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FERC Actively Reviewing VA/MD/DC Pipeline, Public Hearing March 2

Dominion Eastern Market Access Project

Last October Dominion announced a new pipeline project called Eastern Market Access Project (see Dominion Announces $145M Project to Expand Gas Supply to DC & MD). The project will beef up two compressor stations in Virginia, build a new compressor station in Maryland, and add a couple of pipeline taps near Washington, D.C. The purpose of the $145 million project is to deliver more gas to Washington Gas (and its customers), and to deliver gas to a new gas-fired electric power plant being built in Maryland. A Dominion spokesman confirmed to MDN that the gas will come from either the Marcellus or Utica plays. We have an update on that project. Even though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency in charge of reviewing and certifying the project does not have enough Commissioners to vote on anything, they still are fully staffed and FERC personnel are actively working on an environmental assessment for the project…
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Trump to Issue Exec Orders “Reshaping” EPA – Swamp Rats Nervous

EPA swamp rats: prepare to be drained. Reuters is reporting from two difference sources that President Trump will sign several (up to five) Executive Orders to “reshape” the Environmental Protection Agency, once his pick to become Administrator, Scott Pruitt, is confirmed. That vote is expected today in the Senate. There is one turncoat–RINO Susan Collins from Maine (currently the worst Republican in the Senate, needs to be put out to pasture), who says she will vote against Pruitt (see this Maine Public story). However, two brave Democrats will break with their party’s radicals and vote for Pruitt: West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp (see this The Hill story). Well, that’s not quite accurate. They’re both in re-election mode and scared to death that Trump supporters will toss them next year, so they’re voting to protect their own cushy jobs. But whatever. We’ll take it. Back to draining the disgusting swamp that has become the EPA. As we recently reported, the EPA has become a gravy train for so-called researchers, funneling our tax money into programs that suppress jobs and don’t do a thing to help the environment (see EPA Gravy Train Comes to an End – “Researchers” Freak Out). If Pruitt is confirmed today, we expect to see Trump’s Executive Orders issued next week–and that has the swamp rats nervous…
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Anti-Fracking Protesters Turn Out in Force at DRBC Meeting

As we warned you earlier this week, a large contingent of anti-fossil fuel wackos protesters planned to crash a meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission yesterday (see Josh Fox & Antis Plan to Disrupt DRBC Meeting This Wednesday). Their concern is that the DRBC may be reconsidering its years-long ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin–a ban which illegally denies landowners in Pike and Wayne counties (PA) from profiting from the Marcellus Shale beneath their land. True to form, the protesters bused people to the meeting from places like New York City–so they could pack the room. On the docket were two items of concern for antis: (1) a short, 8-mile pipeline that will cross through a small sliver of DRBC-controlled territory, and (2) adoption of a two-year water resource plan “that instructs staff to carry out the commission’s natural gas regulations.” The antis are concerned the water plan will restart the discussion on regulations to allow fracking. Although DRBC Executive Director Steve Tambini told the motley crew that the Commission was there to listen only, NOT to answer questions, Maya van Rossum (THE Delaware Riverkeeper) demanded Tambini answer HER questions anyway…
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Trump Administration Delays Listing Bumble Bee as Endangered

We’ve written before about the thuggish nature of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The USFWS is responsible for recommending and listing varies species as threatened or endangered–empowered to do so under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). USFWS has WAY too much power under dictatorial rulers like the ignominious B.H. Obama. On September 22, 2016 the USFWS published a proposed rule to list the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) as “endangered” under the ESA. The rusty patched bumble bee is found in the Midwest and eastern parts of the U.S. If it gets listed, it will have SIGNIFICANT impacts on drillers and midstreamers (see “Endangered” Bumble Bee May Slow/Stop O&G Projects in Northeast). With just a few days left in Obama’s reign of terror, the USFWS pulled the trigger and did it (see USFWS Pulls the Trigger and Lists Bumble Bee as Endangered). Except happily, that’s not the end of the story. The white knight rode into town (D.J. Trump) and with the stroke of his pen, delayed implementation of the onerous new listing. Which has antis, like the Rockefeller-backed Natural Resources Defense Council, up in arms. They’ve just sued…
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House Ctte Investigates EPA Employees re Secret Communications

Employees of federal government agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, are supposed to conduct official business of the agency in the open. That is, employees, BY LAW, cannot shield their communications–phone, email, instant messages, etc.–by using encrypted services. The law is there so those auditing, or making requests via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), have access to just how the people’s business is getting done. Republicans on the House Committee on Science, Space & Technology have reason to believe that some career employees at EPA are breaking that law by shielding their communications (i.e. colluding with radical environmentalists)–and Congress is demanding answers…
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Finally! PA DEP Issues Final Permits for Mariner East 2 Pipeline

Mariner East 2 Pipeline – click for larger version

Game, set and match. Finally, after five circuses, er, a, public hearings, and 29,000 form letter comments, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued the final Chp. 105 (Water Obstruction and Encroachment) and Chp. 102 (Erosion and Sediment Control) permits for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. PA has cleared the project to begin construction–there are no more permits required from PA. However, before the bulldozers start, there is one remaining hurdle: permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which under President Trump, is a foregone conclusion). Mariner East 2, as a reminder, is a $2.5 billion, 306-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will run from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. It will flow mostly ethane, but also propane and butane. There have been numerous legal battles and roadblocks thrown up by some of the townships along the route–but that’s now behind us. Oh, there’s still a few troublemakers (see Towns Near Philly Collude with CAC to Block Mariner East 2 Pipe?), but their troublemaking will go nowhere. This has been a long time coming, and a cause to celebrate…
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PennEast Pipeline Gets 401 Water Quality Certificate from PA DEP

PennEast Pipeline proposed route – click for larger version

PennEast Pipeline is reporting a major milestone in getting their project approved: the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection last Friday awarded the pipeline a 401 Federal Clean Water Act “Water Quality Certification.” PennEast is a $1 billion, 118-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that will get built from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. Although the PA DEP’s water certificate is certainly good news, it comes not long after a continuing cloud over the project–yet another delay by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see FERC Delays PennEast Pipeline Final Review – Again). FERC was supposed to issue a final environmental assessment for PennEast last August. Then it got changed to December. Then it got changed to this month, February. There will almost certainly be a fourth delay as there are now not enough FERC Commissioners to vote on the assessment (since Norman Bay quit in a huff, see FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects). However, for now, let’s revel in the current good news for the project…
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PA Lawmakers Push Back Against DEP’s Draft Methane Regs

In December the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) unveiled new regulations to clamp down on methane emissions and other other air pollution that allegedly comes from shale drilling sites (see PA DEP Releases New Regs re Methane & Air Pollution at Drill Sites). The onerous new regulations, not in effect yet, were originally prompted by bullying from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Even though EPA pressure is likely to disappear under President Trump, PA Gov. Wolf still intends to push forward with these regulations. After some final tweaks, the DEP released draft versions of the new permits (i.e. regulations) last week, opening them up for public comment over the next 45 days. However, chairman of the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, sent a letter to the DEP (full copy below) to let the DEP know they have overstepped their bounds in issuing the draft permits. Metcalfe accuses the DEP of “lack of transparency, accountability and judicious use of regulatory authority.” In other words, cease and desist. Another PA legislator, Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, introduced a bill in January that would prohibit PA from adopting regulations that are stricter than federal standards. It seems the DEP has a fight on its hands–from the PA legislature…
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More on WV’s Push for “Joint Development” Instead of Forced Pooling

On Friday MDN ran a story of keen interest to both mineral rights owners and drillers in West Virginia–about an effort pushing new legislation this year in lieu of forced pooling, something called “co-tenancy” and “joint development” (see WV Won’t Push Forced Pooling, Will Push Joint Dev. & Co-Tenancy). Co-tenancy is pretty easy to understand: if there are multiple owners for the mineral rights under a property (something that happens fairly regularly in WV), you would only need a simple majority of those owners to approve a drilling lease. Currently, if one person with a teeny tiny share objects, it stops the process. But joint development was something of a mystery for us. We thought it meant if adjoining properties were signed with different drillers, they could more easily be combined for horizontal drilling. Although that may be the case, we were wrong about the the main intent of the new bill. A sharp MDN subscriber (someone from the industry) emailed to explain what’s really going on with this new bill. We also heard from a rights owner who would be affected. And from the West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA). We now have a better handle on joint development…
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WVDEP Loosens Permits for Compressors re Noise & Bright Lights

The colorful new Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, is wasting no time in showing his support and appreciation to the natural gas industry. During Justice’s State of the State address last week, he ordered his new head of the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection, Austin Caperton, to stop saying “no” to businesses that show up with requests (including the drilling industry). During a rambling address, Justice had this to say: “Now, I underline — underline, underline, underline — nobody loves the outdoors as much as me. Nobody loves water as much as me. We’re not going to break the law. We’re got going to do anything to damage the environment to the very best of our abilities. Or our waters. But we are not going to just say no.” And we have perhaps the first instance of that philosophy in action. The previous Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin Administration had enacted certain restrictions in WV permits for compressor stations–establishing noise and light restrictions to protect nearby residents. At the request of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA), Caperton removed those restrictions…
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Antis Ask FERC to Block Dalton Expansion Project, Using Greek Pipe

Click for larger version

In March 2015, Williams announced that its Transco pipeline subsidiary had filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Dalton Expansion Project, which will expand the Transco and flow more Marcellus Shale gas from New Jersey all the way to Mississippi, primarily for electric generation plants, but also for local natural gas distribution by utilities (see Williams Files with FERC to Expand Transco Pipeline from NJ to MS). Most of the Dalton project will be built in, and benefit, the State of Georgia, by delivering natural gas to an existing electric generating facility in northern Georgia operated by Oglethorpe Power Corp., delivering gas for local distribution company Atlanta Gas Light, and delivering gas for the City of Cartersville. Transco has customers signed up under binding contracts for 100% of the Dalton Expansion Project, which will increase Transco’s capacity by 448,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas. FERC approved the Dalton Project last summer (see Marcellus/Utica Gas Heading to Georgia via FERC-Approved Pipeline). Antis are now attempting to use a creative new way to stop construction. They noticed that some of the pipe being used came from Greece, so they’re asking FERC to stop the project because it doesn’t use American-made pipeline…
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Josh Fox & Antis Plan to Disrupt DRBC Meeting This Wednesday

There may, finally, be movement by the recalcitrant Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to finally, after eight years, begin to move in the direction of guidelines to allow shale drilling in two northeastern PA counties: Wayne and Pike. Why is there movement now? Because last year landowners launched a lawsuit against the DRBC, a lawsuit the DRBC now senses they may lose (see Wayne County, PA Landowner Sues DRBC Over Fracking Ban). So one of the chief antis, charlatan Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy) has put out the call to rally the radical troops to show up at this week’s DRBC meeting, with plans to disrupt the meeting. Bullying with fear and intimidation is the weapon of choice for this group…
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WV Won’t Push Forced Pooling, Will Push Joint Dev. & Co-Tenancy

Forced pooling legislation in West Virginia has been put forward five times in the past seven years–and each time it has failed to win enough votes in the WV legislature. In its most recent incarnation (last year), forced pooling would allow drillers to form a “unit” for drilling (typically one square mile, or 640 acres) from a group of properties where at least 80% of the mineral rights owners have signed a lease (see WV Forced Pooling Bill HB 4426 Introduced – Debate Rages). 80% is a much higher standard than most other states. But there has been no appetite for forced pooling in WV, at least among rights owners. There have always been other provisions in the forced pooling law that drillers have desired–measures less controversial but important. So this year, the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association says it’s NOT going to push yet another forced pooling bill–but instead will work on two other provisions previously found in the forced pooling bill: (1) joint development, and (2) co-tenancy. What are they? And, are they just forced pooling lite?…
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RINOsaurs Lobby Trump to Enact Socialist “Carbon Tax”

A group of RINO (Republican in Name Only) dinosaurs (i.e. RINOsaurs) have come out of retirement to lobby President Trump on the insane idea of a so-called “carbon tax.” Two of them were from the Ronald Reagan Administration–George Shultz and James Baker III. (As an aside, when Baker was Chief of Staff for Ronald Reagan, he was an arrogant ass–prancing around the West Wing. We can state this categorically from first-hand experience. MDN editor Jim Willis worked at the White House when Baker was there. Jim can also tell you Baker came from the Bush camp, which today we call the Washington establishment. There was a deep divide in the White House during the Reagan years between the “Bushies” who were establishment types, and true-conservative “Reaganites.” You know which camp Jim belonged to.) A carbon tax is nothing more than a way to slap a regressive tax on every citizen of the country–as if we aren’t already taxed enough. If you live in the great middle class of this country, you already pay close to 50% of your income in various federal, state, local, property, sales and other taxes. Add it up sometime–you’ll see we’re not exaggerating. A group of Republican “elder statesmen” (as fake news source CNN calls them) yesterday met with Team Trump at the White House to push this disastrous plan, calling it (be careful not to vomit), “conservative.” There’s nothing conservative about it…
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Battle Begins to Get NY DEC to Approve Northern Access Project

Déjà vu all over again? Last Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a long-delayed project–National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). The $455 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. Although FERC has now given permission to build it, the State of New York, specifically the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), must issue stream crossing permits. Sound familiar? The DEC faced a similar task with the FERC-approved Constitution Pipeline and ultimately, under political pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, made the decision to refuse granting Williams the permits it needs to build the Constitution. Williams sued and sometime this spring NY will almost certainly lose the case (see Bloomberg Predicts Court Will Strip NY’s Right to Stop Constitution). We hope the DEC doesn’t repeat their tragic “Constitution” mistake with the Northern Access project. Last night, and again tonight and tomorrow night, the DEC is holding public hearings on the project in western NY. Interestingly, last night the crowd that turned up was about evenly split between those against the project, and those for it…
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Anti-Pipeliners Meet with PA DEP Sec. McDonnell, Get No Satisfaction

Acting Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell held a “hastily arranged” meeting on Monday with several antis who are opposed to Sunoco Logistics Partners’ Mariner East 2 pipeline project. You may recall these same antis predicted the DEP would grant the final permits needed for Mariner East 2 last Friday (see Mariner East 2 Permits May Come Today – Antis Foment Civil Unrest). But as they so often are, they were wrong yet again. The permits did not appear on the appointed day. However, the permits are expected soon, and no doubt McDonnell held the meeting to help prepare them for that eventuality. (Snowflake antis have delicate sensibilities, dontcha know.) The meeting went on for some 70 minutes. The antis tried to get the DEP to further delay the project with another useless public comment period. The DEP has already received over 29,000 public comments–what’s left to be said? At the end of the meeting, the antis got (our words, their sentiment)–“no satisfaction”…
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