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A28 u.s. news
Diabierna 1 aPriL 2022

US will require valves on new pipelines to prevent disasters

that already crisscross the ments because of the expense leaks.” Buttigieg said.
country. of installing them and con-
cerns they could close ac- The Pipeline Safety Trust,
The rule requires compa- cidentally and shut off fuel a Bellingham, Washington-
nies to install valves that can supplies. based advocacy group, said
quickly shut off the flow of the rule marked progress
oil, natural gas or other haz- Transportation Secretary Pete since Congress mandated
ardous fuels when pipelines Buttigieg said the more strin- more stringent pipeline regu-
rupture. It came in response gent regulations for the in- lations more than a decade
to a massive gas explosion in dustry were needed because ago.
San Bruno, California, that too many people have been
killed eight people in 2010, harmed by pipeline failures. But the group said exempt-
and to large oil spills into ing pipelines that are already
Michigan’s Kalamazoo River He said installation of the in the ground means it would
and Montana’s Yellowstone valves would also protect not prevent a repeat of the ac-
River and other spills. against large releases of meth- cident at San Bruno, which
ane, a highly potent green- involved a pipeline that was
The National Transporta- house gas blamed for helping more than 60 years old.
(AP) — U.S. officials on other states. tion Safety Board since the drive climate change.
Monday adopted a long 1990s has recommended the “This rule falls far short of
delayed rule aimed at re- But safety advocates said the use of automatic or remote “Today we are taking an im- the NTSB recommendation
ducing deaths and envi- U.S. Transportation Depart- controlled valves on large portant step to protect com- and will offer no additional
ronmental damage from ment move would not have pipelines — whether they are munities against hazardous safety to communities living
oil and gas pipeline rup- averted the accidents that existing or new — to reduce pipeline leaks — helping to near existing pipelines,” said
tures in response to fatal prompted the rule because it the severity of accidents. save the lives, property, and Bill Caram, executive direc-
explosions and massive applies only to new pipelines jobs of people in every part tor of the safety trust.
spills that happened in — and not the hundreds of But pipeline companies re- of the country while prevent-
California, Michigan and thousands of miles of lines sisted new valve require- ing super-polluting methane

Migrants hopeful, suspicious at US reopening to asylum

(AP) — More than a dozen mi- Most of the 63 people staying at Good chez, who fled Honduras with his trying to make their way to the bor-
grants excitedly ran out of their Samaritan, across the border from El wife and her three younger siblings. der.
dormitory at the Good Samaritan Paso, Texas, were women and their They have been staying at another
shelter here at the mere mention children from Mexico and Central shelter in Ciudad Juarez for a month. Two weeks ago, U.S. Homeland Se-
that the Biden administration America. The Rev. Juan Fierro, the curity Secretary Alejandro Mayor-
may lift a rule that expels people shelter’s director, said the vast ma- The nine-bedroom concrete Os- kas visited Mexico and Costa Rica to
at the border before they can re- jority had either been expelled under car Romero House shelter clusters discuss managing migration flows.
quest a chance at humanitarian Title 42 authority or were still waiting around a small courtyard with a Without providing details, Mayorkas
protection in the United States. to try for asylum. pomegranate tree where children play said he had reached a “migration ar-
after returning from school. The par- rangement” with Costa Rica.
They quizzed a reporter they’d over- A group of women said that if Title 42 ents sit on the second floor terrace,
heard speak of the expected change in ended they would run to the bridge at fearful to go outside, sharing care of In his State of the Union Address
a rule that for the past two years has the border to request asylum, because the youngest children and looking this month, President Joe Biden had
forced asylum seekers to wait at shel- returning to their homes was not an across the dusty desert cityscape to said, “We’re securing commitments
ters in in Mexican border cities ter- option. the mountains of El Paso less than 10 and supporting partners in South and
rorized by organized crime. miles away. Central America to host more refu-
Melida Castro, a 32-year-old from gees and secure their own borders.”
At times the wait has seemed inter- Honduras, has been at the shelter for Katherine, Sanchez’s wife, had a baby
minable. They struggle to find work, four months with her children, ages 3 while in Mexico. “If we have to wait, Both Mexico and Costa Rica are tak-
worry about debts accumulated to and 8. “There’s nothing more for us we wait,” she said. “Now that there ing in substantial numbers of asylum
just reach the border and live in fear to do but wait,” she said, explaining are organizations that can help us, seekers that in many cases would oth-
that they or their children could be she had fled Honduras after a gang we’ll wait for a legal way.” erwise try to enter the United States.
snatched by drug cartels preying on killed her uncle. They could also be critical in trying
the most vulnerable. There have been signs that the Biden to control the flow of migrants to the
“I saw him die in my arms,” she said. administration has been preparing for U.S. border.
Migrants have been expelled more Her family crossed the border once an expected surge of asylum seekers
than 1.7 million times from the U.S. and turned themselves over to Border
under public health powers invoked Patrol agents, but they were flown to
in March 2020 that are designed to El Paso and pushed back to Mexico.
prevent spread of Covid-19. The She said the agents mentioned Title
Biden administration plans to lift Ti- 42, but didn’t explain what it meant.
tle 42 authority – named for a 1944
public health law – by May 23, ac- While word of lifting the asylum lim-
cording to people familiar with the its provided a glimmer of hope, the
matter, with an official announce- possibility was also met with suspi-
ment expected as early as Friday. cion.
Near the height of the omicron vari-
ant in late January, the U.S. Centers Delaying the lifting until late May,
for Disease Control and Prevention when the Biden administration has
had extended the order to this week. had more than a year in office to
prepare, struck some as a way to buy
Reaction at migrant shelters in Ciu- time until the U.S. government can
dad Juarez shows the determination come up with another obstacle.
of many migrants to settle in the
United States as soon as possible. “Suddenly they’re going to say, ‘We’re
not going to lift it,’” said Victor San-