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Rover Pipeline Helps OH Short Line Railroad Expand

For some reason we’ve always loved stories about how shale energy has revitalized the short line railroad industry. Maybe it’s from some deep-seated psychological connection of playing Monopoly as a child and loving to own the railroads on the board–including the Short Line. Who knows? We’ve just stumbled across another such shale energy story connected to a short line railroad. This one involves the mighty Rover Pipeline, now under active construction across Ohio and in Michigan. When Energy Transfer, the company building the $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline began to look at logistics and where they would store all of the pipeline and other materials needed to construction the mammoth project, they happened across a rail yard and transloading facility located in Massillon (Stark County), OH. Massillon Logistics, founded in 2004 by Steve and Dave DiPietro, had launched Republic Short Line Railroad (RSL), along with four other subsidiaries, to operate at a former steel mill site (465 acres) now called the Massillon Energy & Technology Park. RSL and the expansive park were just what Energy Transfer needed for Rover. The pipeline project has provided RSL with a boatload (or rather, rail yard) of business and money to grow…Continue reading

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Canadian Co. Uses Virtual Pipeline to Sell LNG in New England

For some time, MDN has had an eye on a trend we find exciting: “virtual pipelines,” by which we mean facilities located along a pipeline that compress natural gas, load it onto tanker trucks, and then distribute that gas to businesses that are not fortunate enough to be located near a natgas pipeline. With irrational opposition to pipelines rampant, virtual pipelines are a good alternative. We recently highlighted a new project coming in our own area of Broome County, NY (see NG Advantage Virtual Pipeline May be Coming to MDN’s Backyard). We have a new twist on the virtual pipeline–something we’ve not read about before: Setting up a virtual pipeline for LNG (liquefied natural gas) instead of CNG (compressed natural gas). Typically virtual pipelines are CNG-based, far easier to transport and to use. Gaz Metro is Quebec’s largest natural gas distributor with an LNG facility in Montreal. Gaz Metro also happens to own Vermont Gas Systems. Gaz Metro recently beefed up its Montreal LNG plant and is now trucking LNG to Vermont and other New England states, targeting large industrial users and energy companies who use LNG for “peaking”…Continue reading

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Ohio’s Center Port Transload Terminal – Barging Triples

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52 barge docking, moorings, cranes and conveyors for NS Rail transloading – click for larger version

According to Center Port Terminal, McKees Rocks Harbor Services (MRHS) has put the “Port” back in Center Port. Center Port Terminal is the former Ormet Aluminum Plant site located on the shoreline of the Ohio River in Monroe County, OH. The plant closed its doors as an active aluminum plant in 2014 after Ohio regulators and Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich failed to get high electric rates reduced for the plant, and refused to allow Ormet to burn coal to produce their own electricity until they could begin using natural gas to create electricity from gas wells drilled on the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). The new owner, Niagara Worldwide LLC, first tried to market the property, renamed Center Port Terminal, to Marcellus/Utica Shale drillers and oilfield services companies (see New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers). The terminal has also been marketed as the perfect place to locate a natgas-fired electric plant (see Old Ormet Site in Monroe, OH Shopped as Power Plant Location). Earlier this year, the facility was marketed to manufacturing companies (see 3rd Time the Charm: OH Center Port Terminal Woos Manufacturers). One of the chief advantages of the facility is cheap transportation to/from on the Ohio River. Center Port has 52 barge slips. It’s also connected to rail lines and highways. MRHS opened “fleeting operations” at the facility and within 90 days barge traffic to the facility tripled. That’s good for everybody, including the Marcellus/Utica industry…
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130 Tanker Trucks/Day in Ohio End as Cornerstone Pipe Begins

Cornerstone Pipeline Route Map
Click for larger version

Last week MDN shared the good news that Utica Shale condensate (very light oil) had begun flowing through the new Marathon Petroleum Cornerstone Pipeline (see Utica Condensate Begins Flowing Through Cornerstone Pipeline). The Cleveland Plain Dealer published an interesting story about the pipeline on Saturday, explaining in depth what condensate is and how/why Marathon upgraded its refinery in Canton to handle it. However, it was another point made in the story that caught our attention. The MarkWest Energy (now a part of Marathon) processing plant in Cadiz, Ohio cleans and separates out condensate from other natural gas liquids (like ethane and propane) before sending the condensate to the Canton refinery. Until the Cornerstone went online, it took 130 tanker trunk trips PER DAY, operating around the clock, to cart the condensate from Cadiz some 60 miles to Canton (and then back for another pickup). While the trucks are still operating, for now, once the pipeline is fully operational and pumping at full capacity, it will end those truck trips…
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OH Transload Facility Sits in Catbird Seat Between the Crackers

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Wellsville Intermodal Facility – click for larger version

November 2012 was the first time we wrote about the transloading facility in Wellsville (Columbiana County) Ohio (see Drilling Mud Manufacturer Opens Plant in Wellsville, OH). A transloading facility is a place where things like pipes and grain and oil and gas and whatever comes in on one form of transportation, say a train or a barge–and gets unloaded and then is sent out via a different form of transportation, typically a truck. The Wellsville Intermodal Facility is one such transloading facility smack in the middle of Utica Shale country. The second time we wrote about the facility was January 2013 (see Columbiana Port Authority Close to Final Deal with Marathon). The third time we wrote about it was October 2013 (see Progress for Arrowhead NGL Transload Facility in Wellsville, OH). Today is the fourth time. Pier 48 Stevedoring operates a crane at the facility to load and unload barges. Pier 48 has been operating a 60-ton bridge crane used to move cargo containers (think truck trailers). However, Pier 48 just cut the ribbon on a brand new bucket crane, which can grab loose materials–even liquids–and hold it without leaking, to move whatever it is from a hold in a barge into a tank on land (or the reverse). The comment made during the ceremony that caught our eye is that this new crane has come at “an incredibly opportune time” because of the Shell ethane cracker plant being built 25 miles away, and a second potential cracker that may get built not far down the river in Belmont County. This new crane, and the transloading facility, sit in the catbird seat. With the coming cracker plants, manufacturers will locate in the region and need bulk shipping services for the materials they handle and the products they make…
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SemGroup Buying Units of its MLP Subsidiary Rose Rock Midstream

Rose Rock Midstream logoWe often debate whether or not a bit of news is actually interesting for the MDN audience. Will this bit of news help either a landowner, driller, midstreamer, supply chain company or investor if they knew about it? The following story comes down right on the line for us. We could go either way, but we elected to include it. We don’t know when, exactly, but at least two years ago SemGroup Corporation, a publicly traded (shares of stock) midstream company that moves mostly oil from the wellhead to market, started up a master limited partnership (MLP) subsidiary called Rose Rock Midstream. An MLP issues “units” instead of shares of stock. MLPs have certain tax advantages for investors. We ran a story in June 2014 about Rose Rock buying some of Chesapeake Energy’s assets, including a trucking operation that services the Utica Shale in Ohio (see Chesapeake Dumps More Assets: Crude Truck Fleet & 200 Employees). SemGroup, the parent company, has just announced they are buying out the MLP units in Rose Rock and folding it into the stock-issuing parent company. From a practical standpoint, day to day operations at Rose Rock will not change. However, if you’re an investor in Rose Rock, your units will be forcibly purchased from you and you are about to enjoy a stiff tax bill…
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Marysville PA Talking w/Compass Natural Gas re “Virtual Pipeline”

virtual pipelineLast June MDN told you about Compass Natural Gas, a company that compresses natural gas and trucks it to locations not served by a pipeline, cool concept called a “virtual pipeline” (see Getting Marcellus NatGas to Customers without Pipelines). At the time we posted that story, Compass contacted MDN to state the company does not market or serve rural communities/end users, but rather manufacturers, fleets and businesses. It seems their marketing emphasis has changed. Marysville, in Perry County, PA (near Harrisburg) has no interstate pipeline nearby and only about 1% of Marysville’s residents and businesses use natural gas. The town is in talks with Compass to change that–by having Compass truck in CNG (compressed natural gas) for use by town residents and businesses. The town would, of course, need to install delivery pipelines. Right now Marysville is conducting a survey to see if residents would like to buy cheap, abundant, clean-burning (and home-grown) natural gas…
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Authors of UK Fracking Study Dismayed that Fracking is Safe

A group of UK researchers/professors have just published a new study on fracking and traffic-related environmental impacts from it. The study is titled “Investigating the traffic-related environmental impacts of hydraulic-fracturing (fracking) operations” (full copy below) and appears in the journal Environment International. The authors conclude that heavy truck traffic from fracking operations has a negligible impact on the environment. Here’s the funny part: the authors aren’t all that happy with their own findings. But to their credit, the researchers don’t screw with the data and attempt to hide or change their findings–as some hucksters do from American universities like Duke and Cornell…
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3 Marcellus/Utica Truck Accidents in Ohio Valley – in Past 7 Days

With Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes truck traffic–a lot of truck traffic. Which is great if you’re a driver who needs work, or a trucking company who wants to chase the business. But not so great if you live in the area where trucks are jamming up the roadways. Another downside to the truck traffic is the occasional accident. In the past week there have been three truck accidents in the Ohio Valley area–in Wetzel and Marshall counties in WV, and Belmont Count in OH. Two of the three required a hazmat team to deploy. Here’s the details…
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OH Frack Truck Facility Given Green Light, Mayor Tries to Stop It

MDN first told you about a frack truck washing facility in Columbiana, OH last September (see Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued). The facility, flying under the name of Clear Creek, made a misstep by not first obtaining a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources before it began operations. They immediately stopped operations and applied for the permit–it was a brand new requirement that Clear Creek was not aware of. A temporary permit to operate was granted by ODNR last week. The mayor of Columbiana, Ryan Blakeman, opposes the facility’s right to operate and he’s trying to find any grounds he can to appeal the ODNR permit and stop Clear Creek…
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Marcellus Industry Lends a Hand with Nabbing Trucking Violations

There’s no getting around the fact that when drilling comes to an area, so too does a LOT of truck traffic. Anyone who lives in an area with active drilling can attest to the headaches of following a water truck up a hill going half the speed limit. Because the industry is high profile, those who operate truck fleets (and the energy companies who hire them) typically enforce strict rules for drivers. They also maintain their fleets in tip-top shape to ensure there are no safety violations. Case in point: Washington County, PA…
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Out with Old Ormet Plant, In with New Center Port Transload Facility

MDN previously told you about the closure of the Ormet aluminum smelting plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH. The plant closed its doors as an active aluminum plant earlier this year after Ohio regulators and Gov. John Kasich failed to get high electric rates reduced for the plant, and refused to allow Ormet to burn coal to produce their own electricity until they could begin using natural gas to create electricity from recently drilled wells on the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). In all, over 900 are out of a job–thank you Ohio. But out of the ashes of that jobs disaster comes a ray of sunlight, at least for the Utica and Marcellus shale industry. Niagara Worldwide bought the plant out of bankruptcy and they are converting it into a huge transloading facility–where supplies like pipe and frac sand are delivered in bulk by barge and rail, broken down and sent back out by truck to drill sites throughout the region (see New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers). It will be a huge staging site for at least three (so far unnamed) producers in the area. The re-purposed facility now has a name: Center Port Terminal. In order to get the facility ready for the shale industry, Niagara is conducting the auction to end all auctions (massive) to get rid of existing plant equipment. Here’s the details…
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Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued

Clear Creek is a division of Dynamic Structures Inc., a company based in New Waterford (Columbiana County), OH that hauls drilling mud, fresh water and yes, frack wastewater for oil and gas companies throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Clear Creek had constructed a truck washing facility in the city of Columbiana–population 6,384–to clean the trucks that haul the mud and wastewater. Columbiana’s planning commission has shut down the facility until they obtain a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Once that happens, it appears they can reopen. The problem is, the Mayor of Columbiana lives nearby to where the facility is located and he opposes it. Oops…
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New Transportation Hub for Drillers Coming to Eastern Ohio

A new tri-modal (rail/truck/barge) logistics and transportation hub serving the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia shale drilling is coming to the former Ohio Cold Rolling Company steel finishing mill in Yorkville, Ohio, located on the border of Belmont and Jefferson counties–right in the thick of where shale drilling has recently heated up. Esmark, Inc., which purchased the old Ohio Cold Rolling Company two years ago, recently announced that they will close the mill. However, in its place they will create a new transportation hub where products like frack sand, steel pipes, heavy equipment and other goods used for Utica and Marcellus drilling will be loaded and unloaded and reloaded, heading to various destinations. Esmark is converting the 1 million square foot plant into a rail/truck/barge complex called the Yorkville Energy Services Terminal. Among the many services at the new facility will be sucking 3 million gallons of fresh water per day from the Ohio River–to be used in drilling and fracking…
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WV PSC Gets Fed Money to Increase Truck Inspections Near Drilling

Truck drivers in West Virginia–particularly in areas where there’s a lot of Marcellus Shale drilling activity–you’ve been put on notice by the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) that they’re stepping up the frequency of inspections. The WV PSC has received a $180,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that allows them to pay for overtime for officers to step up the number of truck inspections. Regular patrols will continue, however, the grant money allows the PSC to increase patrols in certain areas, which will include…
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New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers

Ormet Facility in Hannibal, OHThree weeks ago MDN highlighted news from NGI’s Shale Daily that Magnum Hunter Resources had purchased the mineral rights for two former Ormet properties in Ohio and West Virginia (see Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?). Ormet, you may recall, had a big aluminum plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH that sits on the Ohio River (complete with a big barge facility) that was bankrupted because they couldn’t get Ohio to lower the electricity bills long enough for them to convert their own coal-burning electric generation plant into using natural gas mined from under the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). It was a big fail on the part of Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich’s administration and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Magnum now owns the mineral rights, and Niagara Worldwide LLC now owns the real estate and plant itself in OH. Niagara issued a press release today advertising that they’re looking to re-open the Hannibal site for business. The announcement has a big tie-in with the shale drilling industry…
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