This blog presents Metropolitan Engineering Consulting & Forensics (MEC&F) claim management and claim investigation analyses of some of the typical claims we handle
A fire that broke out at a pipeline of
oil group Eni in Nigeria on Thursday was caused by oil thieves, the
Italian company said on Saturday, as the death toll of the accident rose
to 13 people. Last
week Eni said an explosion at the pipeline killed at least 12 people,
part of a maintenance crew carrying out repairs on the Tebidaba-Clough
Creek pipeline in the Niger delta's Bayelsa state.
"It
appears likely the fire was triggered by people who previously worked
on this pipeline to illegally obtain crude oil," Eni said in a statement
following a first investigation into the matter. "Local witnesses have
reported seeing saboteurs upon arrival of the intervention team to
repair the pipeline".
One of the three people injured died at the hospital, adding to the death toll, Eni added.
Eni said
it would continue to work with local authorities to reconstruct the
dynamics of the accident and the related responsibilities.
June
6, 2015: Photo shows a tar ball, less than two inches in diameter,
found on the sand at Hermosa Beach, Calif., adjacent to Redondo Beach on
the coast southwest of downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –
The
effort to track the impact of a crude oil spill on the Santa Barbara
coast in May hit beaches this week as far south as Orange County,
officials said Saturday.
Tar ball samples were taken Thursday and Friday from Gaviota to
Newport Beach, about 170 miles away, for a better reference point of
where oil is washing up and to improve reporting, according to a press
release from officials overseeing the cleanup.
The cleanup continues after an underground pipe owned by Texas-based
Plains All American Pipeline ruptured on May 19 and spilled up to
101,000 gallons of crude oil.
About of a fifth of the oil flowed into the ocean, killing hundreds
of birds and marine mammals, mostly sea lions, and closing state
beaches.
Tar balls traced to the pipeline have been found in neighboring
Ventura County and more than 100 miles south on Redondo Beach in Los
Angeles County.
Because tar balls routinely wash ashore in Southern California from
natural seepage from the ocean floor, "fingerprint" testing can
determine the source.
Most of the spilled oil has been cleaned up, according to officials,
though crews are still scraping oil off rocks at Refugio State Beach.
The beach and campground is scheduled to re-open Friday.
Published in Oil Industry News on Sunday, 12 July 2015 Royal
Dutch Shell Plc. may consider restarting mothballed oilsands projects,
but not until oil prices return to US$80 per barrel, according to the
company’s top executive in North America.
“It probably needs to be
in the US$80 range to be interesting, but it all depends on what it
costs,” Marvin Odum, Shell’s director of the upstream Americas said in
an interview Thursday. “It is a two–piece variable equation.”
Like
most major players in the oilsands, Shell has seen its costs come down
“considerably,” easing the pain of oil prices that have tumbled 40 per
cent in the past 12 months. West Texas Intermediate closed Thursday at
US$52.78 a barrel.
But the European major has also shelved a
couple of oilsands projects — the 80,000-barrels per day Carmon Creek
development and the 200,000-bpd Pierre River project — due to
unfavourable economics. The company has also yet to sanction a
100,000-bpd Jackpine expansion which has secured regulatory approval.
“There
is no particular driver to make that expansion happen right now as we
look at other parts of the portfolio,” Odum said, noting that the
company’s oilsands expansion “is further back on the burner in terms of
where we are investing now.”
Shell has to navigate the oil
downturn at a time when it’s in the midst of a massive US$70-billion
takeover of BG Group Plc., expected to be completed in early 2016. The
merger could lead to a scuttling of one liquefied natural gas project in
British Columbia, as both companies have proposed projects on the West
Coast.
“Canada remains extremely important country in the Shell
portfolio, and it is hard to see anything changing,” said Odum, who was
attending the Toronto Global Forum.
He also said that while new
oilsands projects are on hold, the company is moving ahead with its LNG
project on the West Coast and exploration offshore Nova Scotia later
this year. Shell also expects to complete the Quest carbon capture &
storage project this year. The project is owned by Shell, Chevron Corp.
and Marathon Oil, with support from the Governments of Canada and
Alberta.Shell already produces around 250,000 bpd in Canada.
Yet
Canadian operations are unlikely to be shielded from the merger as the
company embarks on a US$30 billion global divestment program as part of
its acquisition of the UK-based natural gas company.
“There will
be a serious divestments that follows on if we are successful in closing
the BG deal,” said Odum without elaborating on how it would impact its
Canadian operations.
Shell has a 50 per cent stake in LNG Canada
being proposed for Kitimat on the British Columbia coast, and is leading
the consortium which includes Korea Gas Corp., PetroChina Co. and
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. The project would likely clash with BG Group’s
delayed plans to build a rival plant in Prince Rupert.
“We will
look at them side by side, and see if there is reason to have a
preference of one over the other, but the Canada Shell project is more
advanced and… some of the fundamental factors around the site and are
very favourable.” Although the gas-weighted BG acquisition would
position Shell as the largest private LNG company in the world, Odum
believes there is still scope to proceed with LNG Canada, given its
proximity to the largest stranded natural gas reserves anywhere in North
America.
Rival Petronas Bhd. and its partners has given a
conditional approval on an LNG project on Lelu Island, but Odum says
Shell and its partners are not ready to make a final investment decision
on their proposal.
“I think LNG Canada, in Kitimat, looks really strong relative to the competitors – in my personal view.”
The
consortium secured a provincial environmental certificate and earlier
this week filed for a 40-year National Energy Board (NEB) export licence
to replace the current 25-year licence LNG Canada obtained in 2013, to
help improve the project’s economics.
“We are finishing the hard
work around engineering and design so that we can put a specific cost on
the project,” Odum said, disputing the $40 billion price tag on the
project placed by Shell officials earlier.
“I don’t think we are at a stage of putting a cost on the project.” It probably needs to be in the US$80 range to be interesting, but it all depends on what it costs.
Odum
said Shell is in “favour” of the Alberta’s government announcement to
raise the existing $15 per tonne levy on carbon to $20 per tonne next
year and $30 per tonne in 2017, as it’s part of a wider transition
happening worldwide. “This is not a Canadian issue. We believe
carbon pricing, on a broader scale across the region, is the right thing
to do,” Odum said.
But the province’s decision to hike corporate
taxes and review royalties at a time of depressed oil prices are
important questions for the Alberta government to consider as it builds a
new system.
“Does that whole system around the business in
oilsands in Alberta– does it still look sufficiently to competitive to
other investments in the world, and that’s a very important question,”
Odum said. “And that’s exactly how we will ultimately steer our dollars,
on that same question.” Source: financialpost.com
Two men died in separate motorcycle crashes Saturday, authorities said.
Bruce A. Maglicco Jr., 46, of Unity
Township was traveling south on Marguerite Road in Unity just before
8:30 p.m. when the motorcycle briefly left the road and slid, according
to state police and the Westmoreland County coroner's office.
The 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle came to
rest on top of Maglicco in the center of the road, according to a news
release from the coroner. He was wearing a helmet.
A passerby, who is a nurse, stopped and
attempted to resuscitate Maglicco, said police and fire Chief Scott
Graham. The crash occurred between Coke Oven Hill and Bernie Stone
roads, Graham said.
Maglicco was transported to Excela Health
Westmoreland Hospital where he was pronounced dead, investigators said.
His cause of death was a result of multiple blunt force injuries, the
coroner ruled.
An autopsy will not be performed. Toxicology results will take several weeks to complete.
Shirley Funeral Home in North Huntingdon Township is handling arrangements.
In Somerset County a few hours later,
William Snyder, 46, of Hollsopple, died when his motorcycle smashed into
a small stone wall on Route 985 near Johnstown just before 10:45 p.m.,
Conemaugh police said.
Posted July 12, 2015, by Julia Jacobo and Myles Miller
BAY SHORE, N.Y. —
Three people are dead after an accident on the
Southern State Parkway caused one car to burst into flames, state police
said.
O’Neil Sharpe, Jr. was driving a 2008 BMW around 1:30 a.m. on the
westbound Southern State Parkway near exit 41 when it struck a 2005
Toyota, causing it to become engulfed in flames, according to police.
The impact propelled the Toyota into the grassy median that separates
traffic.
Sharpe, Jr. fled the scene of the accident and was later arrested at
his home in Rockville Center, cops said. He was charged with DWI and
leaving the scene of an auto accident.
A
Toyota on the Southern State Parkway bursts into flames after it was
rear-ended near exit 41, killing an adult and two children. (Photo: Paul
Mazza)
The driver of the Toyota, Ancio Ostane, 37, and two children,
8-year-old Andy Ostane and 4-year-old Sephora Ostane, were trapped in
the burning car. They were pronounced dead at the scene by the Suffolk
County Medical Examiner.
The woman sitting in the front passenger seat of the Toyota, Lucnie
Bouaz-Ostane, escaped from the car and was treated and released at
Southside Hospital with minor injuries.
The Ostanes were on their way home from a family party in Central Islip. Westbound lanes on the Southern State Parkway reopened after they were closed for hours near exit 41.
Leaves turning at Zion National Park on Saturday, Nov.8, 2014. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
JULY 12, 2015
By KIMBER LAUX LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
The
body of a 24-year-old Las Vegas man who fell about 100 feet into a
canyon Saturday night at Zion National Park was recovered Sunday
morning, the National Parks Service said.
The man, who was not
using climbing ropes, fell into a side canyon at Heaps Canyon about
11:30 p.m. Saturday, the Parks Service wrote in a release.
One of
the three people who were with the “canyoneer” at the time of the fall
stayed with him, while the other two continued through the canyon to get
help, the release said.
A helicopter from Grand Canyon National
Park took two Zion Search and Rescue team members to the canyon early
Sunday morning. Rescue crews rappelled down and found the man dead.
The name of the man will be released after his family has been notified, the release said.
Heaps
Canyon, a strenuous, challenging technical canyon with a descent of
about 3,000 feet, usually takes 12 to 20 hours to complete, the release
said.
The canyon has a number of rappels into cold water and it ends
with a final 280-foot rappel to the Upper Emerald Pool area.
A
53-year-old Yonkers man died and his 53-year-old female companion was
hospitalized when a rowboat capsized early Sunday at the New Croton Reservoir.
The
cause is under investigation by the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection, which operates the reservoir system for the
city, a DEP spokesman said. The reservoir provides drinking water to the
five boroughs, and is also a popular fishing spot.
The
identities of the man and woman are being withheld pending notification
of family, DEP spokesman Adam Bosch said Sunday. He didn't know the
relationship between the pair.
Investigators estimated
the rowboat capsized between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., Bosch said.
Investigators have not determined why it happened, or confirmed if they
were fishing. Life vests were on board, but not being worn, he said.
"Both were thrown into the water," Bosch said.
Bosch
said the woman — who was conscious — was taken to the Northern
Westchester Hospital. He didn't know how long the pair was in the water
before rescuers arrived, but said the woman was assisted to shore by
another boat.
Boating on the reservoir is permitted for
fishing, and the pair was using an authorized boat, Bosch said. Anglers
are common during predawn hours at the reservoir, located about 22 miles from New York City.
The
New Croton Reservoir — part of the city's Croton Watershed — empties
into the Hudson River. The 2,182-acre reservoir is home to various
species of fish, including large-mouth bass, small-mouth bass, chain
pickerel, common carp, yellow perch, black crappie, brown bullheads and
sunfish.
New Orleans police say one car
hit another on Interstate 10, than hit and seriously injured an officer
who was investigating a vehicle fire.
A news release says 47-year-old Officer Vernell Brown is in serious condition after the accident Sunday morning.
Earlier news releases said he was hit by a hit-and-run driver, but police spokesman Tyler Gamble says that was a mistake.
Police say the 17-year department veteran was
walking near the guardrail when a Ford Mustang collided with a Toyota
Scion, then hit him.
Police say the Mustang's driver tested negative for
alcohol, and the other driver was under the legal limit. They say both
sustained minor injuries, and both remained on the scene.
Police say they'll consult with prosecutors before deciding whether to file any charges.
A 16-year-old girl is dead and six other people were injured in a crash in North Carolina on Saturday night.
WBTV reported that Autumn Plyler of Waxhaw was identified as the victim who died in the crash. She was reportedly riding as a passenger.
Authorities said the driver of the vehicle lost control and went off
the side of the road outside of the Waxhaw city limits, about 30 miles
south of Charlotte.
The driver then allegedly over-corrected, crossed the centerline, went off the road and hit a tree.
One person was airlifted and five others taken to the hospital, but
their names and conditions have not been released, according to WBTV.
Alcohol was said to be a factor in the crash, but further details were not released, according to the TV station.
Action News is learning new
information about five U.S. Forest Service firefighters and a sixth
person injured in a rollover crash near Clovis.
By
Veronica Miracle
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) --
Action News is learning new information about five U.S. Forest
Service firefighters and a sixth person injured in a rollover crash near
Clovis. The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened around
7:30 Sunday morning on Highway 168 between Shepherd and Academy avenues.
Firefighters
Derek Soden, 29, of Mariposa, and Lee Sands, 37, of Groveland, are at
Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. The CHP isn't releasing the
full extent of their injuries but says this major crash could've been
avoided.
A massive Forest Service rig is likely totaled, the CHP
said, after rolling four times and smashing into an open field. Video
shows Action Towing pulling the fire truck away shortly after
firefighters were rushed to the hospital.
"The
collision sent both vehicles out of control; both vehicles rolled --
one on the south side of 168 and one on the north side of 168," said CHP
Sgt. Joseph Bianchi.
The other driver involved is Maria
Constable, 53, of Fresno. The CHP said she was trying to merge and
sideswiped the fire engine.
"At the end of the intersection, the
vehicle tried to merge back over and collided with the right side of the
fire truck," said Bianchi.
The
CHP is still investigating the crash and whether or not Constable's
maneuver caused the collision. The firefighters are from Stanislaus
National Forest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the wildland
fire engine was on its way to Prather to provide additional fire
suppression coverage for Sierra National Forest.
Constable had
minor injuries, and the CHP says DUI was not a factor in the collision.
The three other firefighters -- Ben Jongenward, 32, of Groveland, Ryan
Baker, 28, of Yosemite, and Brittany Dowden, 29, of Madera -- all had
minor injuries as well.
A 10-month-old baby in a stroller was
struck and killed Saturday by a car that had just left the scene of a
shooting in the city?s Woodlawn neighborhood.
By
Michelle Gallardo
CHICAGO --
A 10-month-old baby in a stroller was struck and killed Saturday by a
car that had just left the scene of a shooting in Chicago's Woodlawn
neighborhood, police say.
First responders rushed the baby to Comer Children's Hospital, but the boy died a short time later.
The
family was waiting on the bus to take them to the beach. Instead, they
are mourning the loss of a 10-month-old baby boy, identified by
relatives at Dillan Harris.
Police said the incident started as a result of a shooting at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday in the 7700 block of South Kingston.
A
few minutes later, police said a vehicle containing those involved in
the shooting was speeding down 62nd Street. It jumped the curb at Ellis,
hitting the boy in the stroller.
Witnesses said the car
continued driving through an empty lot before stopping near an alley.
Those inside the car got out and tried to run away. Meanwhile, a large
number of the baby's family members were at the scene desperately trying
to get help.
"One of the women came down with a baby and I
grabbed the baby for her and told her, 'Do what you have to do,'" said
witness Erin Fletcher. "By the time we made it to the corner, they were
pulling the stroller off the baby and the baby was just in fetal
position with his butt up in the air. It looked like he was asleep. It
was sad. The mother was in the middle of the street just devastated."
Police
confirmed they have arrested two men who were in the vehicle, but it
appears they might still be searching for a third person involved.
An elderly man died Saturday after the private ambulance he was
being transported in crashed into a four-door sedan in Pasadena, police
said.
The Lifeline ambulance was driving south on Fair Oaks
Avenue near Hammond Street at about 4 p.m. when it crashed head-on into
the other car. The ambulance did not have its emergency lights and
sirens on.
The patient in the ambulance, who was being transported for dialysis, was taken to a hospital, where he died. He was in his 70s.
An
elderly woman driving the other car, the driver of the ambulance and a
co-worker suffered minor injuries. All were in stable condition.
Fair Oaks Avenue between Hammond and Mountain streets were briefly shut down.
Tow trucks clear out the northbound lanes of the 110 Freeway in
Carson after 13 cars were involved in a collision on Sunday, July 12,
2015. (KABC)
By ABC7.com staff
CARSON, Calif. (KABC) --
All lanes of the northbound 110 Freeway near 223rd Street in Carson
were shut down for several hours after a multiple-car crash early Sunday
morning.
Two people were critically injured and eight suffered
minor injuries in the crash. Authorities received the call around 3:40
a.m. Officials with the Los Angeles County Fire Department said 13 cars
were involved in the collision.
One of the vehicles, a catering
truck, had overturned. Four ambulances were requested at the scene, but
it is unclear how many people were transported to a local hospital.
Traffic was diverted off the freeway at 220th and Figueroa streets for several hours as authorities investigated the scene.
Fire investigators are going through the charred remains of a New
Jersey home, trying to figure out what caused the fire that killed a
couple, and left four families homeless.
"I'm still shaking," said Robert Mitchell.
More than a dozen other people who called the Bayonne apartment building on East 21st Street home are also shaking.
"It was raining fire everywhere - it was a nightmare," Mitchell adds.
Mitchel
tells Eyewitness News that he and his 8-year-old son Dillon may not be
alive if it were not for his roommate watching late night TV just after
3:30 Saturday morning.
"He heard 2 popping sounds, and ran out to
see what it was, and said there were just flames shooting out of the
third floor, and he came in and obviously woke us up," says Mitchell.
Bayonne
Fire Chief Greg Rogers tells Eyewitness News that the flames were so
intense that it was difficult for rescues. Once part of the roof started
to go, it was even more difficult to put out the flames.
"It
burnt through and collapsed and came down at the same time that people
were trying to evacuate the building, so some of the victims were
temporarily trapped on the porch," says Rogers.
Although the
Chief does not know the cause of the fire, or exactly where it started,
initially the flames were concentrated on the second and third floors.
"We were asleep, and my mom heard like a 'pop'," said Patricia Angelini.
Angelini, her husband, kids, parents and grandmother live on the second floor.
"My
mother yelled for my husband, and the next thing you know we were all
up, trying to get out," Angelini adds, "flames were everywhere, the
building was filled with smoke."
Unfortunately, that was the last
time Angelini heard from her mother. Fire crews say both her mother and
her father, who is an amputee did not make it out.
Later
Saturday evening, Bayonne Fire Department confirmed that the victims
were identified as 65-year-old Frances Angelini and 64-year-old Robert
Angelini.
Mitchell says it was hard for Robert Angelini to get around.
"I helped carry him upstairs quite a few times," he said.
The
victims' daughter also says their family lost another relative just two
months ago, making this an especially hard time for them. Besides the 4
families that lived in the building, another 4 families in that
building are being helped by the Red Cross, because of damage there as
well.
The cleanup is continuing Sunday at a Queens bar where a driver crashed through the front window.
The
driver and two passengers were taken to the hospital after the
accident, as the out-of-control car shattered glass and scattered
debris.
No one inside the bar was injured.
The driver of
the car lost control just after 7 p.m. Saturday, and plowed into the
'Pour House' on 223-01 Hempstead Avenue in Queens Village.
It was
a close call for a group of people enjoying drinks, when the wild crash
took out the entire front window, narrowly missing several people
sitting inside. With a drink in hand, and his eyes glued to the Mets
game, Elliott Houston suddenly found himself in what felt like an action
movie when out of nowhere the gray sedan came crashing through the
front window of Pour House.
"Immediately when I walk out to see who is in the car - he's a friend of mine," said Houston.
Houston
says he was surprised he knew the man behind the wheel - he claims he
was clipped by another car just before he jumped the curb.
"What happened? He said 'I think I got clipped'," Houston adds.
Shaken
and disoriented, authorities say the driver and two others inside were
taken to North Shore Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, the bar owner
and several staff spent hours cleaning up shattered glass and debris,
and boarding up the gaping hole.
While the damage left behind is devastating, they say they are grateful no one was badly hurt.
"Thank
God it was not as crowded as it was last night and no one was seriously
injured. That would be devastating," said one of the bar's staff.
Eyewitness News spoke with the owner of Pour House, who says they hope to reopen by Sunday night.
A driver traveling the wrong way on Highway 61 near Knife River
was killed in a head-on crash Saturday night, according to the
Minnesota State Patrol.
The
driver, who hasn't yet been identified, was traveling northbound in the
southbound lanes just before 11 p.m. and struck a car traveling
southbound.
The driver of the struck vehicle, Cole Dreschler, 20, of
Cloquet, suffered serious injuries.
His passenger, Sarah Buscher, 19,
also of Cloquet, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The accident
occurred about 20 miles north of Duluth, near Salaka Road.
Police say one driver was killed and another one
was injured when a falling tree hit two vehicles in Hanover County.
The Hanover County Sheriff's Office says the tree broke in half and fell onto a westbound car and an eastbound SUV.
The car's driver, a 50-year-old woman from Doswell,
was pronounced dead at the scene. The SUV's driver was taken to a local
hospital. Their names haven't been released.
The accident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday on West Patrick Henry Road near Ashland.
The driver of this car was killed the morning of July 12 when the vehicle struck a house on Stedman St. in Monroe. (Photo courtesy of Monroe Police Department)
By Ray Kisonas
Sunday, July 12, 2015
A driver was killed this morning (Sunday July 12) when his car struck a house near the corner of Stedman St. and N. Monroe St., the Monroe Police Department reported.
The victim, believed to be a Bedford Township resident perhaps in his 20s, was pronounced dead at ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital.
Deputy Chief Charles McCormick of the Monroe Police Department said the car hit a house around 7 a.m. in the 100 block of Stedman St., off N. Monroe St. just south of Walgreens.
The homeowner was in the house at the time of the crash but she was unhurt, Deputy Chief McCormick said. Witnesses told police that the driver was heading south on N. Monroe St. when the car veered off the road just south of Walgreens.
The car went through a laundry mat parking lot and a ditch before slamming into the house.
Although the car’s estimated speed was about 45 mph, Deputy Chief McCormick said it did not appear as though the driver braked at all before striking the house. He added that the house sustained substantial damage, but the extent is still being assessed.
It was not immediately determined if alcohol or drugs were involved, but toxicology results will be sought, Deputy Chief McCormick said.
Heavy thunderstorms swept
through Indiana early Sunday morning. According to Mooresville dispatch,
the rain flooded homes, stranding residents.
The Mooresville Fire Department reported five water rescues on Bishop St., six on Taylor St., and one on Edgewood Dr.
Morgan County wasn’t the only area to get hit hard.
Residents of Princess Lakes and Trafalgar reported strong winds, so strong people thought a tornado had gone through the area.
Johnson County dispatch reported multiple homes damaged from downed trees.
Power outages were affecting more than 2400 customers around central
Indiana. According to the Duke Energy website, Monroe County had the
most outages with 1,469. In Indianapolis, IPW was reporting 324 outages
as of 5:30 Sunday morning.
