Enbridge races to clean up Wisconsin oil spill, line still shut - Reuters
GRAND MARSH, Wisconsin |
GRAND MARSH, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Canada's Enbridge Inc on Sunday worked to repair a major pipeline that spilled more than 1,000 barrels of oil in a Wisconsin field, provoking fresh ire from Washington over the latest in a series of leaks.
The spill on Friday -- almost two years to the day after a ruptured Enbridge line fouled part of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan -- has forced the closure of a major conduit for Canadian light crude shipments to U.S. refiners and threatens to further damage the reputation of a company that launched a more than $3 billion expansion program just two months ago.
On Sunday, an Enbridge spokesman said the company was working diligently to carry out inspections to Line 14 and repairs to ensure a safe restart.
The company did not say what had caused the incident and provided no estimate on when the 318,000 barrels-per-day Line 14 would resume service.
An official with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said two inspectors were at the site on Sunday, and that all of the pooled oil had been cleaned up.
"The line has been uncovered to begin removing the failed section and send it to a metallurgical lab for examination," PHMSA spokesman Damon Hill said.
Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are also on site, Enbridge said in a statement.
An image of the area posted on Enbridge's website showed a patch of damp, blackened earth near a stand of trees about one-third the size of a football field. It found some oil on two small farm ponds, but said they did not connect to moving waterways and that drinking wells did not seem to be affected.
Although the spill appeared to be relatively small and quickly contained, it comes at a delicate time for Enbridge, which suffered another leak in Alberta, Canada, a month ago and endured a scathing report from U.S. safety regulators over its handling of the Michigan incident in 2010, with employees likened to the "Keystone Kops" for their bungled response.
"Enbridge is fast becoming to the Midwest what BP was to the Gulf of Mexico, posing troubling risks to the environment," U.S. Representative Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.
"The company must be forthcoming about this entire incident, and deserves a top-to-bottom review of their safety culture, procedures and standards," said Markey, an outspoken critic of increasing imports of Canada's heavy oil sands crude.
Canada is the largest source of foreign crude for the United States, supplying over 2.4 million bpd of the more than 8.3 million bpd of imported by the nation on average in July. Enbridge's lines, the world's largest crude oil pipeline system, carry the lion's share of those shipments.
Just two months ago, Enbridge kicked off one of the most sweeping expansions in its history, announcing a multibillion-dollar series of projects aimed at moving western Canada and North Dakota oil to Eastern refineries and eliminating costly bottlenecks in the U.S. Midwest.
Line 14 is a 24-inch diameter pipe that was installed in 1998, making it a relatively new line. Enbridge said it had been inspected twice in the past five years.
BULGING STOCKS
Analysts said that the move, which comes as oil inventories in the Midwest hit record highs, may have a limited impact on crude oil futures when trading opens in Asia.
"I think that the pipeline (outage) is more likely to have a greater company impact that it will on the oil (futures) market -- I think that global growth and geopolitics will be more important than the pipeline," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC in Austin, Texas.
U.S. and global oil prices have been balancing the risks of a large-scale disruption in Iranian crude against the struggling world economy this year.
A surge in production from North Dakota and Canada has built up inventories in the U.S. Midwest due to a shortfall of capacity to move the oil into the Gulf Coast refining region. U.S. crude oil prices rose 74 cents on Friday to settle at $90.13 a barrel.
Schenker said the impact of the Enbridge disruption on Chicago refineries will depend largely on how much crude they have stockpiled as well as the length of the outage. Total Midwest crude inventories have hit a record high over 110 million barrels over the past two months, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
TWO LANDOWNERS, ONE HOUSE 'COVERED'
In most cases, smaller pipeline leaks can be repaired quickly, although regulators may require significant work if they find any cause for alarm. Following the leak in Michigan two years ago -- which spilled roughly 15 times more oil than the Wisconsin leak if initial estimates of the Friday incident prove correct -- one line was shut for more than two months.
Enbridge said two landowners had been affected and that one family had been relocated for their safety and comfort, but that most of the spill was restricted to the pipeline right-of-way. It kept its estimate of the spill at around 1,200 barrels -- about as much as would fit in six very large oil tanker trucks.
"The house right next to where the pipeline broke got covered with oil," said Patrick Swadish, who lives about a mile northwest of the spill site in a rural area of mostly farmland, some 80 miles north of the college town of Madison.
Oil trucks, Enbridge vehicles and about a dozen crews were working in the area, which had been cordoned off by sheriff deputies. Local law enforcement officials said they had been told it may take up to 30 days to clean the area.
Enbridge also said it had briefly shut down two larger adjacent lines -- the 400,000 bpd Line 61 and the 670,000 bpd Line 6A -- but both were pumping again within a day. Together with Line 14, they form the backbone of Lakehead, a 2.5 million bpd network that is the main route for Canadian exports.
Another line, the 180,000 bpd Line 13, which carries diluents from Chicago to Edmonton, Alberta, would be restarted once it was confirmed the release had not had an impact on it, it said.
PREVIOUS SPILLS
Just weeks ago, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board blasted Enbridge's handling of the July 2010 rupture of its Line 6B near Marshall, Michigan, which led to more than 20,000 barrels of crude leaking into the Kalamazoo River.
The NTSB said it found a complete breakdown of company safety measures, and that Enbridge employees performed like "Keystone Kops" trying to contain it. The rupture went undetected for 17 hours.
U.S. pipeline regulators fined it $3.7 million for the spill, their largest ever penalty.
The incidents, plus the most recent spill in Alberta, have caused furor just as the company seeks approval for its C$6 billion Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada's West Coast amid staunch opposition from environmental groups and native communities that warn against oil spills.
(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner and Russ Blinch in Washington; Jeff Jones in Calgary; Writing by Jonathan Leff and Matthew Robinson; Editing by Anthony Boadle, Maureen Bavdek and Gunna Dickson)
Taylor replaces Bopara in England squad - ESPN.co.uk
James Taylor, the Nottinghamshire batsman, has been called up for the second Test at against South Africa at Headingley after Ravi Bopara was ruled out for what the ECB said were "personal issues".
The first match of the series at The Oval marked Bopara's return to the Test line-up after nearly a year out of the team but he struggled, making 0 and 22. He had been due to play in Essex's CB40 match against Worcestershire on Sunday.
Taylor, who has played one ODI against Ireland last year, will enter the match in good form after making a century in the current round of Championship matches against Sussex - although before that innings it had been a lean season in four-day cricket for him with one half-century in nine matches. However, he did hit a century for England Lions against the West Indians earlier this season.
He is the only change to the 13-man squad after the innings-and-12-run defeat in the opening Test at The Oval, although question marks remain over the make up of the bowling attack after England took just two wickets in 189 overs. Steven Finn and Graham Onions, who both played Championship cricket this week, are the other options should the selectors decide on a change.
The most vulnerable of the pace bowlers appears to be Tim Bresnan although he would bring local knowledge on his home ground and can bowl long spells. Stuart Broad was below his best at The Oval but it is unlikely that England will consider leaving him out after showing such faith in him during previous slips in form.
Finn took six wickets against Durham at Chester-le-Street while by the start of the third day Onions had four to his name. Both played against West Indies at Edgbaston when England rotated their pace attack and Finn showed excellent form against Australia in the one-day series.
Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: "We were outplayed during the first Test last week but it is important that this squad regroups and focuses on preparing for the second Test. This is a talented squad with plenty of international experience and they will be determined to improve on the performance during the first Test.
"We have made one change to the squad with James Taylor replacing Ravi Bopara who is unavailable for selection due to personal reasons. James has been part of the England Performance Programme for a number of years and has performed consistently for England Lions and now has an opportunity to step up and experience the Test environment.
"We have played a lot of good cricket over the last few years and it's important we remember that, learn from the mistakes that we made and retain the belief that we can level this series at Headingley."
Squad: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, James Taylor, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Graham Onions
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
Romney talks tough on Iran during visit to Israel - Reuters
JERUSALEM |
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Republican candidate Mitt Romney, presenting himself as Israel's best friend in the November 6 presidential election, said on Sunday that "any and all measures" must be used to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
A top aide said Romney would support an Israeli military strike if all options had been exhausted, but the candidate himself balked at repeating that position.
In a foreign policy speech in Jerusalem, Romney voiced strong support for the alliance between the United States and Israel and seemed to suggest that President Barack Obama had let the relationship flounder.
"We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel voice their criticisms. And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel's adversaries," said Romney, the walls of the Old City lining the hilltop behind him.
The former Massachusetts governor was in Jerusalem on the second leg of a trip to strengthen his foreign policy credentials in his race to unseat Obama.
"We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course, and it is our fervent hope that diplomatic and economic measures will do so. In the final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded. We recognize Israel's right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you," he said.
Though he adopted an aggressive tone, Romney did not go as far as his senior foreign policy advisor, Dan Senor, who said earlier: "If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing that capability, the governor would respect that decision."
The aide's comments put Romney at odds with Obama's efforts to press Israel to avoid any pre-emptive strike before tough Western economic sanctions against Iran run their course.
Romney, however, refused to repeat them when asked by CBS' "Face the Nation."
"Well I think because I'm on foreign soil I don't want to be creating new foreign policy for my country or in any way to distance myself in the foreign policy of our nation. But we respect the right of a nation to defend itself," Romney said.
The failure of talks between Iran and six world powers to secure a breakthrough in curbing what the West fears is a drive to develop nuclear weapons has raised international concern that Israel may opt for a military strike.
'STRONG MILITARY THREAT'
The presidential hopeful was greeted warmly earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an old friend of his, who has at times had a strained relationship with Obama.
Netanyahu issued his customary call for stronger measures behind the sanctions to prevent Iran from developing an atomic bomb, which Israel says would be a threat to its existence. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
"We have to be honest that sanctions have not set back the Tehran program one iota and that a strong military threat coupled with sanctions are needed to have a chance to change the situation," Netanyahu said.
Israel, widely assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state, has warned it is only a matter of time before Iran's nuclear program achieves a "zone of immunity" in which uranium enrichment facilities buried deep underground will be invulnerable to bombing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, arriving in Tunisia at the start of a week-long trip to the Middle East and North Africa, defended U.S.-Israeli defense cooperation under Obama.
"I'm not going to comment on what political candidates say or don't say," Panetta said.
"I'm proud of the defense partnership that we've built over the past several years. The U.S.-Israel defense relationship, I believe, is stronger today than it has been in the past," the Pentagon chief told reporters traveling with him.
Though Washington has been pressing Israel not to launch a solo strike on Iran, Obama has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to curb Iran's nuclear drive.
Panetta said his view is that the Israelis "have not made any decisions with regards to Iran and that they continue to support the international effort to bring pressure against Iran."
In an effort that appeared timed to upstage Romney's visit to Israel, Obama signed a measure on Friday to strengthen U.S.-Israeli military ties.
Romney's overseas tour got off to a rocky start, when he angered the British by questioning whether London was ready for the Olympics, a statement he was forced to clarify after a rebuke from Prime Minister David Cameron.
His visit to Israel gives him the opportunity to appeal to Jewish voters and pro-Israel evangelical voters and contrast himself with Obama.
Romney has sharply criticized Obama's handling of Iran as not being tough enough.
After talks with Israeli leaders, Romney met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He then visited the Western Wall, Judaism's most revered site.
Wearing a black Jewish skullcap and surrounded by a determined throng of security personnel who cleared a path for him, Romney carefully navigated his way through hundreds of worshippers, some of whom shouted cries of support.
Romney ends his trip on Monday with a fundraiser for a crowd of mostly Jewish Americans who live in Israel.
The Romney campaign initially declared the fundraiser off-limits to reporters, but on Sunday said it would allow press coverage after journalists complained the campaign was reneging on a prior agreement to open more of its finance events.
(Writing by Steve Holland and Maayan Lubell; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Tunis and Charles Abbott in Washington; Editing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Stacey Joyce)
RSS supports Hindu Jagaran Vedikeon on rave party - Times of India
MYSORE: RSS leadership in Karnataka seems to have no qualms on the issue of supporting violent opposition to the rave party at Mangalore on Saturday, but support comes only with a rider that the volunteers would not have assaulted the women.
Though the issue has it's own ramifications and seriousness, the RSS leadership is unperturbed and it's leaders feel that the issue whether women should participate in such rave parties needs a debate on larger scale.
Talking to TOI a RSS spokesman who initially was on record to say various things on the issue later does not wanted him to be quoted for the reasons best known to him.
Admitting Hindu Jagaran Vedike as one of the frontal organizations of the RSS like BMS and ABVP , spokesman said RSS is against rave parties , but it condemns the attack on the women involved in the rave party. But it does not mean RSS supports the rave parties, he clarified.
It is a fact that HJV volunteers have attacked the women participating in rave party, but RSS demands a debate on the issue of rave parties, he said wanting to know why the girls hid their participation in the rave parties to their parents." It goes to indicate that there is something amiss in the issue and rave parties" he said and added: RSS is against indecent culture of rave parties which are against the tenets of Hindutva which stood for decency and respect.
In reply, the spokesman said girls and women in the guise of freedom cannot indulge in immoral acts." Comparing RSS to Taliban is a fashion and a big word for RSS , but this allegation does not deter us from adhering to our ideology and doctrines " he replied, denying that incident smacked of fundamentalism.
Team GB see off UAE challenge - Football
Published: 29 Jul 2012 - 22:17:01
Scott Sinclair and Daniel Sturridge gave watching England manager Roy Hodgson a nudge as Great Britain's 3-1 win over the United Arab Emirates - their first Olympic victory since 1960 - sent them top of Group A.
After Ryan Giggs had become the oldest goalscorer in Olympic history, GB required a rather more youthful duo to drag them out of a hole after Rashed Eisa had equalised for United Arab Emirates. Sinclair was scoring with his first touch, although it is perhaps Sturridge who has more chance of featuring in next month's squad for the friendly against Italy in Berne, especially if he impressed Hodgson with his superb chip 14 minutes from time.
The result got GB back on track to secure a quarter-final berth, although they will almost certainly need to avoid defeat against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium on Wednesday to seal their knockout berth. Surprisingly, the last eight won't feature Spain after the European and World champions were dumped out following a 1-0 loss to Honduras.
As against Senegal, GB's opener was crafted in the Valleys. This time, after Giggs had fed Tom Cleverley and continued motoring into the box, the roles were reversed as Craig Bellamy provided the cross and the veteran Manchester United man rose unopposed to nod home.
Ali Khaseif denied Bellamy and then saved his side when some quick thinking by Aaron Ramsey presented Cleverley with a chance inside the six-yard box. Cleverley then managed to strike both posts after meeting a Bellamy cut-back with a precise first-time finish.
It was the kind of fluency Stuart Pearce had promised would eventually come to a squad given the briefest amount of preparation time compared to almost all the teams in this tournament. The introduction of Sturridge for Marvin Sordell at half-time replicated a move in reverse that Pearce had done at Old Trafford.
Sturridge almost made the desired impact too after being set up by Ramsey, only for Khaseif to block his angled shot. The Chelsea striker failed to take another opportunity before GB were hit by a sucker punch on the hour as Rashed Eisa took advantage of the kind of defensive slackness that proved so costly against Senegal.
This time it was Omar Abdulrahman that sent a pass straight into the space Neil Taylor and James Tomkins should have been filling between then. Eisa raced onto it and gleefully beat Jack Butland. The goal turned what should have been a routine win into a nervy search for salvation.
From offering virtually no threat, suddenly every UAE attack had menace. Butland was the hero, standing up to Khalil when he received Abdulrahman's excellent return pass, and making a vital block before Micah Richards cleared. As Hodgson watched on, Pearce took the bold decision to replace Giggs with Sinclair.
It turned out to be a masterstroke. With his first touch, Sinclair was on hand to tap home as a Bellamy cross created panic in the UAE box, Khaseif succeeding only in pushing it straight to the Swansea man, who tapped into an empty net. Three minutes later, GB sealed their win as Sturridge charged through, then beat Khaseif with an impudent chip from the edge of the area.
Related Team GB News
RSS backing Ramdev, Anna Hazare: Digvijay - zeenews.india.com
New Delhi: Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Sunday said the RSS and its affliate organisations were continuing to support yoga guru Ramdev and Anna Hazare and would back them even during elections.
"Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare had and will continue to have the support of the Sangh Parivar. Even during elections these people have been supportive of them (Sangh)," Singh told reporters.
On Hazare joining the fast from today, the Congress leader said "poor Anna will be forced to sit on fast, if Arvind Kejriwal and others from Team Anna cannot fast."
While Team Anna members had begun the fast on Wednesday, Hazare joined them in fasting from today.
PTI
Rhode in record books, more chapters to come - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Kim Rhode could finish her shooting career as the greatest U.S. Olympian ever but it will be one spent mostly in obscurity defending a sport she maintains is misunderstood.
A gold medal victory in the women's skeet on Sunday put Rhode into the record books as the first American to medal in five consecutive Olympics, and at just 33 years old, competing in a sport that has seen winners in their 60s, she could easily take part in five more Games before putting away her shotgun.
With gold from London, Atlanta and Athens, a silver from Beijing and a bronze in Sydney, Rhode may be entering Michael Phelps-like territory but there will be no long lineup of television appearances to schedule or massive endorsement deals to be signed when she returns home.
"Shooting isn't like Phelps or (Michael) Jordan or something, this is more of sport that you can, when you are at the top level, make a living. But it is always a struggle," Rhode's father Richard told Reuters. "Shooting is an expensive sport, every time you pull the trigger it costs you money."
Rhode practises every day firing between 500 and 1,000 rounds, each training session costing between $400 and $600.
Certainly Rhode did not waste any ammunition on Sunday, hitting 99 of 100 targets, breaking the Olympic record and equalling the world mark to win the gold in style.
"I don't think it has hit me yet but I'm sure it will, the record and everything it represents," said Rhode, who will be back on the range on Monday preparing for the trap event. "The last few shots I was trying to keep myself from not crying.
"Every emotion hit me at once when I was out there."
BACKDROP OF TRAGEDY
Rhode's record-smashing day unfolded with guns again at the centre of a polarizing debate in the United States after a gunman opened fire at a movie theatre in the Denver suburb of Aurora earlier this month, killing 12 and wounding 58.
Rhode, a poster girl for the powerful U.S. National Rifle Association (NRA), has faced questions about guns, the people who use them and the link to the Aurora shootings in almost every interview since arriving in London.
"Shooting teaches responsibility, discipline, focus and this is a sport. It's sad when those lines get blurred by someone who was obviously disturbed," she said. "Hopefully we continue on a positive path and teach others."
Richard Rhode introduced his wife Sharon to the sport shortly after they were married, then did the same with his young daughter.
Richard became and remains his daughter's coach, he and his wife travelling the globe to every Olympics to cheer her on.
"We both shoot, my husband taught me to shoot when we were married," said Sharon. "We go to the range like other people go bowling and shoot skeet or trap. So Kim was just sort of born into it."
Rhode was just 13 when she claimed her first world title and three years later was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team, taking gold at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games.
Later that year she was named one of the Top 10 Sports Phenoms by Time magazine.
"Her eye-hand coordination is very, very good," said Richard. "Even as a child with video games or a computer, what she sees she can make her hands do.
"She very focused and has very good eyesight too."
Rhode may not stick around as long as Swedish marksman Oscar Swahn, the oldest person to win an Olympic medal when he took a silver at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games at 72, but she definitely has Rio in her sights.
"I'm not looking at this as my last Olympics," said Rhode. "I can go a very long time, that's the beauty of shooting.
"It's not a flash-in-the-pan type thing. I definitely don't see an end in sight."
(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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