'Unique Factors'led Topipeline Explosion
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER14, 2016 75¢ PRICEMAYVARYOUTSIDE PRIMARYMARKET TAKEYOUR WESTMORELAND EDITION PICK Thetime isripetovisitlocal WANTINGMORE SteelersDhappywithwin,determinedtoimprove C3 appleorchards D1 Side-andrear-facingstereocamerapairsworkincollaboration Top-mountedlidarunitsprovidea toconstructacontinuousviewofthevehicle’ssurroundings 360-degree3Dscanoftheenvironment ‘Unique Roof-andtrunk-mounted antennaeprovideGPSpositioning andwirelesscapabilities Forward-facingcameraarrayfocusesbothcloseand farfield,watchingforbrakingvehicles,crossing factors’ led pedestrians,trafficlightsandsignage to pipeline Front-,rear-andwing-mounted lidarmodulesaidinthedetection ofobstaclesincloseproximityto 360-degree thevehicleaswellassmallones radar thatcangetlostinblindspots explosion coverage Analysis of SalemTwp.blast spurs Spectra to re-evaluate industry standards, officials say by DEbRAERDLEy An interstate naturalgas pipelinethat exploded in SalemTownship in April Custom-designedcomputerandstorageallow had lostabout 30 percent of its steel wall forreal-timeprocessingofdata.Afullyintegrated to corrosion four years earlier,Spectra coolingsolutionkeepscomponentsrunningoptimally. Energy officials said Tuesday. But officials said what was then con- Source:Uber Advanced TechnologiesCenter sidered aminor anomaly —asmallarea flaggedfor reinspectionfiveyearslater —corroded at an unprecedented rate that causedthe explosion and spurred thecompanytore-evaluate longstanding industry standards. Spectraofficialssaid they have short- ened thelengthoftime between inspec- tions of similartransmission linesfrom every five years to every three to four DRIVINGFORCE years.Theywill lowerthe threshold for flagging anomalies foractionand will addanadditional measurement to the industry standard,officials said. Federal officialshaveyet to issue ade- UBER’S AUTONOMOUS CARS termination on the cause of the blast that sent afireball hundreds of feetinto the DEBUTTODAY IN PITTSBURGH air,scorched about 40 acres of farmland and severely burned aSalemman whose home wasdestroyed. by AARON AUPPERLEE However,Spectra officials said they Uber’s fleet of self-driving cars will be availabletocustomers forthe first time believeacombinationofissues affecting weld joints on 40-foot sections of pipe WednesdayinPittsburgh, butnot everyone will be abletohop in adriverless ride caused the rupture of the line. Just yet. Apreliminary investigation by the U.S. Aselect group of Uber users in the city will receive an email inviting them to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrationthisyear suggested cor- participate in the autonomous driving program. rosion at weld jointscontributed to the “This Pittsburgh pilot is our opportunity forreal-world testing so we can learnmore explosion. about what makes riders feel confident and comfortableand what we can do to improve AndyDrake,vicepresident of opera- tions forSpectra,detailedthe company’s the Uber self-driving experience,” said EmilyBartel, product manageratUber ATC. analysis duringanewsconference Tues- An Uber employeewill be behind the wheel of the autonomous car in case he or dayafternoon, hours beforecompany she needs to takecontrol of the vehicle during the pilot runs. officials andfederal regulatorswere Uber debuted its fleet of autonomous cars Mondayand Tuesdaytojournalists scheduled to address Salem residents at With 20 cameras and sevenlasers, atownhallmeeting. visiting from about 50 news organizations at its newAdvanced Technology Center the autonomous Ford Fusion takes Drake said companyrecords revealed in Pittsburgh’s Strip District neighborhood. Fourteen gray and white Ford Fusion 1.4million distancemeasurements corrosionatthe Salem Township site hybrids idled on astreet along the AlleghenyRiver outside the former refrigerated per second in a360-degree radius. duringa2012 in-line inspection of the 30-inchpipe, butnothing thatsuggested Restaurant Depot warehouse. Forvideoshowinghow immediate actionwas warranted. Thecompany’s fleet of 100 VolvoEX90s will hit city streets by year’s end. Uber’sdriverlesscarworks, “Itwas very small. It was smaller UBER · A4 visitTribLive.com GASWELLS · A4 Dems grow LCB auctioning ‘zombie’ liquor licenses nervous as SouthwesternPa. to gain 13 in high-demand hol, expired when they were in the first auction: four in aresold between private not renewed, revokedbyan AlleghenyCounty; twoeach parties withprices negoti- areas; average priceestimated at $75K each administrative lawjudge, or in Butler,Indiana,Somer- ated between them. Prices Clinton slips were no longer eligibletobe set and Westmoreland coun- vary widely by county and by KARI ANDREN censes across 21 counties. held in safekeeping. ties; and one in Washington canchange over time as de- Theagencyopenedbid- These licensesdonot County. Forthe first time since mand growsorshrinks in ding Tuesdayonits initial countagainst acounty’s “This is aseminal event,” Big lead over Trump Prohibition, the stateLi- agiven area, Flaherty said. batchofabout 1,200 “zom- quota,ormaximum number said MarkFlaherty,aliquor TheLCB does not trackli- quorControl Boardwill bie licenses” thathavebeen of allowableliquorlicenses lawattorney at theDown- evaporates; transparency quor license prices and does auction offrestaurant li- out of use since 2000. The based on population. town firmofFlaherty & not receive anypartofthe amust, supporters say quor licenses thathavelong licenses,whichallow restau- Southwestern Pennsyl- O’Hara. expired, allowing 40 newli- rantsand bars to sell alco- vania will gain 13 licenses Liquor licensestypically LIQUOR · A4 BLOOMBERGNEWS WASHINGTON —Eight weeks from Election Day, Democrats arefeeling queasy about Hillary Clinton’s narrowingnational and AHN,JohnsHopkins battleground state lead over Don- ald Trump. Arace some had considered alliedoncancercare alayup forClinton nowshows Trump within 2.5 points in the RealClearPolitics average of Moleculartestson Experts from TheSidney polls. Andthe Democratic nomi- Kimmel Comprehensive nee’s stumbles over the weekend late-stagepatients CancerCenter at Johns — from abotched response to a Hopkins in Baltimorewill couldopenpath scan tumors of all AHN pa- health incident to having to par- tients with Stage 4colorec- tially disavow her comment slam- to newtreatments talcancer,melanoma, some ming “half” of Trump’ssupport- lung cancers and some ad- ers—has heightenedconcerns. by WESVENTEICHER vanced gastrointestinal tu- “I’mtotally afraid. Donald ANDREW RUSSELL |TRIBUNE-REVIEW AlleghenyHealth Net- mors,according to an an- Trump definitelyhas the chance work is partneringwith nouncement Tuesday. to win.It’s reallyclose.Closing INNOVATION ON DISPLAY Johns Hopkins Medicine Theresults will help de- hereinPennsylvania andFlori- Andrew Conte, directorofPoint Park University’sCenter forMedia Innovation, formoleculartests of late- termine whether patients da,” saidClintonBarnes of Phila- speaks at an open house Tu esdayfor the $2.5M Downtownbuilding. Members stage cancer patients, for can benefit from newtreat- delphia, whoattended President of Tr ib To talMedia, acenter sponsor,talked on video to teachersand students whom options areoften ments thattargetspecific Obama’srallythereTuesdayfor involved with the center and fosteredadebateonthe value of local journalism on limited and treatment CLINTON · A6 Tw itter and Facebook, which we compiled in Storify.Toview, go to Tr ibLive.com. costly. CANCER · A4 WEATHER 82 · 54 INDEX Almanac D7 ComicsD8 Horoscope D7 MoviesD5 Afternoon thunderstorm; Vol. 128 ·No. 225 Bridge D7 Crossword D7 LocalB1 ObituariesB4 clearing tonight Five sections Business B8 Editorials A7 Living D1 SportsC1 © 2016 Details, A8 46 pages Classified E1 Financial B9 LotteriesA8 Te levision D6 A2 · WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 Al-QaidaaffiliatedenouncesSyriatruce ASSOCIATED PRESS al-Qaida-linkedgroups. With muchofSyria calmfor Pact aimstodivide rebels, In itsstatement, the al-Qaida thepast 24 hours,apowerful affiliateaccusedthe U.S.-Rus- al-Qaida-linkedgroup sharply bolster Assadrule, groupclaims sian-brokered deal of “conniv- criticized the U.S.-Russian- ing” to divide the insurgents brokered cease-fire, saying would abidebythe cease-fire If the calm holds forseven and “target themone by one, Tuesdayits real aim was to until midnight Sunday, while days,the U.S. and Russian mili- whiledistancing Assad’s re- keep PresidentBasharAssad maintainingits right to defend tarieswouldthen set up anew gimefromthe battleand pre- in power. itselfagainst anyviolations. center to coordinatestrikes serving”his hold on power. Theextremist groupwas in Thetruce excludes al-Qaida’s against ISIS and theal-Qaida “The aim of the Russian- talks with other rebel factions affiliate,known as JabhatFatah affiliate,previouslyknown as American agreement is to de- forapossiblemerger,amove al-Sham, and themorepower- the Nusra Front. feat Syrian jihad, breakits arm that could dash Washington ful Islamic State group,which TheJabhatFatah al-Sham and cut its teeth,”the group and Moscow’s hopes of distanc- areboth designated terrorist statementcame aday after Syr- said. ingitfromthe widerinsur- organizations by theUnited ia’s largest insurgent groups MostafaMohamed, the gencyand sabotage thetruce. Nations.The first week will expressed misgivings over the group’sdirector of media re- Thedenunciation of the deal be crucial: During thattime, dealfor excluding the al-Qaida- lations, wrote on his Twitter cameasactivistsand state me- all fightingbetween Assad’s linkedmilitants, whohavebeen account: “Letitbeknown. We dia saidthe truce,whichtook