Gas

Aug. 16 (UPI) — The deadly explosion in the Steel Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh occurred when a gas valve was flushed in preparation of planned maintenance, U.S. Steel said in preliminary findings.

Two people died and 10 people were hospitalized on Monday in the explosion at the plant about 15 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Black smoke could be seen for miles.

“Pressure built inside the valve, leading to valve failure and coke oven gas filling the area and ultimately exploding when finding an ignition source,” U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said in the statement to KDKA-TV and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Workers were charging ovens and pushing coke out of them as part of normal operations, Executive Vice President Scott Buckiso said at a news conference earlier this week.

“We want to reinforce that this investigation is in its early stages, and we will provide more information when we can,” Malkowski added. “Our focus remains on our employees and their families during this difficult time.”

She said company employees, agencies and experts have been reviewing video and interviewing workers.

“I thought something like this would take two to four to five months for it to unfold,” Calirton Mayor Rich Lattanzi said Friday. “I’m thinking what they found is a smoking gun.”

JoJo Burgess, who works at the plant and is mayor of nearby Washington, said he wants more information.

“Did someone know before it happened, so that they could have tried to stop the process?” he told KDKA-TV.

Bernie Hall, director of United Steelworkers District 10, said the union needs to learn more before speculating.

The explosion occurred around 11 a.m. Monday at the plant. Two people were initially reported missing, but the workers’ bodies were found in the rubble.

Killed were Timothy Quinn, 39, who lived with his disabled mother, and Bryan Dascani, 52, who was married and had two daughters, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Three other people remain in critical condition.

On Monday, U.S. Steel said the initial blast occurred inside the reversing room for batteries 13 and 14. Secondary explosions ensued but those blasts didn’t injure anyone.

U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt said local, state and federal personnel are investigating, including the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

On Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said during a news conference he wants Clairton and its surrounding communities to be protected. The blast could be felt miles away.

The Clairton plant settled a 2017 suit for $8.5 million over pollution, including $6.5 million to reduce soot emissions and noxious odors, CNN reported.

WTAE-TV uncovered past violations and injury reports at the plant over the past decades.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program enforcement analysis found that over five years, the plant was listed in “high priority violation” of the Clean Air Act and 32 “formal enforcement actions.” This is four times more violations than at similar places at the same time.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the plant had nine serious injury reports as of early 2024. They include trips and falls, resulting in broken bones or cuts.

There are around 1,300 workers at the plant.

“U.S. Steel had a record-setting safety performance in 2024 and an over 99% environmental compliance record. Safety is our top priority every single day,” the company said in a statement.

“Over the last five years, U. S. Steel has invested over $750 million in improvement projects at its Mon Valley Works facilities, including roughly $100 million annually being spent at the Clairton facility on environmental compliance.”

The company’s headquarters are in Pittsburgh.

U.S. Steel, which was founded in 1901, has about 22,000 employees with revenue of $15.6 billion in 2024.

Authorities say the incident happened overnight between the two Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

More than 600 Shia pilgrims in Iraq have been briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, according to authorities.

The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, in the centre and south of Iraq, respectively.

This year, several million Shia Muslim pilgrims are expected to make their way to Karbala, which houses the shrines of the revered Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas.

There, they will mark the Arbaeen, the 40-day period of mourning during which Shia commemorate the death of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

‘All pilgrims treated’

In a brief statement, Iraq’s Ministry of Health said “621 cases of asphyxia have been recorded following a chlorine gas leak in Karbala.

“All have received the necessary care and left hospital in good health,” it added.

Security forces charged with protecting pilgrims said the incident had been caused by “a chlorine leak from a water station on the Karbala-Najaf Road”.

Much of Iraq’s infrastructure is in disrepair due to decades of wars, internal conflicts and corruption, with adherence to safety standards often lacking.

In July, a huge fire at a shopping centre in the eastern city of Kut killed more than 60 people, many of whom suffocated in the toilets, according to authorities.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it plans to revoke a scientific finding on climate change that has served as the basis for key environmental and pollution regulations.

In an interview on Tuesday, Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the EPA, said that the agency would nix the 2009 “endangerment finding” that links emissions from motor vehicles to climate change and negative health impacts.

Zeldin added that those who seek to reduce carbon emissions only highlight the negative effects.

“With regard to the endangerment finding, they’ll say carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that’s the end of it. They’ll never acknowledge any type of benefit or need for carbon dioxide,” Zeldin told a right-wing podcast, Ruthless.

“It’s important to note, and they don’t, how important it is for the planet.”

The “endangerment finding” has been central to the justifications for regulating greenhouse gas emissions, including through vehicle emissions standards.

The finding, issued under Democratic President Barack Obama, has become a frequent target of conservative lawmakers and fossil fuel companies, which have sought its repeal.

Nevertheless, the “endangerment finding” has withstood several legal challenges in court.

Its revocation would be a continuation of the Trump administration’s push to roll back environmental protections and slash regulations in the name of boosting the economy.

The news agency Reuters reported last week that the EPA is also planning to scrap all greenhouse gas emissions standards on light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

In Tuesday’s interview, Zeldin likewise positioned the repeal of the “endangerment finding” as a boon to business.

“There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” Zeldin said.

“They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy.”

Zeldin also touted the finding’s revocation as the “largest deregulatory action” in US history — and a potentially fatal blow to efforts to curb climate change.

“This has been referred to as basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion,” Zeldin said.

A 2021 study from Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health found that a decrease in vehicle emissions helped bring the number of yearly deaths attributed to air pollution down from 27,700 in 2008 to 19,800 in 2017.

The researchers credited that decline to a combination of federal regulations and technological improvements.

They also noted that, if emissions had remained at the 2008 levels, the number of deaths would have instead risen to 48,200 by 2017.

Supporters consider air pollution regulations to be a vital part of the effort to slow climate change and minimise adverse health effects.

Trump, however, has defied scientific consensus on climate change and referred to it as a “hoax”.

Instead, he has pushed for the US to ramp up fossil fuel production, considered the primary contributor to climate change.

Earlier this month, his energy secretary, Chris Wright, wrote a column for The Economist magazine arguing that climate change is “not an existential crisis” but a “byproduct of progress”.

“I am willing to take the modest negative trade-off for this legacy of human advancement,” Wright wrote.

The United Nations has estimated that, between 2030 and 2050, climate change would contribute to 250,000 additional deaths per year, from issues related to tropical diseases like malaria, heat stress and food security.

L..A. County plans to pay more to upgrade the Gas Company Tower than it did to buy the downtown skyscraper in the first place.

County officials agreed last November to pay $200 million for the 52-story tower, which they planned to make the new headquarters for county employees.

The estimated price tag to earthquake-proof the tower: more than $230 million. Lennie LaGuire, a spokesperson for the county Chief Executive Office, said the tower is already safe, and the upgrades are “proactive.”

County officials had said some improvements to the tower might be necessary, but the cost and extent had been murky until now.

This week, the county received final proposals from firms looking to secure a contract for “voluntary seismic upgrades” to the Gas Company Tower, located at 555 W. 5th Street.

The Chief Executive Office, which negotiated the purchase, stressed in a statement that the seismic work was expected and far cheaper than the estimated $1 billion it would take to retrofit the county’s current downtown headquarters, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, which was built in 1960 and is vulnerable to collapse during the next major earthquake.

The Gas Company Tower “does not require any seismic work to provide a safe, up-to-code and modern workplace for County employees. The County is choosing to perform this work proactively with an eye to the future, to ensure that the building performs optimally in the decades ahead,” LaGuire said. “The cost of this work, even when combined with the cost of the building, is a fraction of the cost of making urgently needed and long-overdue seismic and life safety improvements to the Hall of Administration.”

The $200-million sale was considered a bargain compared with the building’s appraised value of more than $600 million a few years earlier — a symptom of plummeting downtown office values.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, the only board member who opposed the purchase, said Friday that county officials never should have entered into the real estate transaction before they “had all the facts” on the cost.

“This is turning out to be a bigger boondoggle than was originally sold to the public,” said Hahn, who said she had not been told about the upgrade costs. “I am only more convinced that we are better off retrofitting the historic Hall of Administration and keeping the heart of county government in our Civic Center.”

At the time of the sale, Hahn argued that the purchase would be a fatal blow to downtown’s civic heart and make the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration obsolete. The building is named after her father, who served a record 10 terms as a supervisor.

The Hall of Administration is one of several county-owned properties considered vulnerable in an earthquake. The Gas Company Tower, built in 1991, was considered much safer, but at the time of the county purchase, it was unclear whether it was fully earthquake-proof.

The tower is one of many L.A. skyscrapers that incorporates a “steel moment frame” as part of its structure. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, buildings with the frame did not collapse, but some were badly damaged.

Most of the seismic strengthening for the Gas Company Tower would involve “reinforcing of the welded steel moment frame connections,” according to the request for proposal for the $234.5-million project.

The contract will be awarded in October, according to the bidding documents, and the tower could be occupied during construction. County officials said they have already begun moving employees into the tower.

Times staff writers Roger Vincent and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.

July 8 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday took steps to make it easier for oil and gas companies to “commingle” multiple U.S. onshore drilling lease applications.

The proposed updates to oil and gas regulations in DOI’s Bureau of Land Management would allow gas and oil company operators to combine, or commingle, multiple federal leases as a means to boost productivity and, the department added, to “better reflect modern industry practices.”

“This is about common sense and catching up with today’s technology,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The move is a facet to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s recently passed tax and spending law to permit production via different leases, often under different ownership, and using the same well pad, which is the the cleared site where production facilities operate.

“Commingling” is an industry term to define the intentional or unintentional blending of fuels either to mix similar products together for transport and storage, or to create a newer product with specific characteristics.

Currently, the bureau restricts commingling to leases only with identical mineral ownership, royalty rates and revenue distribution.

The proposed policy switch has a July 15 effective date, barring no unforeseen issues, and overwhelmingly favors corporate interests.

Burgum says the current rules were written “for a different era.”

The administration said the proposed commingling of applications would reduce environmental effects, lower operating costs and increase corporate efficiency.

“These updates will help us manage public resources more efficiently, support responsible energy production, and make sure taxpayers and tribes get every dollar they’re owed,” Burgum continued in a statement.

The department argues it will unlock “energy potential that is currently tied up in regulatory red tape,” and further claimed it could result in nearly $2 billion in annual savings for the oil and gad industry.

Federal regulators for decades treated separate reservoirs with slightly drilling pressures as different reservoirs. The redundancy cost companies about $1.8 billion in avoidable annual costs, which was the same figure cited by DOI as corporate savings.

DOI officials went on to state how those savings could give corporate entities the ability to reinvest in new energy production which, officials added, would help “drive domestic energy development while reducing the need” for a company to invest in extra equipment.

The changes in federal rules could result in a 10% spike in production and over 100,000 extra barrels per day added to American output, Energy Department officials said.

On Tuesday, the administration said the Bureau of Land Management plans to “move quickly” to update the proposed federal regulations after a period of public comment and before the July 15 start date of the new policy.

Soldiers died from gas exposure during a mission to recover a Turkish soldier missing in the cave since 2022.

Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after inhaling methane gas during a mission in northern Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence says.

“Four other of our heroic comrades in arms, affected by methane gas, have died … bringing the total number of victims to 12,” the ministry said in a post on X on Monday.

According to it, the incident took place on Sunday as troops searched for the remains of a soldier killed by fighters belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2022.

PKK has been labelled a terrorist group by Turkiye, the European Union and the United States. It fought for Kurdish autonomy for years, a fight that has been declared over now.

Nineteen soldiers were exposed to the gas inside a site once used by armed fighters as a hospital.

The condition of the remaining seven soldiers was not clear immediately. “I wish a speedy recovery for our heroes affected by methane
gas,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.

The soldiers were conducting a sweep operation inside a cave at an altitude of 852 metres (2,795 feet) in the Metina region, part of Turkiye’s ongoing Operation Claw-Lock targeting the PKK positions in northern Iraq.

Though the gas is not considered toxic, methane can become deadly in confined spaces due to suffocation risks. The ministry has not clarified how the gas accumulated inside the cave.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his “great sorrow” over the incident and extended condolences to the families of the fallen.

Defence Minister Yasar Guler travelled to the area to oversee inspections and attend ceremonies for the deceased.

News of the deaths emerged as a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party was visiting jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan as part of the ongoing negotiations with the Turkish government.

The decades-long conflict between Ankara and the PKK has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984.

July 4 (UPI) — Dozens of people were injured by two accidental explosions at a Rome gas station at 8 a.m. local time on Friday.

A tanker truck struck a pipe while at the gas station, which caused a gas leak that led to an explosive chain reaction, the BBC reported.

A relatively small blast triggered a larger blast several minutes later, which caused extensive damage in Rome’s Prenestino neighborhood.

At least 45 people, including 21 first responders, were injured as the explosion shook nearby buildings and shattered windows while creating a large fireball and black smoke.

At least five have been hospitalized, including two men who are being treated for life-threatening injuries.

A neighboring sports center and several other buildings also were badly damaged by the gas station explosions and fire.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri inspected the devastation and told the media emergency teams prevented a “much more serious tragedy” by evacuating those inside nearby buildings after the initial explosion occurred.

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for those affected by the tragedy, the Vatican News reported.

“I pray for the people involved in the explosion at a gas station this morning in the Prenestino Labicano district in the heart of my diocese,” Pope Leo said.

“I continue to follow with concern the developments of this tragic incident.”

Cambodia’s PM Hun Manet announced that the decision would take effect from midnight on Sunday.

Cambodia has announced it will stop all fuel imports from its neighbour Thailand as relations have plunged to their lowest ebb in more than a decade after a Cambodian soldier was killed last month in a disputed area of the border.

Prime Minister Hun Manet announced the decision on Sunday, posting on social media that it would take effect from midnight.

Manet said energy companies would be able to “import sufficiently from other sources to meet domestic fuel and gas demands” in the country.

Separately, on Sunday, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens not to travel to Thailand unnecessarily. Concurrently, Thailand’s consular affairs department warned Thais in Cambodia to avoid “protest areas”.

The ongoing escalation between the two countries began last month after a brief exchange of gunfire in the disputed border area killed a Cambodian soldier.

For more than a century, Cambodia and Thailand have contested sovereignty at various un-demarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border, which was first mapped by France when it colonised Cambodia in 1907.

But following the soldier’s death, the two countries have taken several measures to secure their borders, with both announcing closures of border checkpoints and crossings.

Leaked phone call

The border dispute created wider political turmoil after a leaked phone call on Wednesday between Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the former Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, who remains a powerful influence in his nation.

During the call, the Thai premier told Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to “the opposite side”, including a prominent Thai military commander at the border.

Soon after the leak, a major coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai Party, quit the ruling alliance, overshadowing Paetongtarn’s premiership.

But on Sunday, the Thai leader said all coalition partners have pledged support for her government, which she said would seek to maintain political stability to address threats to national security.

Following a meeting with her coalition partners, she said, “The country must move forward. Thailand must unite and push policies to solve problems for the people.”

A rally has, nevertheless, been called for June 28 to demand that Paetongtarn, the daughter of influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, resign.

Crude oil prices jump more than 4 percent amid fears the US may join Israel’s offensive against Iran.

Oil prices have spiked amid fears that the Israel-Iran crisis could spiral into a broader conflict involving the United States.

Brent North Sea Crude and West Texas Intermediate – the two most popular oil benchmarks – rose 4.4 percent and 4.3, respectively, on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran.

The benchmarks stood at $76.45 per barrel and $74.84 per barrel, respectively, following the jump.

Oil prices edged up further in early trading on Wednesday, with both benchmarks about 0.5 percent higher as of 03:30 GMT.

US stocks fell on the rising geopolitical tensions overnight, with the benchmark S&P500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declining 0.84 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively.

Israel has bombed multiple oil and gas facilities in Iran since Friday, including the South Pars gasfield, the Fajr Jam gas plant, the Shahran oil depot and the Shahr Rey oil refinery.

While there has been little disruption to global energy flows so far, the possibility of escalation – including direct US involvement in Israel’s military offensive – has put markets on edge.

On Tuesday, Trump ratcheted his rhetoric against Iran, adding to fears that his administration could order a military strike against Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Fordow.

In a thinly veiled threat against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump said in a Truth Social post that the US knew his location but did not want him killed “for now”.

Iran has the world’s third-largest reserves of crude oil and second-largest reserves of gas, though its reach as an energy exporter has been heavily curtailed by US-led sanctions.

The country produced about 3.99 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2023, or 4 percent of global supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Iran also sits on the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a conduit for 20-30 percent of global oil shipments.

Nearly all of Iran’s oil exports leave via the Kharg Island export terminal, which has so far been spared from Israeli bombing.

“In the context of seeking to destabilize Iran, Israel may choose to strike its oil exports, believing that working to finish off a hostile regime is worth the risk of alienating allies concerned with potential price escalation,” Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, wrote in an analysis on Monday.

“Israeli strategists are likely well aware that Iran’s oil export capacity is quite vulnerable to disruption. Its offshore oil export terminal at Kharg Island accounts for nearly all of its 1.5 million barrels per day average export volume.”

Israel and Iran are engaged in attacks for a fifth straight day, with Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites, oil and gas facilities, and state TV headquarters.

The escalation has raised fears of a widening conflict and turmoil in global energy markets.

Iran is one of the top global producers of oil and gas and holds the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves and the thirdlargest crude oil reserves, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.

How big is Iran’s oil industry?

With about 157 billion barrels of proven crude oil, Iran holds about a quarter (24 percent) of the Middle East’s and 12 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves.

Iran is the ninth largest oil producer globally and the fourth largest within OPEC, producing about 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day. It exports roughly 2 million barrels of crude and refined fuel each day.

In 2023, Iran’s net oil export revenues were estimated at $53bn, up sharply from $37bn in 2021. While Iran’s economy is relatively diversified compared with many of its neighbours, oil continues to be a critical source of government income.

However, years of limited foreign investment and international sanctions have kept Iran’s oil production well below its full potential.

After Israel’s attacks on Iran began on Friday, fears of a wider Middle East conflict sent oil prices soaring nearly 7 percent in a single day. Prices have held steady about that level since.

Where are Iran’s oil facilities?

Iran’s oil facilities are spread across several regions, mainly in the south and west of the country. These include onshore oilfields, offshore platforms, refineries, export terminals and pipelines.

Nearly all of Iran’s crude oil flows through Kharg Island, the country’s main export terminal, which handles close to 1.5 million barrels per day.

More than 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime chokepoint between Iran and Oman.

Major onshore oilfields include:

• Ahvaz Field – Iran’s largest oilfield and one of the biggest globally
• Gachsaran Field – second-largest Iranian field, producing light crude
• Marun Field – another high-output field near Ahvaz
• Agha Jari, Bibi Hakimeh and Karanj fields – located mostly within Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran, a key oil-producing region

Major offshore fields include:

• Abuzar, Foroozan, Doroud and Salman fields – located in the Gulf and shared with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

Its main refineries include:

• Abadan Refinery – one of the oldest and largest refineries in the Middle East
• Tehran Refinery – supplies the capital and nearby provinces
• Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Arak and Tabriz refineries – process various crude types for domestic use and export

How big is Iran’s gas industry?

Iran has the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves after Russia. They are estimated at 1,200 trillion cubic feet (34 trillion cubic metres), which accounts for 16 percent of global reserves and 45 percent of OPEC’s total.

Iran is the third highest producer of natural gas behind the US and Russia with production reaching 9,361 billion cubic feet (265 billion cubic metres) in 2023, accounting for at least 6 percent of global production.

Like oil, Iran relies heavily on domestic companies to develop its gasfields due to international sanctions, which have limited foreign investment and technology access.

Where are Iran’s gas facilities?

Iran’s gas facilities are concentrated primarily in the south, especially along the Gulf, with major gasfields and processing plants.

Iran’s largest gasfield, and the largest in the world, is the South Pars field, which it shares with Qatar, where it’s known as the North Field.

Other important gasfields are the North Pars, Golshan, Ferdowsi, Kangan and Nar fields.

Iran’s main gas-processing centre is the South Pars Gas Complex, located in Bushehr province.

Which facilities has Israel attacked?

Israel has struck multiple energy facilities, including the South Pars gasfield, Fajr Jam gas plant, Shahran oil depot, Shahr Rey oil refinery and Tehran fuel depots.