Blake Nicholson

Associated Press
Latest in Supply Chain
How to Calculate Capacity Utilization: A Manufacturer’s Guide
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More from Blake Nicholson
How to Calculate Capacity Utilization: A Manufacturer’s Guide
Sponsored
How to Calculate Capacity Utilization: A Manufacturer’s Guide
Use too little of your capacity, and you’re wasting resources. Push too close to the limit, and you risk failure and loss.
June 9, 2026
This Nov. 6, 2013, file photo, shows a warning placard on a tank car carrying crude oil near a loading terminal in Trenton, N.D. North Dakota officials are pressuring the state of Washington to back off from legislation requiring oil shipped by rail to have more of its volatile gases removed. Proponents of the bill awaiting Gov. Jay Inslee's signature say it will boost safety, but North Dakota officials worry it could hamper the nation's No. 2 oil producer. North Dakota's three members of Congress have asked Inslee to veto the bill. North Dakota regulators are considering a lawsuit.
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States At Odds Over Oil Train
Proposed legislation requires oil shipped by rail to have more of its volatile gases removed, but not everyone is on board.
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This Feb. 13, 2017, aerial file photo shows a site where the final phase of the Dakota Access Pipeline where it crosses beneath the Missouri River in North Dakota, just north of the Standing Rock Reservation in Emmons County in Cannon Ball, N.D. A federal judge is allowing four Native American tribes in the Dakotas to challenge the recent conclusion of federal officials that a Dakota Access oil pipeline spill wouldn't unfairly affect them, further prolonging a court case that has lingered for more than two years.
Regulation
Tribes Permitted to Challenge Pipeline Study
The tribes contend the Corps has simply rubber-stamped earlier conclusions.
January 7, 2019
This Feb. 13, 2017, aerial file photo shows a site where the final phase of the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Missouri River took place with boring equipment routing the pipeline underground and across Lake Oahe to connect with the existing pipeline in Emmons County in Cannon Ball, N.D. The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline missed a year-end deadline to plant thousands of trees along the pipeline corridor in North Dakota, but the company said it was still complying with a settlement of allegations it violated state rules during construction.
Regulation
Pipeline Developer Slow on Trees
The company must provide 20,000 trees to county soil conservation districts along the pipeline's 359-mile route across North Dakota.
January 3, 2019
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In this July 5, 2018, file photo, eroded hills are shown in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. Attorneys for North Dakota's Health Department say the agency didn't improperly discount its own concerns about a proposed oil refinery near the park when it permitted the project earlier this year. The department and developer Meridian Energy Group want a state judge to reject a challenge by environmental groups to an air quality permit that allowed the company to begin construction last summer at the Davis Refinery site about 3 miles from the park.
Regulation
Refinery Near National Park Justified
The company says the refinery will be built with modern technology and will be the 'the cleanest refinery on the planet.'
November 14, 2018
In this July 5, 2018, file photo, eroded hills are shown in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. Attorneys for North Dakota's Health Department say the agency didn't improperly discount its own concerns about a proposed oil refinery near the park when it permitted the project earlier this year. The department and developer Meridian Energy Group want a state judge to reject a challenge by environmental groups to an air quality permit that allowed the company to begin construction last summer at the Davis Refinery site about 3 miles from the park.
Regulation
ND: Permit for Refinery Near National Park Justified
Meridian maintains the Davis Refinery will be built with modern technology and will be the "the cleanest refinery on the planet."
November 14, 2018
In this Oct. 5, 2016, file photo, heavy equipment is seen at a site where sections of the Dakota Access pipeline were being buried near the town of St. Anthony in Morton County, N.D. The Standing Rock Sioux is challenging new government conclusions that the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline poses no significant environmental threats to American Indian tribes in the Dakotas. The Army Corps of Engineers in August finished more than a year of additional study ordered by a federal judge.
Regulation
Tribe Challenges Pipeline Study
"The corps has conducted a sham process to arrive at a sham conclusion, for the second time," tribal Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement.
November 6, 2018
This file photo shows a view of the badlands landscape at Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, N.D. Environmental groups opposing the site of an oil refinery being developed near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota want a judge to reconsider his recent recommendation that state regulators dismiss the groups' challenge.
Operations
Ruling Could Remove Roadblock to Oil Refinery
A North Dakota judge concluded that state regulators don't have a say in the site of an $800 million oil refinery.
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This July 19, 2018, file photo, shows a sign on property, near southwest Belfield, N.D, for the future home of the Davis Refinery near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Opponents of an oil refinery planned near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota are imploring state regulators to give them a chance to explore whether the developer is being truthful about the project's size. Meridian Energy Group maintains it doesn't need a state siting permit because the $800 million Davis Refinery won't have a big enough capacity.
Regulation
Opponents of Refinery Question Developer
Meridian says the site will have a capacity of 49,500 barrels per day — which is just below the 50,000-barrel threshold that triggers a state review.
August 23, 2018
In this Nov. 2, 2016 file photo, protesters demonstrating against the expansion of the Dakota Access Pipeline wade in cold creek waters confronting local police as remnants of pepper spray waft over the crowd near Cannon Ball, N.D. North Dakota is demanding $38 million from the federal government to reimburse the state for costs associated with policing large-scale and prolonged protests against the oil pipeline. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed an administrative claim Friday, July 20, 2018.
Operations
ND Seeks Federal Money for Protest Costs
North Dakota's case is being called "a long shot."
July 23, 2018
In this May 24, 2017, file photo, a bison grazes in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. North Dakota's Health Department has issued a permit allowing construction of an oil refinery about 3 miles from the park. State Air Quality Director Terry O'Clair says officials conducted a 1½-year review and determined the refinery won't negatively impact the park.
Regulation
ND Approves Refinery Near National Park
Opponents worry about pollution in the 30,000-acre park named for former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt.
June 18, 2018
In this photo taken Oct. 5, 2016, heavy equipment is seen at a site where sections of the Dakota Access pipeline were being buried near the town of St. Anthony in Morton County, N.D. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers within the next two months expects to wrap up an environmental study of the oil pipeline after recently meeting with four American Indian tribes battling the pipeline in court. The tribe leading the lawsuit still feels it hasn't had a meaningful role in the study, and Standing Rock Sioux attorney Jan Hasselman said Monday, June 11, 2018, that 'the tribe is not giving up this fight' two years after the suit was filed and a year after oil began flowing.
Operations
Corps to Wrap Up Dakota Access Work
The Army Corps. of Engineers has undertaken an environmental study at the behest of a U.S. judge.
June 12, 2018