City flags concerns over potential spills from Trans Mountain at river crossing

Story by The Canadian Press • 

The city of New Westminster has reiterated its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline over concerns the line, which crosses the Fraser River, would have catastrophic effects on people and wildlife in the event of a spill.

Earlier this month, city council voted 4-2 on a motion to convey its concerns in a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator.

“A lot of this motion was getting our opposition on the record,” Coun. Nadine Nakagawa told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview.

Nakagawa’s motion was supported by Mayor Patrick Johnstone, Coun. Ruby Campbell and Coun. Tasha Henderson. The two opposed were Coun. Daniel Fontaine and Coun. Paul Minhas. Minhas and Fontaine did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

The July 19 letter to the regulator highlights "concerns about the structural safety of the TMX pipeline crossing of the Fraser River from Surrey to Coquitlam, B.C."

If an oil spill occurred, it “would be catastrophic,” both for the Fraser River ecosystem — including spawning salmon — and the community’s well-being, said Nakagawa.

“The city of New Westminster is built on the shores of the Fraser River. It is a historic gathering place for First Nations, it is the focal point of our community.”

She says the “basis of the motion is just to speak up against it every chance that we get.”

The City of New Westminster has stood firm in its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) over the years. The city was an intervenor throughout the National Energy Board’s approval process for TMX in 2015, and has characterized that process as “flawed” in press releases. In 2020, the city issued a statement of support for land defenders peacefully protesting the project, and council constantly raises concerns that the TMX project is at odds with Canada’s global climate commitments.

“We have to be consistent in the way that we approach the climate crisis,” said Nakagawa, adding Canada can’t meet its climate targets while building pipelines. At a city council level, she says it’s common for people to say “I support that, but” or “I disagree with that, but.” To her, “you either agree with Trans Mountain as a concept, or you do not,” and if you do, “we can’t pretend that we care about climate and environment impacts.”

Not everyone on city council agrees with Nakagawa on the issue.

“The pipeline is almost built. None of it is going through our jurisdiction,” said Fontaine, one of two councillors who voted against the motion, the New Westminster Record reported. “As was noted previously, we don’t really have any influence; this motion can pass or not pass. It will mean absolutely nothing. It really is symbolic.”

While the project doesn’t go through New Westminster's jurisdiction, council has pointed out on many occasions that the pipeline will run through the Brunette River watershed and adjacent to the Fraser River.

Nakagawa says voicing the council's opposition firmly on the record is important, as is working in solidarity with First Nations who have opposed the project. The Squamish Nation, Coldwater Indian Band and Tsleil-Waututh Nation tried, unsuccessfully, to challenge the project’s approval in court, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation is currently involved in a regulatory dispute regarding the increased tolls Trans Mountain wants to charge oil producers to use the expanded pipeline system.

“In years to come, they might say, ‘Well, nobody opposed it’ … so I think continuing to speak up and say we don't consent to this, we don't agree to this, we don't want it, is really, really important even if it's not going to change the federal government's decision to keep pushing this forward,” said Nakagawa.

If there does happen to be a spill, voicing their opposition will be a cold comfort, she said, but insists “we just have to continue to talk about the fact that pipelines do spill (and) they have devastating impacts on communities.”

Natasha Bulowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

MEH

Cenovus CEO shrugs off Ottawa's plan to nix subsidies
Story by Jeff Lagerquist •

Cenovus Energy logos are on display at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, June 7, 2022. The Calgary-based oil company says its refinery throughput for the third quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 will be weaker than expected.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Cenovus Energy's (CVE.TO)(CVE) CEO is shrugging off Ottawa's plan to end "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies, while taking a wait-and-see approach to the looming federal cap on oil and gas sector emissions.

"It probably should be a fairly short piece of legislation," Jon McKenzie told analysts on a post-earnings conference call on Thursday, referring to the new subsidy framework unveiled by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault earlier this week.

"I've been in this industry for a lot of years, and many of those years have been spent in finance," he added. "I certainly remember writing a lot of cheques to the provincial and federal governments, but don't remember receiving a lot of cheques in return."

Looking to ensure alignment with federal climate targets, Ottawa's new framework will apply to existing tax measures and 129 non-tax measures. The government has not put a dollar figure on the subsidies impacted, or detailed which measures are included.

"I'm genuinely not aware of any subsidies that are direct to the oil and gas industry that they may or may not be speaking of," McKenzie said.

The new rules do not impact generally available subsidy programs, or money that flows through Crown corporations like Export Development Canada (EDC).

The federal government gave more than $20 billion in subsidies and financial support to fossil fuel companies in 2022, according to the non-profit group Environmental Defence. Of this, $19.8 billion was financing provided through EDC. Julia Levin, the group's associate director of national climate, called this a "glaring omission" in a statement on Monday.

Calgary-based Cenovus will be among the companies subject to Ottawa's planned cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, a final version of which is set to be published by mid-2024, according to Reuters.

Canada has committed to net-zero by 2050, with an interim target requiring the oil and gas industry to cut 42 per cent of its emissions below 2019 levels by 2030.

McKenzie says he is "waiting for more details on this."

Former Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix told Yahoo Finance Canada in March that a 42 per cent cut by 2030 is "not feasible by any stretch."

Cenovus reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday. The company booked a lower profit year-over-year due to weaker oil prices, while cutting its production guidance for the year due to wildfires.

Toronto-listed shares climbed 3.11 per cent to $24.55 as at 2:32 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Teck Resources says still evaluating options on coal business sale

 The Canadian Press

Teck Resources Ltd. is making progress in evaluating the various offers put forward by prospective buyers of its steelmaking coal business, the Vancouver-based mining company said Thursday.

On a conference call, CEO Jonathan Price declined to say whether a deal is imminent, but said Teck's board and an independent special committee are engaged with "multiple counterparties" and are progressing talks as quickly as possible.

"I don't want to say anything now to prejudge or pre-empt what the outcome might be. We'll take the time to get it right," said Price, who took questions from financial analysts following the release of the company's second-quarter earnings report.

"But we're not sitting on our hands here. We're taking a very active and diligent approach to moving this forward as quickly as we can."

Teck, Canada's largest diversified mining company, has been working to split its coal assets from its base metal operations, in the hope of expanding its copper and zinc production to meet growing global demand for these metals, both of which are used in the production of electric vehicles and are considered to be key resources for the coming energy transition.

But a wrinkle was thrown into that plan this spring when Swiss commodities giant Glencore launched its $25-billion hostile takeover bid for Teck.

Teck's board rejected Glencore's original offer. But Glencore notched a victory of its own in April, when Teck called off a shareholder vote on its plan to spin off its steelmaking coal operations into a separate company. It had become apparent Teck did not have the required support for its proposal, which Glencore had lobbied against.

Glencore has since presented a new offer to Teck's board, proposing to acquire the steelmaking portion of the company's business for an undisclosed amount of cash.

The Swiss company has said it also remains willing to pursue its offer for all of Teck.


Price said the various parties that have expressed interest in Teck's coal business have brought a forward a "range of proposals," and added the board will only sign off on a deal that maximizes the value of the business.

"There will be a range of considerations we need to consider as we make those decisions," he said.

"We have deliberately sought to keep a very open mind here.”

The update on the coal business negotiations came as Teck lowered its annual production guidance for its flagship project — its Quebrada Blanca, or QB2 copper mine expansion in Chile — due to construction and commissioning challenges.

The company said Thursday it now expects annual copper production of 330,000 tonnes to 375,000 tonnes, down from its previous estimate of 390,000 tonnes to 445,000 tonnes.

Price said Teck continues to expect the QB2 expansion project to be operating at full production rates by the end of this year, and added the company's copper production guidance for the mine for 2024-2026 remains unchanged.

Teck also reported the death of an employee at the QB2 mine site during the quarter.

The company's profit attributable to shareholders fell to $643 million for the three months ended June 30, down from $1.8 billion during the same period the year before, as global copper prices fell.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $3.5 billion, down from $5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2022.

On an adjusted basis, Teck says it earned $1.22 per diluted share for its most recent quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $3.25 per diluted share a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TECK.B)

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

California, other states move to block 3M's $10.3 billion PFAS deal

The 3M Global Headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota

By Clark Mindock

(Reuters) - A group of 22 states and U.S. territories on Wednesday moved to block a proposed $10.3 billion settlement that would resolve claims against 3M Co over water pollution tied to “forever chemicals,” claiming the deal fails to adequately hold the company accountable.

The group, led by California and including Texas, New York and the District of Columbia, filed a motion to intervene noting their opposition in South Carolina federal court, where thousands of lawsuits against 3M and other companies over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are being fought.

The proposed deal would provide funds over a 13-year period to cities, towns and other public water systems to test and treat contamination of PFAS. But the states said it isn't enough to account for the damage caused by the chemicals, which are used in a wide range of products from firefighting foam to non-stick cookware to cosmetics and have been linked to cancers, hormonal dysfunction and environmental damage.

The states said the deal, announced June 22, includes a broad release of liability, which could hamper future litigation.

They also said the deal could shift liability for future health concerns caused by PFAS from 3M onto the water systems themselves.

The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, who is overseeing the cases in South Carolina.

3M, which is facing thousands of lawsuits over PFAS contamination, did not admit liability in the proposed settlement. It said in June that the money will help support remediation at public water systems that detect PFAS "at any level."

The deal did not cover claims related to personal injury or property damage from PFAS contamination.

Three New York State cities with claims related to cleaning up PFAS at superfund sites in their jurisdiction also moved to block the settlement earlier this month. They claimed the water system settlement would reduce the amount of 3M money available to clean up those types of sites across the country, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates could cost more than $17 billion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has called PFAS an “urgent public health and environmental issue.” The substances are dubbed "forever chemicals" because they do not easily break down in the human body or environment.

The EPA has taken several steps in recent years to tighten regulations for the chemicals, and in March announced the first-ever national drinking water standards for six of the chemicals.

3M in December set a 2025 deadline to stop producing PFAS.

(Reporting by Clark Mindock; editing by Amy Stevens and Aurora Ellis)

G20 environment ministers to meet amid record heat. Can Canada lead the way?
Story by Uday Rana • 2h ago

Workers install a logo ahead of G20 meeting in Gandhinagar, India, Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)© Provided by Global News

When the environment ministers of the G20 nations meet in Chennai, India on Friday, they will be capping off what's set to be the hottest month on record for Earth. Analysts say the meeting will set the tone for the COP28 summit in November this year and that Canada has the chance to lead the way.

The G20 nations comprise some of the world's biggest polluters, including Canada, the United States, China and India. Together, this group accounts for 78 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting comes just days after Canada became the first G20 country to roll out a plan to phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies.

“This meeting is happening during unprecedented climate events across the world. We really need progress on climate action. The G20 ministers need to meet this moment,” said Pratishtha Singh, senior policy analyst at Climate Action Network Canada.

According to Indian media reports, the environment ministers are likely to discuss climate mitigation, adaptation and climate finance. Hindustan Times, a leading Indian daily, also reported that the G20 communique was likely to outline the G20’s expectations for the upcoming COP28 summit in Dubai.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault reached India on Tuesday to attend the summit.

“Minister Guilbeault is in India to strengthen global cooperation on climate, biodiversity, and pollution alongside Indian and international partners. Together, we’re committed to building a healthier planet for all,” Environment Canada said in a statement.

A day before he left for India, Guilbeault released a framework to review and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Canada is the first G20 country to roll out such a plan.

Under the framework, unless a fossil fuel company significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, supports Indigenous participation, offers essential energy services to remote communities, provides short-term support for an emergency or supports projects that include carbon capture, their subsidies would be deemed “inefficient” and phased out.

Singh believes the timing of Canada’s announcement will pressure some of the bigger polluters to also consider phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

“Canada is showing an example to the other G20 countries. This language around fossil fuel phase-down will come up in the coming moments,” she said.

She said while Canada’s plan is not without flaws, Ottawa must try to convince the rest of the G20 to adopt a similar framework. The global conversation, she said, is moving toward phasing out financing for fossil fuels.

The environment ministers' meeting, however, comes against the backdrop of an energy ministers’ meeting last week, which ended in disappointment. The G20 underlined the need to have a just and sustainable energy transition, but failed to agree to a framework to phase down fossil fuels. Last week’s stumbling block does not bode well for climate negotiations going forward.

On Thursday morning, UN climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell and COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber issued a joint statement on the outcomes of the energy meeting.

“While the discussions at the G20 Energy Ministerial considered energy transition and aligning current pathways with the Paris Goals, the outcome did not provide a sufficiently clear signal for transforming global energy systems, scaling up renewable and clean energy sources and responsibly phasing down fossil fuels,” they said in their statement.

The joint statement said the G20 had the responsibility to lead the way in terms of climate action.

“The G20 is responsible for 85% of the world’s GDP, but also 80% of the world’s emissions. Leadership by the G20 is indispensable to enable an inclusive and ambitious development agenda that demonstrates to the world that the transformation towards a net-zero and climate resilient world comes with great benefits for growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development,” they said.

Video: Ottawa changing conditions around future fossil fuel subsidies

The G20 ministerial comes at a time when Canada is facing a record-breaking wildfire season and heavy flooding events. Europe and North America have also recorded heat waves this month.

Researchers say the deadly hot spells in the American southwest and southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing buildup of warming gases in the air.

These unusually strong heat waves are becoming more common, a recent study has found. The same research found the increase in heat-trapping gases, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, has made another heat wave — this time in China — 50 times more likely with the potential to occur every five years or so.

A stagnant atmosphere, warmed by carbon dioxide and other gases, also made the European heat wave 2.5 C hotter, the one in the United States and Mexico 2 C warmer and the one in China 1 C toastier, the study found.

Experts argue that Canada’s plan to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, while a welcome measure, does not go far enough and has loopholes. In particular, they say the plan does not apply to loans, guarantees and equity given to the TransMountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines.

TransMountain was bought by the federal government in 2018 with plans to sell down the road.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is owned by TC Energy, the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and KKR & Co. Inc., with 20 First Nations holding options agreements for a 10 per cent equity stake.

— with files from The Canadian Press

CELTIC INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

Archaeologists discover ancient glass workshop near central European Alps

Story by By JERUSALEM POST STAFF • 

Glass bracelets from female graves in Bohemia. La Tène culture, 3rd century BC. 

The Celts, exhibition in the National Museum in Prague.

© (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

After two decades of meticulous above-ground surveys, archaeologists have finally embarked on an extensive excavation of the renowned Iron Age site of Němčice, uncovering compelling evidence of the earliest glass workshop located north of the Alps.

Němčice, a historically significant settlement site from the La Tène Period (3rd-2nd century BCE) in Central Europe, has long been celebrated for its exceptional trove of over 2,000 gold and silver coins.

Additionally, the discovery of numerous glass bracelets and beads hinted at the site's association with glass production. However, it is only through these recent excavations that this speculation has been conclusively confirmed.

Leading the research team is Dr. Ivan Čižmář from the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Brno, who expressed their fascination with understanding the Celts' glass-making techniques.

"No one yet knows how exactly the Celts made glass bracelets," he remarked, emphasizing the need to shed light on the technology of production.


Fragment of an imported glass vessel. Celtic settlement in Strakonice. Probably th century BC. (Strakonice Museum.) The Celts, exhibition in the National Museum in Prague. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

In their endeavor to answer this long-standing question, Dr. Čižmář and the team focused on excavating an area where substantial amounts of glass objects were previously found on the surface. Their findings have been published in the journal Antiquity.

Excavation yielded an array of both complete, partially finished glass products

Although specific glass-making tools remained elusive, the excavation yielded an array of both complete and partially finished glass products, providing compelling evidence that Němčice was indeed a hub for glass production.

The excavation unearthed not only glass beads and bracelets but also fragments of amber, revealing the complex's association with multiple materials in the production process.

This discovery further underscores Němčice's regional significance as a center for craftsmanship and trade.

Simultaneously, the researchers explored a square area within Němčice, identified through a geophysical survey as the highest part of the site.

The similarities it shares with potential ritual structures found in Austria suggest the presence of shared beliefs among Central European communities.

Dr. Čižmář elaborated, "The presence of these likely sacred features at Němčice indicates the character of the site not only as a trade and production center but also as a seat of an elite and a ritual center."

Moreover, the possibility of Němčice serving as both a production center and a focal point for shared beliefs suggests its integration into a broader Central European network along the famed "Amber Road."

This ancient trade route facilitated significant commerce between Northern and Southern Europe, highlighting the site's pivotal role in regional connectivity during ancient times.

As e-bikes proliferate, so do deadly fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries

NEW YORK (AP) — The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above the burning store.

As the ubiquity of e-bikes has grown, so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them, prompting a campaign to establish regulations on how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored.

Consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so that unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don't reach streets and endanger homes.

These aren’t typical fires, said New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. The batteries don’t smolder; they explode.

“The number of fire incidents has rapidly increased. Other cities across the country have begun seeing these issues as well, and municipalities that are not yet experiencing this phenomenon may be facing similar incidents in the future," Kavanagh told the commission Thursday at a forum focused on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.

“We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York,” she told commissioners.

With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.

Nationally, there were more than 200 battery-related fires reported to the commission — an obvious undercount — from 39 states over the past two years, including 19 deaths blamed on so-called micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards.


New York’s two U.S. senators, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, introduced legislation last month that would set mandatory safety standards for e-bikes and the batteries that power them.

Because mandatory standards don't exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the U.S., increasing the risk of fires.

In many cases, authorities have been challenged to track the source of batteries manufactured overseas, many of them bought online or from aftermarket dealers.

Earlier this year, New York City urgently enacted a sweeping package of local laws intended to crack down on defective batteries, including a ban on the sale or rental of e-bikes and batteries that aren’t certified as meeting safety standards by an independent product testing lab.

The new rules also outlaw tampering with batteries or selling refurbished batteries made with lithium-ion cells scavenged from used units.

Meanwhile, New York City officials also announced they had received a $25 million federal grant for e-bike charging stations across the city, which fire marshals hope will reduce the risk of fires.

Related video: Fire deaths prompt federal review of e-bike rules 

(The Associated Press)   Duration 3:19   View on Watch

“When they fail, they fail quite spectacularly,” Kavanagh said in interview last week. “Once one of these ignites, there is a huge volume of fire, often so much so that the person in their home can’t get out and the firefighters can’t get in to get them."

Such was the case in April when two siblings, a 7-year-old boy and his 19-year-old sister, died when a scooter battery ignited a fire in Queens.

Because of the fire hazard, some residential buildings have banned e-bikes. Last summer, the New York City Housing Authority sought to prohibit tenants in all of its 335 developments from keeping or charging e-vehicles in their units, only to back down a few months later after protests from delivery workers.

Use of motorized bicycles grew dramatically in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic as homebound people turned more to food delivery workers for meals and groceries.

With the rash of fires, delivery workers like Lizandro Lopez say they are now more mindful about precautions.

“As soon as the battery is charged, I disconnect it. You shouldn’t leave it charging for too long,” Lopez said in Spanish, “because if you leave it on there too long, that’s when you can cause a fire.”

Los Deliveristas Unidos, which represents app-based delivery workers in the New York area, estimates that fewer than 10% of e-bikes sold in the city have been deemed safe by a third-party evaluator, such as UL Solutions, a product testing company that certifies safety compliance for a host of electrical products, including Christmas lights and televisions.

E-bike batteries rely on the same chemistry to generate power as the lithium-ion batteries in cellphones, laptops and most electric vehicles — products that were initially prone to overheating.

Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices, according to Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions.

The same can happen with e-bike batteries, he said, if they are made to comply with established safety standards. One feature most of these batteries lack is the ability to automatically shut off to prevent overheating and “thermal runaways” that lead to explosions and fires.

“We just need to make them safe, and there is a way to make them safe through testing and certification," Slone said, “given the history that we’ve seen in terms of fires and injuries and unfortunately, deaths as well — not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.”

In London, the fire brigade says lithium batteries are the city’s fastest growing fire risk, with one fire erupting about every two days. Last year, there were a total of 116 fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters. At least one death has been attributed this year to an overheated battery.

In San Francisco, there have been at least 21 battery fires so far this year — compared with just 13 battery-related fires in 2017, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Last year, some 1.1 million e-bikes were imported into the U.S., according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, an industry group. In 2021, more than 880,000 e-bikes came into the country — about double from the year before and triple the number in 2019.

Many of the batteries now on the road are substandard or aftermarket products that are known fire hazards but are popular with delivery workers because they are cheaper.

PeopleForBikes Coalition, an industry trade group, called on the government Thursday to close off the borders to unsafe lithium-ion batteries.

“If the agency follows through and creates these regulations, those regulations alone won't be enough,” Matt Moore, the group's general and policy counsel, told the commission.

Even with new rules and standards, he said, overseas sellers and manufacturers could still ship possibly unsafe products to the United States.

“Our research has shown there are over 400 online sellers of e-bikes who are not our members, companies that are not present in the United States except to sell their products to consumers,” he said, including generic products and accessories that falsely claim they are certified.

___

Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey and video producer Vanessa A. Alvarez contributed to this report.

Bobby Caina Calvan, The Associated Press

Ocean shippers playing catch up to electric vehicle fire risk

Story by By Lisa Baertlein and Anthony Deutsch •  Thomson Reuters

Smoke rises as a fire broke out on the cargo ship Fremantle Highway, at sea

LOS ANGELES/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Electric vehicles are crisscrossing the globe to reach their eager buyers, but the battery technology involved in the zero- emission automobiles is exposing under-prepared maritime shippers to the risk of hard-to-control fires, industry, insurance and emergency response officials said.

That risk has been put under the spotlight by the burning car carrier drifting off the Dutch coast. The Dutch coastguard said the fire's cause was unknown, but Dutch broadcaster RTL released a recording in which an emergency responder is heard saying "the fire started in the battery of an electric car."

While all logistics companies deal with the risk of EV lithium-ion batteries burning with twice the energy of a normal fire, the maritime industry hasn't kept up with the developing technology and how it creates greater risk, maritime officials and insurers said.

There were 209 ship fires reported during 2022, the highest number in a decade and 17% more than in 2021, according to a report from insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). Of that total, 13 occurred on car carriers, but how many involved EVs was not available.

The European Maritime Safety Agency said in a March report the main cargo types identified as responsible for "a large share of cargo fire accidents included ... lithium-ion batteries."

Dutch news agency ANP, citing operator "K" Lines, said there are almost 4,000 cars on the ship. That total includes 25 EVs.

A person answering the phone at "K" Line's main U.S. office said he was not authorized to discuss the fire. Japan's Shoei Kisen, which owns the ship, said it was working with authorities to get control of the fire.

The cause of the fire, while still officially undetermined, has raised questions about "what blind spots there are when transporting electric cars powered by batteries - which when they catch fire can't be extinguished with water, or even by oxygen deprivation," said Nathan Habers, spokesperson for the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR).

"The first question that comes to mind is: Does the current code stack up against the risk profile of this type of goods?" he added.

One hazard in lithium-ion batteries is "thermal runaway," a rapid and unstoppable increase in temperature that leads to fires in EVs that are hard to extinguish and can spontaneously reignite.

Fire extinguishing systems on the massive ships that haul cars weren't designed for those hotter fires, and shipping companies and regulators are scrambling to catch up, said Douglas Dillon, executive director of the Tri-state Maritime Safety Association that covers Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Recent fire-related losses are resulting in increased insurance costs for automakers shipping cargo and costs are likely to increase for vessel owners as well, said John Frazee, a managing director at insurance broker Marsh. As ship owners seek to limit losses by legally pursuing automakers whose vehicles are determined to have caused a fire, automakers are buying additional liability protection, he said.

Exacerbating the risks is the business model used by the companies that includes tightly packed ships. Auto carriers like the burning ship are known as RoRos, which stands for roll-on/roll-off - the way cars are loaded and unloaded.

RoRos are like floating parking garages and can have a dozen or more decks carrying thousands of vehicles, industry officials said. Unlike parking lots, however, cars are parked bumper-to-bumper with as little as a foot or two of space overhead.

Firemen typically put out EV battery fires on roadsides by clearing the area around the burning vehicle and flooding the underside with water, something difficult to do on a RoRo, Dillon said.

"There's no way for a firefighter in protective gear to get to the location of a fire" on a ship, he said, adding the cramped conditions increase the danger getting trapped.

While trains and trucks also transport EVs, isolating and extinguishing fires is easier as workers can unhook a rail car and a trucker can pull over, said Frazee.

Frazee expects insurers to lead the charge on strengthening safety systems on ships. Options being worked on include new chemicals to douse flames, specialized EV fire blankets, battery piercing fire hose nozzles and proposals to segregate EVs.

"I see no quick solution," Frazee said.

The International Maritime Organization, which sets regulations for safety at sea, plans to evaluate new measures next year for ships transporting EVs in light of the growing number of fires on cargo ships, a spokesperson told Reuters.

That could include specifications on types of water extinguishers available on boats and limitations on the amount a battery can be charged, which impacts flammability.

With EVs here to stay, KVNR's Habers said his group is discussing tightening regulations to account for the additional safety risks.

"There is already a whole lot of communication underway about this," he said, "but with this incident it becomes apparent we might need to speed up the process, especially when you consider that the number of this sort of cars is only going to rise."

Global auto sales last year totaled 81 million vehicles, 9.5% of which were EVs, according to EV-Volumes.com. China and Europe have been the most aggressive regions in pushing automakers to shift to EVs, and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has proposed rules that could result in as much as two-thirds of the new vehicle market shifting to EVs by 2032.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, additional reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, editing by Ben Klayman and Diane Craft)

Alaska asks US Supreme Court to strike down the rejection of a proposed copper, gold mine



ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska wants the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal agency's rejection of a proposed copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay region.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January blocked the proposed Pebble Mine, citing concerns with potential impacts on a rich aquatic ecosystem that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. It was the 14th time in the roughly 50-year history of the federal Clean Water Act that the EPA flexed its powers to bar or restrict activities over their potential impacts on waters, including fisheries.

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor in a statement Wednesday said having a case heard directly by the Supreme Court rather than first in the lower courts is “an extraordinary ask, but it’s appropriate given the extraordinary decision being challenged.”

“The EPA’s order strikes at the heart of Alaska’s sovereignty, depriving the State of its power to regulate its lands and waters,” according to the court filing.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency was reviewing Wednesday's filing, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The EPA has said its decision would prohibit certain waters from being used as disposal sites for the discharge of material for the construction and operation of the proposed Pebble project. The decision also would prohibit future proposals to build or operate a mine to develop the deposit that would result in the same or greater level of impacts.

Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. owns the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is pursuing the mine. Northern Dynasty President and CEO Ron Thiessen in a statement said the company plans to support the state in its legal action and left open the possibility of pursuing separate litigation.

In cases where states sue the federal government, they can bring complaints directly to the court, though only a few such cases are heard annually.

A Virginia-based law firm known for championing conservative causes, Consovoy McCarthy, is representing the state in the lawsuit as Supreme Court counsel. The firm previously contracted with the state in a dispute with public employee unions.

Alaska Native tribes and environmental groups have long pushed for the rejection of the mine.

Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, called the state's filing a “slap in the face to Bristol Bay” and said tribes “will use every tool at our disposal to protect our waters, our salmon, and our people.”

The Associated Press

US Supreme Court allows construction to resume on the Mountain Valley Pipeline




WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed construction to resume on a contested natural-gas pipeline that is being built through Virginia and West Virginia.

Work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline had been blocked by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, even after Congress ordered the project's approval as part of the bipartisan bill to increase the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in June.

The high court's order came as a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was hearing arguments in the case.

The Biden administration backed the company in calling for the Supreme Court’s intervention.

“All necessary permits have been issued and approved, we passed bipartisan legislation in Congress, the president signed that legislation into law, and now the Supreme Court has spoken: construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline can finally resume, which is a major win for American energy and American jobs,” West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said in a statement.

Lawyers for the company said they needed quick Supreme Court action to keep plans on track to finish building the 300-mile (500-kilometer) pipeline and put it into service by the winter, when the need for natural gas for heating grows.

Related video: Appeals court blocks construction on Mountain Valley Pipeline even after Congress says it can't (WTVR Richmond, VA)
Duration 1:20  View on Watch

Environmental groups have opposed the the $6.6 billion project, designed to meet growing energy demands in the South and Mid-Atlantic by transporting gas from the Marcellus and Utica fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, said in a statement that allowing the pipeline to proceed “puts the profits of a few corporations ahead of the health and safety of Appalachian communities. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a threat to our water, our air, and our climate.”

Mountain Valley Pipeline said the work is largely complete, except for a 3-mile (5-kilometer) section that cuts through the Jefferson National Forest.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who had asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, said after the ruling that there was an “urgent need” for the pipeline to be completed without delay.

The appeals court did not immediately rule on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s motion to dismiss challenges to the project over concerns about the pipeline’s impact on endangered species, erosion and stream sedimentation.

Derek Teaney, an attorney for Appalachian Mountain Advocates, told the appeals court that Congress’ action last month requiring that all necessary permits be issued for the pipeline's construction “crosses the fence between the judicial power and the legislative power.”

Appeals Judge James A. Wynn acknowledged, “If we grant the motion, this is probably the last time we’re going to see it.”

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Associated Press writer John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press