Swift approval sought for Midwest oil pipeline

Pipe extends above ground at the Enbridge Key Terminal near Salisbury, Mo., Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The company hopes to begin construction of the Flanagan South pipeline in early August. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Pipe extends above ground at the Enbridge Key Terminal near Salisbury, Mo., Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The company hopes to begin construction of the Flanagan South pipeline in early August. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

A valve extends above ground at the Enbridge Key Terminal near Salisbury, Mo., Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The company hopes to begin construction of the Flanagan South pipeline in early August. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Workers move equipment in the yard at the Enbridge Key Terminal near Salisbury, Mo., Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The company hopes to begin construction of the Flanagan South pipeline in early August. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Workers move gravel around a building at the Enbridge Key Terminal near Salisbury, Mo., Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The company hopes to begin construction of the Flanagan South pipeline in early August. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

MARSHALL, Mo. (AP) ? A Canadian company's plan to build an oil pipeline that will stretch for hundreds of miles through the Midwest, including through many sensitive waterways, is quietly on the fast-track to approval ? just not the one you're thinking of.

As the Keystone XL pipeline remains mired in the national debate over environmental safety and climate change, another company, Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, is hoping to begin construction early next month on a 600-mile-long pipeline that would carry tar sands from Flanagan, Ill., about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, to the company's terminal in Cushing, Okla. From there the company could move it through existing pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries.

The company is seeking an expedited permit review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its Flanagan South pipeline, which would run parallel to another Enbridge route already in place. Unlike the Keystone project, which crosses an international border and requires State Department approval, the proposed pipeline has attracted little public attention ? including among property owners living near the planned route.

Enbridge says it wants to be a good neighbor to the communities the pipeline would pass through, and it has been touting the hundreds of short-term construction jobs it would create. The company also scheduled a series of "open houses" for this week in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois in which it invited the public to come discuss and learn about its plans.

A session Tuesday in Marshall, 90 miles east of Kansas City, drew a handful of Sierra Club protesters armed with fliers denouncing what's been called one of the country's costliest oil spills. It also attracted local politicians, concerned landowners and prospective pipefitters looking for work.

Enbridge responded with an array of free products, from tote bags and tape measures to cookies and key rings.

Wayne McReynolds, one of the 55 people who stopped by the open house in Marshall, said he hoped to learn more about the company's plans to prevent construction runoff from flooding valuable farmland. He said he left the event with only vague assurances, not specific answers.

"You never put the soil back in the trench to the same extent it was taken out," said McReynolds, a retired soil and conservation worker. "It can't be done."

Mike Diel of Macon, Mo., said he's had no luck getting Enbridge or the corps to give him specific details about the project, including a precise pipeline map and copies of emergency response plans.

"We're all worried about oil spills and the tar sands getting into the drinking water," Diel said.

"Until I know where the pipeline is going, how am I supposed to know what I'm supposed to be worried about?" he said.

Enbridge spokeswoman Katie Lange said fears about the pipeline's safety are overblown. She described routine aerial patrols of the pipeline and its seven pump stations and round-the-clock computer monitoring in Calgary that "can shut it down from just a touch of a button" if necessary.

"Once the pipeline is in the ground, there's a very rigorous and robust operations and maintenance program," Lange said.

But Sierra Club lawyer Doug Hayes said those assurances are insufficient, given recent history. A July 2010 rupture of an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan dumped an estimated 1 million gallons of the heavier diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River, a 35-mile portion of which remained closed to public access for two years. The U.S. Department of Transportation subsequently fined Enbridge $3.7 million.

More recently, an ExxonMobil pipeline spill in Mayflower, Ark., led to the evacuation of 22 homes and further scrutiny of the long-distance transportation of tar sands oil, a denser substance that is more difficult to clean up.

Lange confirmed that Enbridge is seeking regulatory approval under the Nationwide 12 permit process, which would mean the company wouldn't be obligated to follow more rigorous Clean Water Act requirements such as public notification or lengthy environmental reviews. Those permits are limited to utility projects in which each water crossing disrupts no more than one-half acre of wetlands. The Flanagan South pipeline would cross the Missouri and Mississippi rivers as well as hundreds of smaller tributaries.

"This is a 600-mile project that will clear everything in its path for a 100-foot right of way," Hayes said. "And they're treating it as thousands of separate, little projects."

The Sierra Club lawyer said the Army Corps rejected several Freedom of Information Act requests seeking more project details, citing an exemption for "deliberative process privilege" designed to protect internal decision-making.

TransCanada of Calgary is also seeking Nationwide 12 status for the Keystone XL project, prompting the Sierra Club to file suit alleging violations of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Hayes declined to discuss whether the environmental group also plans a legal challenge to the Flanagan South project.

A spokeswoman in the Army Corps' Kansas City office on Tuesday referred questions about the project's permit status to a regulatory colleague who did not respond.

In western Illinois, local officials eagerly anticipate Enbridge's arrival, said Kim Pierce, executive director of the Macomb Area Economic Development Commission. The company plans to build four pumping stations in the state, including one near Quincy along the Missouri border. In addition to the temporary construction jobs, the region can also expect a purchasing boost at area restaurants, hotels and in equipment sales, she said.

"Come Saturday at quitting time, we can expect a lot of people out, relaxing and purchasing things," she said. "We truly see this as an opportunity. You don't always get that handed to you."

Count Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon among the project's supporters. The two-term Democrat said in March 2012, when Enbridge announced its plans, that the company could add "thousands of jobs" to the state while also providing "a boost to America's energy independence."

___

Follow Alan Scher Zagier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/azagier

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-07-17-US-Midwest-Oil-Pipeline/id-a71ee30f85a14d6a9af27d2e58efd568

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Mayor, environmentalists dispute safety of Kingston creek

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Engineers survey the area Monday near where a sewer main broke on Gilead Street in Kingston. The city's mayor said sewage that has poured into nearby Twaalfskill Creek has been treated and poses no risk to the public; an environmental group says tests show the creek is polluted.KELLY MARSH/for the Times Herald-Record

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Published: 2:00 AM - 07/16/13

KINGSTON ? Mayor Shayne Gallo and the environmental organization Riverkeeper sparred Monday over public safety in the wake of a sewer main collapse that has already spilled 500,000 gallons of sewage into Twaalfskill Creek.

The city reported the spill July 8 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, saying it was a combination of sediment accumulation and a blockage in the pipe that collapsed the 24-inch-diameter clay pipe.

Contractors, with DEC oversight, have been working since Friday to bypass the pipe. DEC officials were unavailable for comment Monday.

Christine Elliott of Gilead Street said a sinkhole created by the collapse was about 20 feet across.

Gallo said Monday he didn't have an estimate of how much the collapse will cost to repair.

The mayor said testing was done at the creek and there was no risk to the public, and said the water was being chlorinated.

But a Riverkeeper official said Monday the agency tested the water going into the creek after chlorination had been in effect, and that samples it took from the pipe and just downstream contained bacteria indicating fecal counts more than 1,000 times the safe level for swimming and primary contact ? in spite of chlorine being added by the city.

"There's more sewage in the brook than water," said Tracy Brown, the river quality advocate for Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper said chlorination of the sewage also poses a risk to wildlife in the stream.

Gallo said Riverkeeper has failed to contact his office before coming to its own conclusions.

"They're going to have to take that issue up with the Health Department and the DEC," said Gallo.

jnani@th-record.com

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Source: http://recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130716/NEWS/307160327/-1/rss01

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Sprint to utilize Clearwire 2.5GHz spectrum for LTE starting this week

New higher frequency to support current 800 and 1900MHz network

Sprint has finally completed its acquisition of Clearwire, and the carrier has announced today that it is quickly integrating the new spectrum to its expanding LTE offerings. Adding to its primarily 1900MHz-based network, Sprint has recently added 800MHz spectrum from its iDEN network shutdown and is now adding in new 2.5GHz spectrum from Clearwire to help out further. The high frequency spectrum isn't super useful for building penetration, but Sprint plans to use it in densely populated cities to support the use of 800MHz, which excels at building penetration.

As is usually the case when adding new frequencies to a network, the first devices to take advantage of the network are MiFi's and data sticks. Sprint is announcing that the Netgear Zing Mobile Hotspot, Netgear 341U USB Stick and MiFi 500 LTE will be available starting July 19th and will support all three frequencies.

Edit: While the devices that can utilize this new spectrum are available soon, the new spectrum itself isn't -- and won't be ready for a while. Apologies for any confrusion.

Now that Sprint has nailed down a generally long-term frequency plan, we should start seeing other devices hitting the carrier with support for the additional bands in short order. The end result should be more consistent LTE service in more places for Sprint customers.

Source: Sprint; Via: FierceWireless

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/YwatCga7ZZg/story01.htm

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Richard Norton Smith on President Richard Nixon

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Source: www.c-spanvideo.org --- Saturday, July 13, 2013
George Mason University Author & Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith discusses tape recordings of phone calls made by President Richard Nixon while he spent part of the summer of 1972 at the Camp David presidential retreat. He talks to key White House advisers about the presidential race against South Dakota Senator George McGovern-the war in Vietnam-and Watergate. We discuss the impact of the Nixon tapes; what the conversations say about the man and his presidency; and the political climate and issues of the day. ...

Source: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/313960-6

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Gold Cup soccer: Mexico vs. Canada

A fan screams and waves a Mexican flag to get attention from players leaving the field following the

A fan screams and waves a Mexican flag to get attention from players leaving the field following the second half of the Mexico versus Canada CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match Thursday, July 11, 2013, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Mexico led Canada 1-0 at the end of the first half and later won the game 2-0.

Photo By JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/sounders/slideshow/Gold-Cup-soccer-Mexico-vs-Canada-66195.php

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For nationwide gay marriage, more battles ahead

NEW YORK (AP) ? Even as they celebrate a momentous legal victory, supporters of gay marriage already are anticipating a return trip to the Supreme Court in a few years, sensing that no other option but a broader court ruling will legalize same-sex unions in all 50 states.

In the meantime, as one gay-rights leader said, there will be "two Americas" ? and a host of legal complications for many gay couples moving between them.

Wednesday's twin rulings from the high court will extend federal recognition to same-sex marriages in the states where they are legal, and will add California ? the most populous state ? to the 12 others in that category. That will mean about 30 percent of Americans live in states recognizing same-sex marriage.

But the court's rulings have no direct effect on the constitutional amendments in 29 states that limit marriage to heterosexual couples. In a handful of politically moderate states such as Oregon, Nevada and Colorado those amendments could be overturned by ballot measures, but that's considered highly unlikely in more conservative states.

"It would be inefficient to try to pick off 30 constitutional amendments one by one," said Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group. "Eventually this will have to be settled by the Supreme Court."

The Human Rights Campaign's president, Chad Griffin, told supporters outside the Supreme Court building that the goal would be to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide within five years.

To sway the justices in such a time frame, activists plan a multipronged strategy. In addition to possible ballot measures in a few states, they hope lawmakers will legalize same-sex marriage in states which now offer civil unions to gay couples, notably New Jersey, Illinois and Hawaii.

There also will be advocacy efforts in more conservative states, ranging from expansion of anti-discrimination laws to possible litigation on behalf of sex-couples there who are denied state recognition even though they married legally in some other jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court's decisions "underscore the emergence of two Americas," Griffin said. "In one, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) citizens are nearing full equality. In the other, our community lacks even the most basic protections."

Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, suggested that efforts to end that division would not be easy, given that many states have electorates that seem solidly opposed to gay marriage.

"The fight is far from over," Rauch wrote in a commentary. "By refusing to override those majorities, the court green-lighted the continuation, probably for a decade or more, of state-by-state battles over marriage."

In Florida, where voters approved a ban on gay marriage with 62 percent support in 2008, the gay-rights group Equality Florida called on its supporters to "get engaged and fight" for recognition of same-sex marriage.

The high court rulings "are a major step forward for the country, but for Floridians they fall far short of justice," said the group's executive director, Nadine Smith. "The Supreme Court has said we can go states like Minnesota or Iowa and get married, but we return to Florida legal strangers in our home state."

Florida State Rep. Joe Saunders, a Democrat from Orlando and one of the state's first openly gay lawmakers, said "every strategy is on the table" as activists ponder ways to eliminate the 2008 ban, including warnings of economic consequences.

"If 13 other states provide protections to gay and lesbian families, what does that mean for our ability to keep those families here in Florida?" he said. "Until we can promise them the same basic protections, we're going to be economically disadvantaged."

Increasingly, political swing states like Florida, as well as more solidly Republican states, could become gay-marriage battlegrounds.

One example of the forthcoming strategy: The American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday that it has hired Steve Schmidt, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to build support among GOP state politicians for striking down gay-marriage bans.

"For a full civil liberties victory, we need broad-based support from coast to coast," the ACLU's executive director, Anthony Romero, said.

On the conservative side, there was deep dismay over the Supreme Court rulings, but little indication of any new strategies or initiatives.

"The debate over marriage has only just begun," said Austin Nimocks, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which staunchly opposes same-sex marriage, called upon Americans "to stand steadfastly together in promoting and defending the unique meaning of marriage: one man, one woman, for life."

Lee Badgett, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, predicted that the ruling on federal recognition would prompt thousands of gay couples to get married, now that there were additional financial incentives to so.

This group could include couples in states which don't recognize same-sex marriage but who are willing to travel to a state that does recognize such unions.

However, Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said many gay couples either would be hard pressed to afford such trips or would forgo them out of principle.

"Many people in this country, straight or gay, want to get married in their own state, their own backyard," she said.

While gay-rights activists pursue their ultimate goal of nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage, the short-term legal situation for many gay couples could be complicated.

Peter Sprigg of the conservative Family Research Council said the court ruling on federal recognition "raises as many questions as it answers."

"Will recognition be based on the law in the state where the marriage was celebrated or the state in which the couple resides?" he said. "The doors may now be wide open for whole new rounds of litigation."

The National Conference of State Legislatures said the situation was clear for married gay couples in the 13 states recognizing same-sex marriage: They will be eligible for all federal marriage benefits.

"Outside of these states, federal marriage benefits become more complicated, as many commonly thought-of federal benefits, such as jointly filing on federal income taxes, are tied to a married couple's place of residence," the conference said.

Gay-rights activists immediately began lobbying the Obama administration and other federal officials to extend as many benefits as possible on the basis of where a gay couple's wedding took place, not on the state where they live.

"The Obama administration can make clear, through regulation, that the federal government will recognize those marriages and not participate in state-sponsored discrimination," said Suzanne Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School.

Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry, one of the groups most active in building support for same-sex marriage, urged the administration to adopt a "clear and consistent" standard that would apply equally to all married gay couples, regardless of their state of residence.

"Marriage should not flutter in and out like cellphone service," he said. "When it comes to federal programs, even if states are discriminating, the federal government should not."

Wolfson, like many of his allies, was already looking ahead to another rendezvous with the Supreme Court, confident that public support for same-sex marriage would continue to increase.

"We have the winning strategy," he said. "We win more states, we win more hearts and minds, and we go back to the Supreme Court in a matter of years, not decades, to win the freedom to marry nationwide."

___

Follow David Crary on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/craryap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nationwide-gay-marriage-more-battles-ahead-220246102.html

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CBS Twitter feeds are compromised

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Twitter accounts for two national CBS programs have been compromised and suspended.

A CBS News spokeswoman confirms Saturday that tweets sent earlier in the afternoon from the "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" Twitter handles saying their accounts were compromised are correct.

The tweets said the network is working with Twitter to investigate. On Saturday night both accounts were suspended and inaccessible.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CBS spokeswoman didn't comment further.

Earlier in the day tweets coming from the 60 Minutes account seemed farfetched, including one that claimed the US government was "hiding the real culprit of the Boston bombing."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cbs-twitter-feeds-compromised-041238067.html

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