Escalating prices at the pump continued this week, setting a new record in the region. The price of a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline in Western Pennsylvania was $3.204, 9.6 cents more than a week ago, and about 84 cents more than a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge. Nationwide, the average price was $3.105.

Testimony began yesterday in the first of up to 200 lawsuits filed against BNSF Railway Co. by residents of a Texas town who allege their cancers were caused by toxic pollution from a railroad products plant. Attorneys for the residents of Somerville, Texas, said owners of the century-old plant did not disclose potential dangers from chemicals that were dumped or burned near the facility. BNSF, a unit of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., sold the plant to Pittsburgh-based Koppers Inc. in 1995. The plant makes railroad ties from raw lumber that is treated with a chemical mixture.

Westinghouse Electric Co. expects to spend $13 million on new equipment at its Blairsville speciality metals plant. The improvements -- put in place to accommodate the building of four new nuclear power plants in China and pending projects in the United States -- include two high-speed pilgers and a new vacuum annealing furnace. The equipment is expected to be commissioned in the first quarter of this year.

Harmar-based NEP Broadcasting said it had acquired the stock of New Century Productions of Allentown. Management of the companies will co-invest with an investment affiliate of New York-based American Securities Capital Partners LLC in a new holding company that will own New Century Productions and all of the domestic and international operating divisions of NEP Broadcasting.

The former Mellon Financial Corp. was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, as one of the "Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality." Last year, Mellon merged with the Bank of New York, which did not make the list (www.hrc.org/placestowork). ... The SMC Business Councils board yesterday confirmed Lee Taddonio as president of the small-business trade group, succeeding Cliff Shannon. Mr. Taddonio had been serving as the interim president since Mr. Shannon's departure in September. ... BPL Global Ltd., the Sewickley-based smart grid technology company that also offers broadband services through electric power lines, has acquired Serveron, a transformer monitoring company, for an undisclosed sum. Serveron's headquarters will remain in Hillsboro, Ore., just outside of Portland.