FARGO, N.D. — A civil lawsuit against BNSF by an engineer who was at the helm during a train derailment near Casselton nearly two years ago should be put on hold until it can be determined whether a broken axel was the cause of the fiery crash, a lawyer for the railway said Monday. The suit by Bryan Thompson of ...

FARGO, N.D. — Of the six sites in the U.S. where researchers are trying to figure out how to integrate unmanned aircraft into civilian airspace, only North Dakota’s can fly high both day and night. The Federal Aviation Administration approved a plan last week that allows drones to be flown up to 1,200 feet above the entire state and permits ...

HOUSTON — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week increased by one to 885. Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday 674 rigs were seeking oil and 211 explored for natural gas. A year ago, 1,896 rigs were active. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, North Dakota ...

HELENA, Mont. — A federal panel will hold a public hearing in Choteau next month on whether to allow oil and gas drilling on land near Glacier National Park that is considered sacred by Native American tribes. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s hearing will be on Sept. 2 to discuss the effects of lifting a decades-old suspension on a ...

WILLISTON, N.D. – North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, who shepherded the state through an oil boom that made it the No. 2 U.S. crude producer, said on Monday he will not seek re-election in 2016. Dalrymple, who helped tighten regulatory standards across the state’s Bakken oil formation, steps that some critics decried as too lenient, said he decided not to ...

Minnesota and North Dakota may need to make nice over energy policy. The two states have been fighting in federal court for two years over Minnesota’s cross-border restrictions on coal-based electricity. Now, the federal government’s even-more-sweeping regulations to cut coal power plant greenhouse gas emissions are pushing states to work together. “Pretty clearly there are benefits to consumers and power ...

About 18 months ago, Minnesota safety experts noted the heavily publicized explosions of trains carrying crude oil from the North Dakota Bakken formation through other states and Canada and realized many of those trains were coming through this state. That led to more training for firefighters and other first responders, including in several towns in this region. Because of the ...

Earlier this week the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new standards that would cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 40 to 45 percent by 2025. U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said, “Energy production and clean air through reduced greenhouse gas emissions are not competing ideals, and efforts to reduce emissions don’t have to hurt our energy industry,” ...

MANNING, N.D. — Dunn County residents who have been fighting for months to have a say in the siting of oil and gas waste landfills have lost another battle. The group that wears bright orange T-shirts reading “We Are Dunn County” earlier this year unsuccessfully tried to get the County Commission to reinstate an old zoning rule that said landfills ...

BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge in North Dakota has ordered a hearing on an effort to block a new rule that gives federal authorities jurisdiction over some state waters. Thirteen states led by North Dakota are challenging the rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. The states say the new rule illegally expands ...