., amid political tension in many major oil-producing regions; shortening the transportation path for crude oil supplies; and increasing crude oil supplies from a major non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producer.

Environmental groups ask public inquiry into Enbridge Gateway line

CALGARY, Alta. – Canadian West coast environmental groups on Aug. 17 demanded that the federal government create a public inquiry to look into crude oil pipelines in northern British Columbia.
“Canadians deserve a decision-making process for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline that is independent, comprehensive, and has the freedom to decide if the proposed oil pipelines and supertankers are right for BC and Canada's Pacific North Coast,” said Josh Paterson, staff counsel at West Coast Environmental Law in a press release.
The letter sent to the government was signed by ten different environmental groups including West Coast Environmental Law, ForestEthics, the Pembina Institute, Living Oceans Society and others. It stated that the proposed model for environmental review of the pipeline is not adequate.