Workers building the $409-million John James Audubon Bridge over the Mississippi River in Louisiana will have to complete construction with cars cruising by, after the contractor complied with a state request to open the bridge more than a month early to help the state cope with high river levels that shut down an alternative crossing. Photo By Wayne Marchand, Louisiana TIMED Managers Workers stand in the shadow of the podium and barricades as first traffic begins to move across the John James Audubon Bridge over the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The contractor opened the bridge more than a month early
A supplementary, $50 billion (¥4.015 trillion) budget passed by the Japanese Diet last week to aid regions damaged by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, will focus resources on quickly repairing roads and port facilities, debris removal and support for disaster survivors. A second, much larger supplementary budget is expected to follow for full-scale reconstruction later this summer, according to the Tokyo-based, English language newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri. By Tom Sawyer Supplementary budget passed this week by the Japanese Diet to fund disaster reconstruction and relief after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has $7.5 billion to support
In a settlement with federal agencies, BP Exploration Alaska Inc. has agreed to pay a $25-million civil penalty for two crude-oil spills in 2006 from its pipelines on Alaska's North Slope, the U.S. Justice Dept. says. Related Links: BP Closes Prudhoe Over Corroded Pipes House Lawmakers Slam BP for Alaska Pipeline Maintenance The settlement was spelled out in a consent decree filed on May 3 in federal district court in Alaska. Under the settlement, BP Alaska also will put in place a pipeline-integrity program, including regular inspections. The estimated cost of the program is $60 million. BP said in a
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Dept. of Energy research complex and former atomic-weapons development center in New Mexico, has settled a three-year-old lawsuit with environmental groups that alleged contaminated stormwater runoff at more than 100 sites on its 36-sq-mile campus. The laboratory did not admit to fault but has agreed to spend $80 million on stormwater control upgrades, including construction of berms, rock dams, weirs and detention ponds. The 2008 lawsuit by eight community groups and two individuals alleges that Los Alamos violated the federal Clean Water Act by allowing elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorine, among
The Japanese and American engineers stood atop a tsunami “refuge hill” near Sendai, Japan, and looked across an endless, muddy landscape of structures wrecked by the March 11 tsunami. One of the investigators stretched a long measuring pole into a surviving tree. Its branches apparently had been broken by a massive stone monument—commemorating a previous tsunami of 77 years ago—that was launched from its hilltop pedestal by the latest tsunami. “Three meters,” he said, indicating how much higher the water must have been than the hill. “About 10 feet.” The 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that devastated northeast Honshu Island left
A congressional budget deal on April 8 averted a shutdown of federal agencies, but some of the pact's roughly $38 billion in spending cuts fall on construction programs. The Transportation Dept.'s $2.5 billion in 2011 high-speed passenger rail funding was zeroed out. Lawmakers also rescinded $400 million in unobligated high-speed rail funds from 2010. Federal Transit Administration capital grants were sliced by $680 million. Other cuts include $997 million from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aid for state revolving funds that finance sewage-treatment and drinking-water projects. Some reductions will not result in cuts in construction projects. For example, appropriators list a
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy is reporting that workers have successfully stemmed the flow of fluids from a well that blew out April 19. The blowout resulted in thousands of gallons of drilling waste fluids leaking into local fields, streams and Towanda Creek. Related Links: Natural Gas Well Blows Out In Bradford County, Pa. The well blowout occurred during hydrofracking operations at a well operated by Chesapeake around 11:45 p.m.on April 19. Although the well emitted what Chesapeake is calling “limited amounts of gas,” gas plume modeling performed by both the Bradford County Emergency Management Agency and Chesapeake suggests that “any
The Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments on April 19 in an environmental case that could have broad ramifications on the ability of states and private parties to file public nuisance claims against utilities that emit greenhouse gasses. At issue in the case, American Electric Power v. Connecticut, is whether states and individuals can sue utilities under federal common law for contributing to global warming, and force them to reduce emissions of CO2. Legal observers say it is one of the most significant environmental cases since the landmark 2007 Mass. v. EPA, which gave the Environmental Protection Agency broad legal
The restoration of the Gulf of Mexico is expected to get a boost as a result of an agreement between the Natural Resource Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and BP. The agreement, announced on April 21, stipulates that BP will pay $1 billion for “early” restoration projects related to the Gulf spill. According to administration officials, BP is providing the restoration funds voluntarily. “This agreement accelerates our work on Gulf Coast restoration and in no way limits the ability of all the Natural Resource Trustees from seeking full damages from those who are responsible as the process moves
Late on April 19, a natural gas well in Bradford County, Pa. blew out and spewed thousands of gallons of drilling waste fluids into local fields, streams and Towanda Creek. Related Links: Drilling for Treasure The well blowout occurred during hydrofracking operations at a well operated by Oklahoma City�based Chesapeake Energy around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday evening. Although the well emitted what Chesapeake is calling “limited amounts of gas,” gas plume modeling performed by both the Bradford County Emergency Management Agency and Chesapeake suggests that “any natural �gas releases will not pose a risk to the area’s public safety,” says Brian