MEC&F Expert Engineers : 01/27/15

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

ANOTHER GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSION AND FIRE. THIS TIME IN RALEIGH, MISSISSIPPI. WITH MORE GAS PIPELINES BEING BUILT, PREPARE FOR MORE EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES, BUT THIS TIME THEY WILL BE CLOSER TO HOME

January 26, 2015

RALEIGH, Miss. —Firefighters in Smith County were at the scene Monday of a natural gas line fire in a rural area west of Raleigh.

Greg Flynn, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said all 5 workers were present when the explosion happened but no injuries have been reported.

Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said the fire was under control. The Smith County Fire Department is on standby with foam if they're needed.

Smith County Emergency Management Agency director Brian Warren said the gas line is owned by Pan Southern Petroleum of Houston, Texas. He said no one is allowed inside the perimeter of the fire scene.

Warren said the cause of the accident will be determined once the fire is out.

VOLKSWAGEN, AUDI AND PORSCHE RECALL 80,000 VEHICLES BECAUSE LEAKING FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM CAN LEAD TO FIRE

January 27, 2015

Because a fuel leak could lead to a vehicle fire, Volkswagen is recalling nearly 26,000 sedans and SUVS in the U.S. and 80,000 worldwide.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports [PDF] that Volkswagen has issued a recall for 26,008 vehicles in the United States after receiving reports of small fuel leaks in a number of models.

Affected vehicles include the 2012 model year Audi A6 and Volkswagen Touareg hybrid, model year 2012 to 2013 Audi A7 and the model year 2011 to 2012 Audi Q7, S4 and S5.

According to a notice [PDF] from Volkswagen, which owns the Audi brand, vibration during driving, and production issues can cause small leaks in the vehicles’ fuel injection system.

Officials say that a leak – no matter how small – in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a vehicle fire.

All the vehicles have 3-liter V-6 engines, according to documents posted Tuesday by U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Also, the documents show a separate but similar recall from Porsche covering the Cayenne and Panamera S hybrids from 2011 to 2012 for a similar problem.

While Volkswagen says it is unaware of any fires or injuries caused by the issue, reports received by NHTSA detail consumers’ concerns regarding the leaks.

The U.S. documents show about 27,000 VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles are being recalled in the U.S.

The problem was discovered in March of 2013 when customers complained of fuel odor, according to the NHTSA documents. VW investigated and decided Jan. 12 to do a recall.

In one report, the consumer claims fuel fumes appeared under the hood and through the air conditioner vents in their 2012 Audi A6. A local dealer determined the vehicle had a fuel leak.

Owners of affected vehicles will be notified in March and dealers will replace free of charge fuel injector rails and corresponding seals.

HOMES FLOODED, POWER OUTAGES ALONG MASSACHUSETTS COAST FROM WINTER STORM JUNO. THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER ON NANTUCKET ISLAND

January 27, 2015

Thousands of Massachusetts residents remained without power Tuesday as a snowstorm packing near hurricane-force winds continued to wallop coastal communities and force the evacuation of nearly a dozen people on the island of Nantucket. Massachusetts State Police reported downtown Nantucket streets were flooded and at least 11 people had to be evacuated from their homes as waters surged 7 feet in some low-lying areas.

Power and some wireless service was cut to the entire island, Nantucket Police Chief William Pittman told NBC News. Utility company National Grid said it was working to restore power for its 12,800 customers. AT&T service remained down Tuesday afternoon but Verizon said its customers were getting reception.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital wrote in a tweet that they were open and running on a generator, and doctors even delivered a "blizzard baby" just before 4 a.m. ET. Pittman told MSNBC that he would have a better sense of when power would return after 12:30 p.m.

As the storm picked up overnight Monday, the strong wind gusts of more than 75 miles per hour and high tides created 4-foot-high waves and sent water crashing over sea defenses along the coast. Pittman said the streets were filled with water because the storm drains were frozen and "the water had no way of getting back out."

He said they are also watching the possibility of more intense flooding when the high tide comes in around 6 p.m.

Dave Fronzuto, of Nantucket Emergency Management, said flooding on the island is normal during a Nor'easter but this storm has been especially brutal for residents. "The long duration of the storm is what's really hurting them," he added.

Marshfield was one of the low-lying towns on the Massachusetts coast being hammered by the storm surge. Eric Murphy, a 44-year-old pest control worker, told NBC News there was four feet of water in the street outside his house. "We do get flooding here but this is the worst I've seen in the 15 years I've lived here," he said from his home in the Brant Rock neighborhood. "My house is on stilts but another few inches and we might be in trouble."

Murphy, who lives with his wife and three young daughters, said he woke up at 3 a.m. ET to move his car when water was already coming up the street. "My neighbor has water coming under the door and several cars have been submerged."

A flooded street in Brant Rock, a neighborhood of the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts, after a winter storm on Jan. 27, 2015.

MASSACHUSETTS TOWN OF SCITUATE CUTS POWER TO PREVENT FLOOD FIRES. SCITUATE HAS LOST HOMES TO BLAZES IN PREVIOUS STORMS.

January 27, 2015

The Massachusetts coastal town of Scituate has decided to cut off power to some areas to prevent fires during flooding that could accompany the blizzard. Fire officials could not say how many residents would be affected by the 10 p.m. shutdown on five coastal roads, but residents were encouraged to evacuate earlier Monday evening.

The National Weather Service warned that the potentially historic storm could unleash 20-foot waves, and seaside residents were boarding up windows. "We may get some water inside, maybe a broken window, but it isn't too too bad," Tim Joslin told NBC station WHDH.

Scituate has lost homes to blazes in previous storms. Living in Scituate is always an adventure.

Protection of the Disaster Volunteers through the Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS) system

January 26th, 2015 2:08 pm ET - Kimberly Brinker, RN, MSN, MPH

Emergency responders, such as police officers, fire fighters, and paramedics, are often on the front lines during a disaster, which makes them particularly vulnerable to work-related injuries and illnesses during a response. The scientific community has some knowledge about occupational injuries and illnesses among these groups from surveillance systems currently in place, notably the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), but the BLS database does not include volunteers. What about the courageous responders from volunteer organizations or volunteer fire fighters and paramedics at local and county levels?

In order to learn more about the associated risk factors for injuries and illnesses suffered by volunteer responders in the line of duty, we analyzed disaster data from the American Red Cross collected between the years 2008 and 2012. Our results were recently published in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness

. We found that hurricanes showed the highest median rates of injuries (14/1000 responders) and illnesses (18/1000 responders). Additionally, disasters with higher operational costs were a significant predictor for higher rates of injuries and illnesses when compared with disasters with lower operational costs.
What do we do with this information? We know that there is a great demand for volunteers when a severe disaster occurs. However, a responder may have pre-existing health conditions, such as asthma or hypertension, which could increase his or her risk of injuries and illnesses in a physically demanding situation. Careful consideration of a volunteer’s medical history and job duties should be reviewed before a field deployment to prevent injuries and illnesses.

Implementing a framework, such as the Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS) system, can protect volunteers from work-related injuries and illnesses through systematic training and monitoring before, during, and after an emergency. Prior to a deployment, responders are placed on a roster, their credentials are verified, health screenings are performed, and health and safety trainings are provided. During a deployment, health and exposure monitoring are conducted, and following a deployment, responder health and function are tracked and after-action assessments are completed.
Protecting volunteers also makes sense for the bottom line. Often, volunteer organizations cover the medical expenses for their volunteers. Saving money on medical costs by preventing injuries and illnesses would be a benefit of implementing ERHMS.
This study looked specifically at Red Cross volunteers. Additional research is needed in other volunteer organizations. If your organization would like to collaborate with NIOSH on similar research, please contact us through the blog comment box below or at nioshblog@cdc.gov.

Kimberly Brinker, RN, MSN, MPH is a Nurse Epidemiologist in the NIOSH Office of the Director.

Owner of Miami Home Health Company Sentenced to 106 Months in Prison in $30 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

January 27, 2015

The owner and operator of a Miami home health care agency was sentenced today to 106 months in prison for his participation in a $30 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Ramon Regueira, 66, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on Nov. 13, 2014. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida ordered Regueira to pay $21,000,000 in restitution, both jointly and severally with his co-conspirator.

The original article can be found at www.fbi.gov

N.Y. State Assembly Speaker Silver to temporarily relinquish duties: NYT

January 27, 2015

New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver agreed on Sunday to relinquish his duties on a temporary basis as he fights federal corruption charges, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter.

Silver’s decision came amid mounting pressure from his fellow Democrats in the Assembly, who worried that the criminal charges would impair his ability to carry out the duties of one of the most powerful positions in New York’s government, the newspaper reported.

Last week, Silver, a Democrat who has served as the highest-ranking state assemblyman since 1994, was charged with pocketing $4 million from bribery and kickback schemes.

Pennsylvania pays $40,000 to anti-fracking group over improper terrorist listing

January 26, 2015

The state of Pennsylvania agreed to pay an anti-fracking group $40,000 earlier this month after improperly characterizing the group as a potential terrorist threat.

The settlement, reached on January 15, calls for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to pay $40,000 to Pennsylvania-based Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, the AP said.

According to the coalition’s lawsuit, bulletins published by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency made unsubstantiated claims that the group poses a potential terrorist threat to the state’s infrastructure.

The reports were produced by a private contractor, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, under a one year $103,000 contract.

The bulletins were issued several times a week and distributed to hundreds of people, primarily law enforcement and security industry professionals.

Pennsylvania state police said the bulletins included information that had been taken out of context as well as biased analysis.

State police officials said the group does not pose a threat to public safety.

Pennsylvania-based Institute of Terrorism Research and Response and its co-director, Mike Perelman, were dismissed as defendants in the lawsuit.

The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is currently appealing that decision.

Under the settlement the state did not have to admit liability but it did agree to destroy all copies of the bulletins that characterized the group as a terrorist threat.

In return, the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition has agreed to not make any disparaging remarks about the agency.

Hess slashes nearly half of Bakken operated rigs

January 27, 2015

Hess cut its capital expenditure by 16 percent Tuesday and trimmed Bakken spending by 20 percent as it braces for prolonged oil price weakness.

The company plans to spend $1.8 billion in Bakken this year, down from $2.2 billion last year.

Hess plans to operate an average of 9.5 rigs in Bakken, down by nearly half from the company’s 17 operated rigs in 2014, and bring 210 new operated wells online in the play, down from 238 wells last year.

About $1.45 billion of Hess’s Bakken spend is earmarked for drilling and completion activities, pad level facilities and low pressure gathering lines with $350 million planned for major infrastructure projects.

The company will also spend $290 million to drill 20 to 25 wells in the core of the wet gas window of Ohio’s Utica shale play, a steep drop from the $500 million Hess spent in the play last year.

“Hess has some of the best acreage in the Bakken, and we will continue to drill in the core of the play which offers the most attractive returns,” Hess President Greg Hill said.
Hill added the company’s drilling and production activities will pick up when oil prices begin to recover.

The company will spend $4.7 billion on its capital and exploratory budget, a 16 percent drop from 2014.

New York-based Hess has budgeted $2.1 billion for unconventional shale projects and $1.2 billion for production.

The company will spend $1.0 billion for development projects and $400 million on exploration.

“Our company is well positioned to manage through the current price environment, with a strong balance sheet and resilient portfolio,” CEO John Hess said.