Free enterprise is proving to be Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s most potent foe. Moscow’s February 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and its immediate annexation drastically altered international diplomatic calculations. In a year marked by the homicidal rise of the Islamic State and Chinese probes of East Asian maritime borders, Putin’s destruction of post-Cold War […]
oil
Posted inSpecials
Auto insight: What makes synthetic oil different from conventional oil?
(BPT) — There was a time when you were considered a “responsible” vehicle owner if you changed the oil and oil filter every 3,000 miles and had your tires rotated every other oil change. It turns out that while it is good practice to maintain your vehicle on a schedule, breaking out of that traditional […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Oxford Hills
SAD 17 off the hook for cost of oil spill cleanup
HEBRON — While the cost to clean up more than 1,500 gallons of oil that leaked out of the Hebron Station School basement tank last December is unknown, the SAD 17 school district is not picking up the tab. SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts and Jessamine Logan, spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection, both […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
South Portland to vote on crude oil ban
SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) — The South Portland City Council is considering an ordinance that prohibits loading crude oil in bulk onto marine tank vessels. The vote was scheduled for Monday night. The proposal is narrower in scope than one voters rejected last year. That ordinance was designed to prevent Portland Pipe Line Corp. from bringing […]
Posted inLocal & State
Maine’s D.C. delegation raises doubts about fed response to hazardous materials rail shipments
Editor’s note: The second of two parts. If a railroad spilled thousands of gallons of oil in Maine, no one in the state – or in Washington – knows what the railroads would do or whether they’re prepared for such a disaster. In interviews with members of Maine’s congressional delegation, each said that’s the reason […]
Posted inLocal & State, Nation / World
New rail safety rules don’t apply to all trains carrying oil
AUGUSTA — Just as the state has revealed that crude oil shipments by rail have resumed along the state’s rail lines, Maine state emergency officials say new federal rules about shipping hazardous materials such as crude by rail don’t go far enough. For example, the new rule does not apply to trains carrying less than […]
Posted inLocal & State, Nation / World, sj-web
Effort to make rail tank cars used to ship crude oil safer marked by squabbling
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Spurred by a series of fiery train crashes, a push by government and industry to make safer tank cars used for shipping crude oil and ethanol has bogged down in squabbling and finger-pointing over whether they’re needed and if so, who should pay. The Transportation Department, worried about the potential for […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Environmentalists say Portland pipeline beyond 60-year lifespan
PORTLAND (AP) — An environmental group says one of the two pipelines from Portland to Montreal has surpassed its life expectancy, based on court documents filed in a tax dispute in New Hampshire. Owners of the Portland Pipe Line agreed with a 60-year lifespan assessment for purposes of a tax case in the 1990s. The […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Cracked wheel may have caused New Brunswick train derailment
Lead investigator Guy Laporte said a crack in a wheel near the front of the train caused the wheel to loosen from the axel, resulting in the derailment of that wheel set. But Laporte said it’s too early to determine what caused the train to leave the tracks late Tuesday derailed in the sparsely populated […]
Posted inFranklin, The Franklin Journal
Livermore estimates that ice storm cost almost $23,000
LIVERMORE — An ice storm in December cost the town nearly $23,000 in overtime, equipment, materials and other expenses, Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub said Tuesday. In addition to sanding and salting, the highway crew spent time clearing trees from the roads with the help of the Fire Department, he said. The amount covers expenses from […]