Saturday, November 8, 2014

Crude processing app withdrawn in NY/ Oil by rail blocks coal shipments

Groups hail suspension of crude oil plan in New Windsor

Global Partners has withdrawn its application to bring crude oil processing to New Windsor

Local environmental groups are hailing the shelving of a plan to bring crude oil processing operations into New Windsor. [New York state]

Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson issued statements Friday applauding news that Global Partners of Waltham, Massachusetts, has withdrawn its permit applications with the state Department of Environmental Conservation....

...It also called for the installation of boilers to heat rail cars and tanks. That technology can be used to reduce the viscosity of thicker, tar sands crude so it can be pumped from one container to another.

The withdrawal of the applications comes as the state has made it increasingly difficult for Global to expand its crude operations both in New Windsor and in Albany, where a similar proposal is under review..... read more here


graph of days of burn at coal-fired power plants, as explained in the article text

US Power Plants Struggling To Rebuild Coal Supplies As Booming Crude Oil Shipments Jam Nation's Railways

 
U.S. power plants are low on coal supplies this fall, in part because the nation’s railways are jammed with rising shipments of crude oil. The shortage is forcing utilities in several states to shut down coal plants or curtail operations in an attempt to preserve their stockpiles ahead of the winter.

Coal stocks at electric power plants totaled 121 million tons at the end of August, a relatively low amount compared to levels in recent years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday. “Issues with delivery-by-rail are making it more difficult to ship larger volumes of coal and rebuild stockpiles at coal-fired power plants,” the federal statistics agency said....

... Utilities burned through much of their coal stockpiles last winter, when the brutal cold snap caused by the polar vortex forced people to crank up the heat. Now plant operators in the Midwest and Northeast are trying to not only replenish supplies but also stockpile more coal than they had in 2013, according to the EIA....  read more here

 

1 comment:

  1. Why not just ask the three companies here (on Grays Harbor) to with draw their permit applications?

    ReplyDelete