Business Notebook

ATLANTA The Georgia Department of Transportation has rejected a plan to build a pipeline carrying refined petroleum from South Carolina through Georgia and into Florida.

DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry announced the decision Tuesday. McMurry wrote that he did not see a growing demand for gas consumption regionally and that the market for gas suppliers is already competitive without a new pipeline.

The pipeline is to run through five S.C. counties, including Aiken County.

The decision can be appealed. Kinder Morgan Inc. officials said they plan to pursue options that would allow the project to move forward.

Offshore testing foes ask DHEC to reconsider

CHARLESTON Coastal communities and environmental groups want South Carolina regulators to reconsider conditional approval of offshore seismic testing for oil and natural gas.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control staff earlier this month found that a testing proposal by Spectrum GEO is consistent with state environmental laws. The company is asking permission from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to survey offshore.

Charleston, Beaufort, and Folly Beach along with the Coastal Conservation League, the state Wildlife Federation, and a seafood company want the DHEC board to reconsider. They say the DHEC staff did not consider the opinions of those opposed to testing.

Security beefed up for Bikefest

MYRTLE BEACH Area hotels are adding security this Memorial Day weekend, with up to 400,000 visitors expected and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest taking place.

Law enforcement officials have been working on a safety plan since last year, when three people were killed and seven wounded in shooting incidents. The plan includes a 23-mile one-way traffic loop to keep traffic moving late at night during the weekend.

Bermuda Sands hotel manager Rob Ward tells The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News that his motel is adding extra private security and he expects almost every other hotel to do so. The Bermuda Sands was where one of the shootings occurred last year.

IN BRIEF

▪  The U.S. housing market has given a sudden jolt to what appeared to be a slumping economy. Builders are breaking ground on homes at the fastest pace in more than seven years, helping boost sales at stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s, and improving the likelihood that the U.S. economy will regain its footing after likely shrinking at the start of 2015.

▪  Myrtle Beach is considering establishing one speed limit for all of Ocean Boulevard. Speed limits vary along Ocean Boulevard from 25 mph to 40 mph depending upon the part of town. Council last week said staff could move forward with a traffic engineering study to determine a suggestion for the best speed limit.

From Wire Reports