AI Weekly: A weekly newsletter brought to you by American Infrastructure

ENERGY

McDonnell unveils energy agenda
The Washington Post
Gov. Bob McDonnell unveiled a package of energy proposals Thursday for the upcoming legislative that includes $500,000 to promote wind development off Virginia’s coast and increases energy efficiency programs. McDonnell (R) said the recommendations will support energy infrastructure expansion and access to traditional energy sources, promote conservation and efficiency, and support the development of alternative and renewable options.

SandRidge Energy's trust unit files for IPO

Reuters
SandRidge Energy's trust unit, SandRidge Mississippian Trust II, filed with U.S. regulators on Thursday to raise up to $603.75 million in an initial public offering of its common stock. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SandRidge Energy said Morgan Stanley and Raymond James will underwrite its unit's offering. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based company said the trust will offer up to 25 million common units, which it intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SDR."

West Virginia Energy Outlook 2012: Identifying synergies between renewables and fossil fuel

Renewable Energy World
With the strident partisanism in Washington (clean vs. dirty energy) and the international solar trade debate (China vs. America) in mind I believe President Carter's words ring true today: "Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite as a nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battle field of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny."

ENVIRONMENTAL

MD Environmental Coalition calls for 4-fold flush fee hike for sewage and septic upgrades
The Washington Post
A coalition of Maryland environmental groups is calling for a four-fold increase in the so-called flush fee for sewage and septic system upgrades. A state task force is considering recommending a doubling of the $30 fee in 2013, and increasing it to $90 for property owners in 2015. The Clean Water, Healthy Families Coalition released its legislative agenda, calling for an immediate increase to $10 a month, or $120 a year. Coalition members include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Sierra Club, Environment Maryland and the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. Gov. Martin O’Malley has said he is considering raising the fee.

Atrazine aids environment, new research finds

The Sacramento Bee
The 50-year-old herbicide atrazine, renowned for controlling weeds, is instrumental to conservation as well, according to a new study. University of Wisconsin-Madison economist Paul D. Mitchell, Ph.D., found the use of atrazine helps farmers reduce aggregate soil erosion by up to 85 million tons per year — enough to fill more than 3 million dump trucks. Mitchell will present the findings of his paper, "Estimating soil erosion and fuel use changes and their monetary values with AGSIM: A case study for triazine herbicides," Jan. 10, 2012, at the Wisconsin Crop Management Conference in Madison, Wisc.

Public health effects of fracking need study, CDC scientist says

Bloomberg
The U.S. should study whether hydraulic fracturing used to free natural gas from wells is a hazard to people or food sources, a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is preparing regulations to govern fracking with the Interior Department, plans to study the effect of the drilling procedure, also known as fracking, on drinking water. Additional studies should examine whether wastewater from the wells can harm people or animals and vegetables they eat, said Christopher Portier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

INFRASTRUCTURE

PowerSecure Announces $20 Million of New Utility Infrastructure Awards

PR Newswire
PowerSecure International, Inc. (Nasdaq: POWR) today announced it has been awarded a new contract to serve two separate divisions of a major investor-owned utility. The award includes transmission and distribution construction and maintenance services, and is expected to generate $20 million of revenue over the two-year contract period. The Company expects to realize approximately one third of the revenue from this contract in 2012, and two-thirds of the revenue in 2013, although these estimates could fluctuate depending on specific work assignments.

Salient MLP & Energy Infrastructure fund announces its net asset value as of December 30, 2011 and provides fund update

Business Wire
Salient MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund (the “Fund”) (NYSE: SMF) announced today its net asset value as of December 30, 2011 and provided an update on the fund’s current portfolio. As of December 30, 2011 the Fund’s net assets were $156.2 million and the net asset value per share was $25.46 compared to May 31, 2011 when the net assets were $133.5 million and the net asset value per share was $23.82. Since the IPO in May 2011, the Fund has paid two quarterly distributions of $0.40 in August and $0.41 in November for a total of $0.81 paid in cash distributions to investors since the IPO.

TRANSPORTATION

No mention of transit in Cuomo’s sweeping $15B infrastructure plan
WNYC
When New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that he would set up a $15 billion fund to rebuild 100 bridges and 2,000 miles of road, there was delight in many quarters -- but in his long list of projects, the governor never said the word "transit.” New York, like the rest of the country, has a badly crumbling infrastructure. Thirty two percent of the state's bridges are rated deficient; 40 percent of its roads are fair or poor, and 83 percent of the state's parks and dams are in disrepair, according to the Governor's address. Just two years ago, a bridge across lake Champlain in upstate New York had to be abruptly closed because engineers deemed it unsafe.

Washington County transportation chief says future plans will prioritize bicycle infrastructure

Oregon Live
Andrew Singelakis started his job as Washington County's Director of Land Use and Transportation (LUT) In March 2010. Since then he's overseen five county divisions, a department of about 300 employees, and an annual budget of just under $200 million. The first 22 months of his time on the job have presented challenges; but he's very optimistic about the future, including how the transportation network in Washington County can better serve bicycle traffic.

Taking air flight innovative
American Infrastructure
The southern part of the San Francisco Bay area in California was nicknamed Silicon Valley, originally, as a result of the region's large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers that called the area home. Now, the nickname is used as a metonym for the area's world leadership in technological advancements and development. So, it comes as no surprise that when Silicon Valley's airport, Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), decided to modernize their facilities, it would be with the most updated tech-savvy upgrades and sustainable improvements.

US Transportation Dept. awards $51 million to repair Connecticut roadways damaged by storms
The Republic
Connecticut has received $51 million in federal money to help repair roads that were damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Irene and the rare October snowstorm. The grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Emergency Relief Program were announced Thursday by Connecticut's congressional delegation. Irene washed out or destroyed roadways in Connecticut when it struck the shoreline as a tropical storm in late August, ravaging buildings and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses. The lawmakers say the grants awarded to the Connecticut Department of Transportation will help repair damaged roads, highways and infrastructure.

State transportation officials abandon idea of tolls on South Lawrence Trafficway
LJ World
The Kansas Department of Transportation has decided against making any portion of the South Lawrence Trafficway a toll road, the agency announced Thursday. KDOT leaders were exploring making the SLT — which if completed will connect Interstate 70 west of Lawrence with Kansas Highway 10 east of Lawrence — a toll road. But KDOT said a survey of area motorists found that even a minimal toll would have reduced the number of motorists who would have used the bypass. In fact, KDOT determined that the number of users of the SLT would drop to the point that a new environmental impact statement would be required for the western half of the trafficway — which is scheduled to begin construction in fall 2013, if the state prevails in a lawsuit regarding the route of the road through the Baker Wetlands.

WATER / WASTEWATER

EPA may retest PA. water near fracking
Reuters
Federal regulators are considering retesting water supplies at a small town in Pennsylvania that residents say have been contaminated by natural gas drilling. Just a month after declaring water in Dimock safe, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency are taking another look after new evidence suggested that drinking water could be polluted worse than originally thought. "EPA is considering next steps including conducting some samples of well water in the area," the EPA told Reuters on Thursday, after receiving hundreds of pages of data from Dimock residents. Federal officials have visited affected residents this week, some of whom have been without fresh drinking water since drilling by energy company Cabot Oil & Gas began three years ago.

Pingree to take over own water/sewer operations
The Courier News
The village will take over operations of its water and sewer service, after the current private operator chose not to renew its contract. Village Administrator Ken Lopez said MGD Water Systems president Mike Megurdichian cited personal reasons for not renewing the contract. The village board has decided to take over the maintenance and operation of the system, which serves more than 4,100 residents. Other options had included hiring a new company to monitor the system or selling the water system assets altogether and having a private company provide service.