Infrastructure News (Mostly Missouri)

ENERGY

Safety Valves Required on Gas Connections

The U.S. Department of Transportation, which governs gas pipeline safety through its Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, issue rules that require safety valves to be installed on all new or replacement gas service lines for apartments and small businesses. Excess flow valves automatically shut off the flow of gas when a line is ruptured, limiting the amount of gas that can escape, which will prevent or reduce the severity of fires.

Such valves have been required for new and replacement connections for single-family residences since 2009. The rule does not require existing connections to be retrofitted with the valve.

Tennessee Valley Authority Puts Unfinished Nuclear Plant on the Market

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is offering for sale its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. TVA began construction of the plant, located near the northeast Alabama town of Hollywood, in the 1970s, but never completed it because regional power demand did not grow as anticipated.

TVA has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for the plant and 1,600 acres of land along the Tennessee River. This is fraction of the $5 billion the authority has spent on the project. In addition to the unfinished nuclear reactors, the property includes power transmission lines, roads, and several buildings.

TVA cites economic development as a reason for the sale. It hopes industry will be attracted to the developed site and provide employment in the region.

Wind Farm to Start Operation in Missouri

Next Era Energy Resources is anticipating completing construction of a wind farm in rural DeKalb County, MO, in November. The facility will have 97 turbines and be capable of generating 200 MW. Kansas City Power and Light will purchase the energy. Find out more in this article from the St. Joseph News-Press.

ENGINEERING

Engineering Educators Elect First Black Woman President

The American Society for Engineering Education elected Bevlee Watfort as its president. She is the first black woman to hold the office. Her term will begin in June 2017. Watford is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering.

TRANSPORTATION

Missouri Testing Solar Sidewalk at Rest Stop

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) announced it will install sidewalk made of solar panels at its Route 66 Welcome Center. The sidewalk will cover a 12-foot by 20-foot area at the rest stop on Interstate 44 near Conway, MO.

The panels will be supplied by Solar Roadways of Sandpoint, ID. The solar panels and electronics are sandwiched between to ½-inch thick layers of tempered glass. MoDOT will test the materials for durability under various weather conditions. It will also test the suitability of the panel’s built-in LEDs as substitutes for road striping.

MoDOT does not expect to sell power from solar projects. It envisions that solar roadways may generate enough power to supply rest areas. The power generated by this project will be directed to the welcome center building.

WATER

Bill to Change Missouri Water Commission Overcomes Veto

The Missouri General Assembly overturned a veto by Governor Jay Nixon of a bill that could change the composition of the Missouri Clean Water Commission. The bill would change the composition of the commission, allowing agriculture and mining interests to have a larger representation. The commission has authority over rulemaking under the state clean water law. You can read more about this here.

Oklahoma Shuts Down Waste Wells in Light of Earthquake Threat

The September 3rd earthquake on a newly discovered fault near Pawnee, Oklahoma, has prompted state and federal officials to halt injection of oil and gas wastewater into 67 wells in the area. There is a growing scientific consensus that wastewater injection has contributed to recent earthquakes in the Oklahoma.

Wastewater produced from oil and gas extraction is disposed of by injecting it deep into the ground. Reducing the amount of wastewater that can be injects also reduces the amount of oil or gas that can be collected. The wastewater cannot readily be disposed of by other means.

The magnitude 5.8 quake was felt in neighboring states (Facebook friends of this contributor reported feeling it in St. Louis and the Missouri Bootheel). The U.S. Geologic Survey reports that it was felt as far away as Nevada and Florida.

Resolution Introduced to Commemorate 200th Anniversary of Gallatin Report

Representative Earl Blumenauer (Oregon) has introduced a resolution (H. Res. 936) in the House of Representatives to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury for President Thomas Jefferson, commissioned this report on transportation and commerce in the United States in 1808. The text of the resolution is copied below.

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals, celebrating the national unity the Gallatin Report engendered, and recognizing the vast contributions that national planning efforts have provided to the United States.

Whereas President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to provide a new vision for transportation that would unite the young Republic;

Whereas 2008 marks the bicentennial of the report that Secretary Gallatin presented to President Jefferson, which proposed transportation improvements not as ends in themselves but as means to further national unity, which was part of the promise of the American Revolution, as James Madison, writing in The Federalist No. 14, emphasized, `Let it be remarked . . . that the intercourse throughout the Union will be facilitated by new improvements. Roads will everywhere be shortened, and kept in better order; accommodations for travelers will be multiplied and meliorated; an interior navigation on our eastern side will be opened throughout, or nearly throughout, the whole extent of the 13 States', and whose words have served as a worthy reminder of the needs for transportation infrastructure since that time;

Whereas Gallatin incorporated the legacy Benjamin Franklin bequeathed to the country through his improvements to the Postal Service, including Franklin's route surveys, his placement of milestones on principle roads, and his development of shorter transportation routes;

Whereas the United States, as a result of Gallatin's legacy, has a record of successful infrastructure partnerships, including--

(1) the partnerships that built the Erie Canal, which vastly reduced transportation costs to the interior;

(2) the partnerships that built the transcontinental railway, which united the country;

(3) the partnerships that built transit projects across the country that promote freedom and opportunity;

(4) the partnerships that built the National Highway System, which fostered interstate commerce, national unity, and broke down barriers between the States; and

(5) the partnerships that formed the Tennessee Valley Authority, devised by President Theodore Roosevelt as a `corporation clothed with the power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise', which brought electricity, conservation planning, and opportunity for thousands in the Tennessee Valley and across the country;

Whereas any national planning endeavor, to be regarded as a success, must address and reconcile the needs of different regions of the country;

Whereas the genius of the Gallatin plan was its alignment of the hopes of the Nation with the opportunities presented by access to new markets, populations, and territories;

Whereas the United States currently faces new challenges financing the infrastructure necessary for the future economic needs of the country; and

Whereas America must have a plan for its future if it is to succeed in a world of increasing international competition: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives--

(1) reaffirms the goals and ideals that formed the impetus for Gallatin's
national plan two hundred years ago;

(2) calls on the Federal
Government, States, localities, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses,
and the citizens of the United States to mark this important anniversary by
recalling the important legacy of public investment in infrastructure that
connects and enhances the economies, communications, and communities of our
several States; and

(3) supports the creation of a new national
plan to align the demands for economic development with the resources of the
Nation.

Energy, Transportation & Missouri News

ENERGY

Buyer of TVA Nuclear Plant Plans to Run It

We previously posted that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was auctioning an unfinished nuclear power plant near Hollywood, Alabama. The buyer, Nuclear Development LLC, announced its intention to complete the plant and put it into operation.

Before this can be done, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must transfer the operating license from TVA to Nuclear Development. In addition, Nuclear Development must complete financing arrangements.

Nuclear Development bid $111 million for the plant. In addition to two nuclear reactors and supporting facilities, the property includes 1,600 acres of land.

Canada, Finland Plan to Phase Out Coal

Canadian officials announced plans to phase out coal-powered electric generation by 2030. They hope the country will be 90 percent powered by sustainable sources by that time.

Findland also proposes to phase out coal by 2030. The country plans to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

MISSOURI

Bill Would Make Sale of Municipal Utilities Easier

A bill filed in the Missouri General Assembly (HB 247), would lower the threshold of voter approval needed for a municipality to sell a utility. If passed, it would lower the requirement from a five-seventh majority to a simple majority. The Missouri House Local Government Committee has taken up the bill.

TRANSPORTATION

Bill Would Transfer Some Missouri Roads from State to Counties

Two bills in the Missouri Senate (SB 38 and SJR 3), propose pathway for the transfer of responsibility for certain road, letter routes, from the state to counties. About two-thirds of the current state funds for maintaining these roads will be distributed to counties, the remainder remaining with the state for other transportation needs.

County officials are opposed to the measure, saying it will shift much of the state’s burden for road maintenance to even more cash-strapped counties. These routes were maintained by counties until 1952, when the state took them over as part of a road improvement program.

A similar proposal failed to pass in the 2016 session. SJR 3 also includes a provision for raising fuel taxes. You can find out more about these bills here.

Noisy Electric Cars

New rules will require electric cars traveling slower than 19 miles per hour to produce a sound. This is to prevent accidents involving pedestrians who can’t hear the very quiet electric motors operating in these vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Administration anticipates this measure will prevent 2,400 injuries to pedestrians annually. New electric and hybrid cars must comply with the rule by September 2019.