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ENERGY TECH
Anger mounts in US storm zone over fuel shortages
by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Nov 2, 2012


NY City area filling stations mark some progress
New York (AFP) Nov 3, 2012 - Still hard hit by superstorm Sandy, some 38% of metropolitan New York City area filling stations were either closed or had no gas to sell, the Energy Information Administration said Saturday.

It was far from perfect, but it was progress from just one day earlier, when a staggering 67% reported being closed or not having any gasoline to sell.

"Based on today's emergency survey of gasoline availability, EIA estimates that 38% of gas stations in the New York Metropolitan area do not have gasoline available for sale. This is a sharp decrease from 67% yesterday," a statement from the federal agency said.

Huge parts of the US East Coast were still without power and infrastructure was still in disarray five days after Hurricane Sandy crashed ashore south of New York city, killing more than 100 people in the eastern United States.

Problems with refining and transporting crude made shortages the most acute in New Jersey and New York.

The Phillips 66 refinery in New Jersey -- which can refine up to 238,000 barrels a day, was still closed Saturday as was a storage terminal in the state's Tremley Point.

Still, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was upbeat about things improving on the energy front.

"We have some more ships on their way with gasoline; I am optimistic that in a couple of days this shortage will disappear," the mayor said.

White House orders fuel release for Sandy relief
Washington (AFP) Nov 2, 2012 - The White House on Friday ordered the release of strategic fuel supplies to support rescuers and security personnel helping the New York-New Jersey area recover from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

President Barack Obama declared an official "severe energy supply interruption" situation to permit the tapping of two million gallons from Department of Defense stockpiles of heating oil stored in nearby Groton, Connecticut.

The fuel will be distributed to state, local and federal emergency responders in the area.

"This loan from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve will help ensure state, local and federal responders in the impacted area have access to the diesel fuel they need to continue response and recovery efforts," said Energy Secretary Henry Chu.

The department said that more could be made available after the initial drawdown is used.

New York commuters fought for car fuel at gas station forecourts Friday while mayor Michael Bloomberg faced pressure to call off his city's famed marathon as it struggles to recover from superstorm Sandy.

The storm, one of the most severe in US history, has left at least 95 dead in 15 states and in Canada. The toll in New York City alone rose to 41 and at least 14 died in New Jersey, where searches of isolated areas continue.

New York and surrounding states are all battling to get moving again four days after the disaster and authorities say they are putting huge resources into restoring power, public transport and in getting food to the needy.

But fights erupted in huge queues at the few gas stations still operating, with some cities rationing fuel even for emergency services.

Police were called to several outlets in the New York region to keep order. One man in Queens who tried to drive his BMW vehicle ahead of others in line was charged with pulling a gun on another driver.

Many stations have fuel but none of the electricity needed to get pumps working and handle payments. Some station owners are refusing to open until police are on guard. Drivers say they are waiting up to 10 hours to fill up.

At Essex County in New Jersey, authorities were limiting police and fire vehicles to half a tank.

The American Automobile Association estimates that 60 percent of gas stations in New Jersey and 70 percent in New York's Long Island are closed. Authorities say 13 of the 34 fuel terminals around New York have no power.

Suffering Manhattan commuters are struggling with "significantly" fewer taxis according to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The government has brought in fuel from other states and reopened ports to get supplies moving.

Getting power back to the population is the other key source of friction.

The Con Edison company said it hopes to have power back to many of the 225,000 blacked out homes in by the end of Friday. But others in New York have been warned they will have to wait until November 11 before getting electricity again.

National Guard troops handed out 290,000 meals and 500,000 bottles of water in the first day of an emergency aid operation in New York, mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Hundreds also queued for free ice to preserve food given out in the city's Union Square.

But Bloomberg has faced fierce criticism for insisting that the New York Marathon, an international event with 45,000 runners, should go ahead as planned on Sunday.

A Twitter campaign and Internet petitions were launched demanding the race be called off.

Carolyn Quinn, speaker of the New York council and a frontrunner to succeed Bloomberg, joined a host of politicians saying it should have been canceled.

James Oddo, a city councillor for Staten Island, one of the New York districts worst hit by the storm, tweeted: "If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon I will scream. We have people with no homes and no hope right now."

Bloomberg said New York pushed on with the marathon after the September 11, 2001 attacks and must do so again.

"You have to keep going and doing things," he said. "You can grieve, cry, and laugh all at the same time. That's what human beings are good at."

But community leaders in Staten Island have complained bitterly that they have been forgotten as aid pours into other districts. At least 18 people died in Staten Island where huge waves swept away homes.

State Island council president James Molinaro condemned even the lack of help from the Red Cross.

"I went to a shelter Monday night after the storm. People were coming in with no socks, with no shoes. They were in a desperate need. Their housing was destroyed. They were crying. Where was the Red Cross?" he said.

Staten Island has been devastated by tragedies such as the stories of brothers Connor and Brandon Moore, aged four and two, who were swept out of their mother's arms by a wave in the storm.

Their bodies were found in marshland near the seafront on Thursday.

Hurricane Sandy brought devastation throughout the Caribbean, hitting Haiti and Cuba especially hard before slamming into the United States and Canada on Monday. The overall death toll from the storm's passage is now at least 166.

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