QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Keystone XL will create a tremendous amount of jobs in the United States and increase energy security.”
Brian Ferguson, Cenovus Energy’d chief executive officer on the TransCanada Corp. pipeline project Article, 1D
Nuke agency sets hearing on accident
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting at 2 p.m. May 9 at Arkansas Nuclear One, the commission said Friday.
The meeting will review the circumstances of a March 31 industrial accident that resulted in the death of a worker and injury to eight others. The commission recently completed an investigation of the accident.
The accident involved a 550-ton piece of equipment that fell while being moved in a non-nuclear area of the plant. Both nuclear reactors at the plant have been shut down since the accident.
The meeting will be held at the Reeves Richie Training Center at Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville. Members of the commission’s staff will be available to answer questions after the business portion of the meeting.
The commission will issue a written report on the results of the inspection within 30 days of the public meeting.
Boeing 787 to resume flights in Japan
TOKYO - Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is poised to resume flights in Japan, ending a more than three-month hiatus that grounded 24 planes owned by ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines.
ANA said it will conduct the jet’s first test flight on Sunday, after Japan approved restart of the 787 flights with upgraded batteries. The government’s permission, granted Friday, is for all flights, including test and commercial services, said Shigeru Takano, a director at Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau.
“We will ask Japanese airlines to ensure the safety of passengers and provide them with information,” Akihiro Ohta, Japan’s transport minister, told reporters in Tokyo.
The move will resume 787 flights, grounded worldwide Jan. 16 after lithium-ion batteries on two planes overheated and melted, causing flights to be canceled and cutting revenue at the operators. The grounding is the longest on a large commercial aircraft by U.S. regulators since jets were introduced in the 1950s, surpassing the ban of more than a month on Douglas DC-10s.
Shinichiro Ito, chief executive officer of ANA, and Ray Conner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president, will be on board the Sunday test flight, the airline said in a statement.
Boeing dispatched about 300 workers on 10 teams to airlines to install the fix over five days while preparing the handover of new 787s.
Mississippi works to lure manufacturer
JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi lawmakers met in special session Friday to consider incentives to bring a new manufacturer to Clay County.
In a House Ways and Means Committee meeting Friday, lawmakers were not told the name of the company. But Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Smith, R-Columbus, had an annual report from Japanese tire manufacturer Yokohama Tire Corp.
sitting in front of him as he presided. The company makes industrial tires for trucks and tractors.
Bill Groak, a spokesman for Yokohoma, declined comment.
Committee members were told the state would borrow $70 million to buy land, build infrastructure and train workers.
The first phase would involve a $300 million company investment and at least 500 jobs. There could eventually be four phases, with a company investment of $1.2 billion.
Other contributions would be $12 million from local governments, $1 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission, $900,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority and $590,000 from Atmos Energy.
Clay County’s unemployment rate in March was 18.2 percent, the highest in the state.
Kathy Gelston, Mississippi Development Authority deputy director and chief financial officer, said the company has committed to an average salary of $35,000. She said the total tax exemptions and rebates for the company would likely be more than $200 million.
- The Associated Press
U.S. count of oil, gas rigs drops to 1,754
HOUSTON - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell this week to 1,754.
The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,381 rigs were exploring for oil and 366 for gas. Seven were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, there were 1,945 rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained three rigs, Colorado gained two and Louisiana and New Mexico each gained one.
Alaska lost five rigs, North Dakota and Texas each lost three and Pennsylvania lost one. Arkansas, California, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
- The Associated Press
150-year-old lumber firm has new owner
COLUMBUS, Ga. - A 150-year-old lumber company in west Georgia has a new owner, but the business will keep its name - W.T. Harvey Lumber Co.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that Natchez, Miss.-based Central Network Retail Group has finalized the purchase of the Columbus lumber company out of bankruptcy.
Bailey Gross, W.T. Harvey’s former president and chief executive officer, announced the transaction Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Gross will oversee the local operation, which will include its Columbus lumberyard on 15th Street and a store on Crawford Road in Phenix City, Ala. The Alabama store is being updated with plans for a grand reopening by mid-May.
Gross is the son of the late W.E. “Bubber” Gross Jr., former owner of the company.
Business, Pages 28 on 04/27/2013