PHMSA Announces Proposed Rule Addressing Natural Gas Pipeline Safety
Posted on Apr 8, 2016
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would update critical safety requirements for natural gas transmission pipelines. Sutherland attorneys Paul Forshay, Michael Stosser, and Allison Speaker authored the following Legal Alert describing the rule. Comments on the rule are due by June 7, 2016 PHMSA has issued a proposal to implement regulations that would add new safety measures designed to raise existing safety standards applicable to pipelines currently regulated by PHMSA. The Administration also proposes to make...
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Department of Transportation Investigating Shippers of Crude Oil by Truck For Sampling and Testing Programs
Posted on Mar 31, 2016
In the last few months, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has initiated an enforcement investigation into whether commodity traders who contract to ship crude oil by truck maintain a written sampling and testing program for these activities. The requirement to maintain a sampling and testing program was implemented in a DOT final rule issued in May 2015, which also set out new tank car standards and increased safety measures for the transportation of crude oil by rail (the “Final Rule”). While the Final Rule largely focuses on crude by rail transportation, the sampling and...
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OSHA Requiring Engineering Controls To Minimize Workers’ Silica Dust Exposure
Posted on Mar 25, 2016
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule targeting silica dust exposure. The rule reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift. The rule also requires employers to use engineering controls to limit worker exposure, provide respirators when engineering controls would not be adequate, limit worker access to high exposure areas, develop written control plans, and train workers on silica risks and how to limit exposure. The rule will be effective for the...
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Drilling Site Owner Has No Responsibility for Subcontractor’s Worker’s Injuries
Posted on Mar 19, 2016
The owner of a natural gas drilling site (Company A) won summary judgment against a plaintiff suing for severe injuries incurred after being exposed to significant amounts of dust when a dump truck operated by Company B (a contractor of Company A) allegedly unloaded a large amount of cement too quickly. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania concluded yesterday that Company A had no duty to the worker, who was employed by Company C, which had been hired by Company D, a company that Company A had hired to perform drilling operations on the site. Company A had also...
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More Lawsuits Likely After $4.2 Million Verdict in Fracking Case
Posted on Mar 11, 2016
A Pennsylvania jury awarded a $4.2 million verdict to two families against an oil and gas company for the alleged contamination of their well water caused by fracking operations. The verdict is likely to spur plaintiffs’ attorneys to file additional suits alleging injuries caused by fracking operations around the country. Most of the plaintiffs’ claims in the Pennsylvania case had been dismissed but the case proceeded to trial on claims of private nuisance.
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Counsel for Estate of Worker Killed in Plane Crash Sanctioned for Pursuing Court Action Against Employer
Posted on Mar 11, 2016
Following a tropical storm, two employees of a solar power plant flew over the sight in one of the employee’s single-engine aircraft to survey the damage from the storm. The plane crashed and one of the workers died. That worker’s Estate brought claims of negligence, negligent hiring, wrongful death under a theory of negligence, and wrongful death under a theory of negligent hiring against the worker’s employer under California law. The employer claimed that the action was barred because California’s Workers’ Compensation Act provided the worker’s...
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Illinois and Texas Cases Stemming from Lac-Megantic Derailment Transferred to Maine
Posted on Feb 28, 2016
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine agreed last week to transfer Illinois and Texas cases related to the 2013 crude oil train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec to the District of Maine pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 157(b)(5). The transferred cases include personal injury tort and wrongful death cases pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and two putative class actions pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The remaining railroad involved in the cases maintains that a Canadian venue is more appropriate for the cases....
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