Energy Transfer Partners

Ashland County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio EPA Continues Vendetta Against Rover Pipe, Demands HDD Stop
November 27, 2017April 20, 2022

In September MDN told you about Craig Butler, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), that Bulter had gone off the rails on a power trip, claiming OEPA has the power to regulate the federally regulated Rover Pipeline project (see Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe). Butler is fining Rover for a string of some major, mostly minor drilling mud spills related to underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD). Earlier this month Butler fleeced the Ohio Attorney General into suing Rover (see OH EPA Director Manipulates Atty General to Sue Rover Pipeline). Like Captain Ahab obsessed with Moby-Dick, Butler continues his quest to stop Rover. Butler’s latest attempt is to “request” (i.e. demand) Rover stop all HDD work now under way because another drilling mud spill happened on November 16th. The latest spill (called an “inadvertent return”) was 200 gallons and ended up in the Black Fork Mohican River in Ashland County. For new MDN readers: drilling mud is bentonite clay–the same stuff used to make kitty litter, toothpaste and cosmetics. It’s nontoxic and perfect safe for the environment–unless there’s a lot of it, and then it can smother critters like salamanders and fish. But honestly, 200 gallons of it is NOTHING. Butler sent a letter to Rover and has also sent it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in yet another attempt to get FERC to halt all Rover HDD work…
Read More “Ohio EPA Continues Vendetta Against Rover Pipe, Demands HDD Stop”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Seneca County (OH) | Stark County | West Virginia | Wood County (OH)

FERC Allows Rover to Use HDD in 4 More Locations, Incl Ohio River
November 20, 2017November 20, 2017

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Thursday granted Rover Pipeline permission to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) at four more locations where it had been stopped. One of those locations is drilling under the Ohio River in the Majorsville area. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that (will eventually) run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada. A large portion of the pipeline began flowing natural gas on Sept. 1st (see Big Portion of Rover Pipeline Now Up & Running – Thru Most of Ohio). Since then, Phase 1A of the pipeline has steadily increased its throughput and now flows over 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica/Marcellus Shale gas to Defiance, OH (see Rover Pipe Nearly Doubles Flow with Addition of Carroll, OH Compressor). However, it could flow more, if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would allow Rover to finish Phase 1B pipeline work in OH/WV to feed more gas to the main part of the pipeline. The problem is that Rover had early missteps, the most serious of which spilled 2 million gallons of non-toxic drilling mud in a swamp (i.e. “wetland”) near the Tuscarawas River back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). Following that and several other mishaps, FERC shut down all Rover HDD work–for months. Gradually FERC has allowed Rover to resume HDD work, and with this latest round of four more HDD locations, it appears to us that only two HDD locations remain on the “do not drill yet” list, one of them being the Tuscarawas River location…
Read More “FERC Allows Rover to Use HDD in 4 More Locations, Incl Ohio River”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Energy Transfer 3Q17: ME2 Startup Slips, Rover Complete in 1Q18
November 9, 2017November 9, 2017

Energy Transfer’s top brass delivered some bad news and some good news on yesterday’s analyst phone call to discuss third quarter 2017 performance. Two projects vital to the Marcellus/Utica are being built by ET–Mariner East 2 (ME2) and Rover Pipeline. The bad news is that ME2, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline project that stretches from eastern Ohio across the state of PA to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, will be delayed an extra nine months. ME2 has a new in-service target date of “second quarter 2018.” Progress on ME2 is not as fast as it could be primarily due to an ongoing onslaught of lawsuits by Big Green organizations, coupled with delays from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. The good news for ME2 is that by Dec. 31st, 99% of the pipeline will be in the ground and buried. The news for Rover is all good. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. Rover had been dogged by problems with horizontal directional drilling (HDD), but those problems are now behind it. Yes, head of the Ohio EPA, Craig Butler, continues his Captain Ahab routine to try and stop the project (see OH EPA Director Manipulates Atty General to Sue Rover Pipeline). So far he’s been unsuccessful. At any rate, construction in Ohio and elsewhere is full speed ahead. On yesterday’s call ET CFO Tom Long said Rover Phase 1 (both A and B) will be done by Dec. 31st. That’s very good. Long said the company is “very confident” Phase 2 of Rover will be online no later than March 31, 2018. Also very good. Below we’ve grabbed excerpts of yesterday’s analyst call to share, covering both ME2 and Rover…
Read More “Energy Transfer 3Q17: ME2 Startup Slips, Rover Complete in 1Q18”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Stark County

OH EPA Director Manipulates Atty General to Sue Rover Pipeline
November 6, 2017November 6, 2017

The director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Craig Butler, continues to go off the rails with a major grudge against Rover Pipeline (see Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe). Using his position and the power of his agency, Butler has now convinced Ohio’s wishy washy Republican Attorney General, Mike DeWine, to sue Rover “for polluting state waters while constructing a natural gas pipeline across Ohio.” Which is, of course, nonsense. Yes there have been some spills of drilling mud. It happens. Yes, one of them was totally unacceptable (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). However, using the mighty power of the entire state to sue a private company because Butler has an ego trip and wants to shake down the Rover project for millions is unacceptable. It’s time to fire Craig Butler. Below is the AG DeWine’s brief statement, a copy of the sham lawsuit DeWine filed late last week, and a response from Energy Transfer Partners, the builder of Rover…
Read More “OH EPA Director Manipulates Atty General to Sue Rover Pipeline”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Sunoco Logistics

PA DEP Shuts Down ME2 Drilling in Lebanon, PA for 1 Gal Mud Spill
November 1, 2017November 1, 2017

We chalk this one up as outrageous. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just shut down further drilling for the Mariner East 2 Pipeline project at Snitz Creek in Lebanon County, PA–because of a “less than one gallon” spill of non-toxic drilling mud. Drilling mud is composed of bentonite–the same clay compound used in kitty litter, toothpaste and cosmetics. A spill of less than a gallon is NOTHING. It’s not even worth reporting. Yet Sunoco Logistics, the company drilling, was honest and reported the “inadvertent return” as it is called. And because Sunoco previously had another small spill at the same location, the DEP, bowing to pressure from radical environmental groups, has halted any further horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work at the Snitz Creek location. This is bizarre, but perhaps not unexpected. It all stems to a deal Sunoco made with the devil…
Read More “PA DEP Shuts Down ME2 Drilling in Lebanon, PA for 1 Gal Mud Spill”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

FERC Gives Rover Pipe OK to Use Different Tech to Speed Up Drilling
November 1, 2017November 1, 2017

This story necessarily gets into the weeds of pipeline construction. But so you have the essential story line up front, this is it: On Monday Energy Transfer asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to dump something called annular pressure monitoring (APM) when drilling underground (horizontal directional drilling, or HDD) for the Rover Pipeline–and on Tuesday FERC granted that permission. Here’s the slightly longer explanation. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. Early on, Rover had early missteps when using HDD to insert pipeline under things like rivers and roads. The most serious episode occurred when Rover drilling spilled 2 million gallons of non-toxic drilling mud in a swamp near the Tuscarawas River (in Ohio) back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). However, there were other episodes too, which led FERC to stop all HDD work on Rover in April while they investigated. In August, FERC gave ET/Rover a list of eight conditions before they could restart HDD work (see FERC Issues Rover 8 Commandments to Restart Horizontal Drilling), and in September, FERC finally lifted the ban for some locations (see FERC Lifts Rover Horizontal Drilling Ban, Pipeline Work Resumes). One of the conditions in resuming HDD work was for Rover to constantly monitor downhole annular pressure–an indicator that problems may be happening and that mud is beginning to leak. In Monday’s request to FERC, Rover points out using APM is slowing work by up to 75% because when the signals stop coming they must pull everything out of the hole, reattach the wires, and push it all back down again. So Rover, working with experts, came up with an alternative to APM. It was that alternative that took FERC just a day to review and agree to. All of which means the final work to complete Rover should now speed up a bit…
Read More “FERC Gives Rover Pipe OK to Use Different Tech to Speed Up Drilling”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

Some Rover Gas Flows All the Way to Gulf Coast LNG Export Plant
October 25, 2017October 25, 2017

Two weeks ago MDN brought you analysis from RBN Energy that hints at least some Marcellus/Utica gas molecules are flowing all the way to Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility (see Is Marcellus/Utica Gas Getting Exported from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass?). In part 2 of the series, the expert analysts at RBN make a compelling case that an increasing amount of Marcellus/Utica gas is going to the Sabine Pass facility via the newly-minted Rover Pipeline and the connection it has with TransCanada’s ANR pipeline. RBN connects the dots…
Read More “Some Rover Gas Flows All the Way to Gulf Coast LNG Export Plant”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

FERC Allows Rover to Restart HDD Work in 2 More OH Locations
October 23, 2017October 23, 2017

Permission granted grunge rubber stamp on white, vector illustration

Rover Pipeline–$3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that (will eventually) run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada–began flowing natural gas through a large portion of the pipeline on Sept. 1st (see Big Portion of Rover Pipeline Now Up & Running – Thru Most of Ohio). Since then, Phase 1A of the pipeline has steadily increased its throughput and now flows over 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of yummy Utica/Marcellus Shale gas to Defiance, OH (see Rover Pipe Nearly Doubles Flow with Addition of Carroll, OH Compressor). However, it could flow more, if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would lift its considerable boot off Rover’s neck and let them finish Phase 1B pipeline work in eastern Ohio to feed more gas to the main part of the pipeline. The problem is that Rover had early missteps, the most serious of which spilled 2 million gallons of non-toxic drilling mud in a swamp (i.e. “wetland”) near the Tuscarawas River back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). An investigation by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) found the presence of diesel fuel in the drilling mud, which means the mud wasn’t so non-toxic after all. Rover believes sabotage may have been the cause. From April until mid-September, FERC blocked all new underground HDD work for the Rover project. That changed when FERC allowed Rover to restart HDD work at nine locations in September (see FERC Lifts Rover Horizontal Drilling Ban, Pipeline Work Resumes). Late last week FERC issued permission for another two Rover HDD locations to restart work. No, the Tuscarawas River site is not one of them. That investigation continues…
Read More “FERC Allows Rover to Restart HDD Work in 2 More OH Locations”
Accidents | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Michigan | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MI

Michigan DEQ Claims Rover Discharged Polluted Water into Wetland
October 18, 2017October 18, 2017

Rover Pipeline has been served a violation from the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality claiming the company discharged polluted water from its drilling operations into a wetland. Which may sound familiar, because Rover was cited for fouling a wetland in Ohio with 2 million gallons of drilling mud back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). However, the Michigan story is completely different. Water coming from the pipeline project in Michigan (Washtenaw County) appears to contain gasoline in it. The water has a “sheen” and smells of petroleum. The DEQ theorizes that Rover’s work in the area has disturbed existing underground pollution from a now-closed gas station. Water that previously seeped into ground and was polluted by the old gas station is now (according to the theory) making its way into an area wetland. The pollution already existed–Rover didn’t cause the pollution. But the DEQ says Rover work caused the pollution to change locations, so Rover is to blame…
Read More “Michigan DEQ Claims Rover Discharged Polluted Water into Wetland”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

NEXUS Cleared to Begin Construction, Rover Cleared to Restart HDD
October 12, 2017October 12, 2017

Permission granted grunge rubber stamp on white, vector illustration

Important pipeline news for the Utica Shale. Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave permission to NEXUS Pipeline–a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada–to begin construction. This is a momentous day! NEXUS had previously requested FERC allow it to begin by Tuesday, Oct. 10th (see NEXUS Pipe Seeks to Begin Construction Oct 10; List of Contractors). FERC was a day late, but certainly not a dollar short. We expect by the time you read this, some of the bulldozers and backhoes will already be fired up and working. What oh what will the antis do now (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court)? The second bit of good news also from yesterday from FERC–Rover Pipeline is allowed to restart underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) at another four sites where such activity has been halted since May of this year. Rover has still not received permission to restart HDD drilling at the spot along the Tuscarawas River where they spilled 2 million gallons of drilling mud (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). However, Rover remains confident they will complete the entire project $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline running from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan by the end of this year…
Read More “NEXUS Cleared to Begin Construction, Rover Cleared to Restart HDD”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Makes Marcellus Ethane-by-Truck Available at Marcus Hook, PA
October 10, 2017October 10, 2017

The first truck enters the loading pad for the new ethane distribution rack at Sunoco Partners Marketing and Terminals’ Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Marcus Hook, Pa., on Sept. 21. The facility’s 300,000 barrel chilled ethane tank is in the background. (Photo Credit: Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.)

In March 2016 an Ineos tanker ship carrying 173,000 barrels of Marcellus ethane set sail from the Marcus Hook terminal near Philadelphia, bound for Norway (see Bon Voyage! First Ethane Export Ship Leaves Marcus Hook in Philly). Since that time, regular shipments of Marcellus ethane have traveled from Marcus Hook to various European destinations. Yesterday Sunoco Partners, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners and the operator of the Marcus Hook refinery, announced they have opened a new ethane distribution facility inside the Marcus Hook refinery complex. It is a truck loading facility–the first such facility in the U.S. to load liquid ethane onto tanker trucks for local delivery. Wait, what? You thought ethane was only used in gigantic cracker plants, used as the raw material to make ethylene (i.e. plastics)? That is the primary use of ethane–but not the only use. Ethane can also be used as a refrigerant in cryogenic refrigeration systems. And there are other uses for small quantities of ethane, including the manufacturing of electronics. Sunoco says local trucked ethane deliveries will be used for “various ethane uses, from energy research and development to cooling and other industrial applications.” Sunoco already has its first customer–Gas Innovations–a reseller that trucks NGLs like ethane and propane throughout the U.S. (and ships it around the world). Gas Innovations is excited that their “cryogenic ethane business” is now supplied domestically via Marcus Hook. Previously, Gas Innovations had to import liquefied ethane. Marcus Hook’s truck facility opens up a whole new market for smaller users of Marcellus/Utica ethane throughout the U.S….
Read More “Sunoco Makes Marcellus Ethane-by-Truck Available at Marcus Hook, PA”
Carroll County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation

Rover Pipe Nearly Doubles Flow with Addition of Carroll, OH Compressor
October 9, 2017October 9, 2017

Fire it up! On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Energy Transfer permission to fire up the three units that make up the Carroll County Compressor Station (called Compressor Station 1) that helps compress and flow natural gas through the mighty Rover Pipeline. According to the letter from FERC authorizing the startup of the compressor station, FERC is authorizing “partial” service to commence. Since ET wanted to start the station on Friday, we expect the plant is by now up and running. The effect will be dramatic. According to stats released by NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence), which has an excellent Rover Tracker application on their website (see Friday’s version here), Rover has been flowing around 680 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of Utica/Marcellus gas. With the addition of the Carroll County compressor station, that number will nearly double–to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Cool! Here’s the details of how Rover’s capacity just nearly doubled with the addition of a single compressor station…
Read More “Rover Pipe Nearly Doubles Flow with Addition of Carroll, OH Compressor”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | NEXUS Pipeline | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

Competition Heats Up Between W. Canadian & Marcellus/Utica Gas
October 3, 2017October 4, 2017

Last week MDN reported the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) had approved of TransCanada’s plan to lowball the price to haul natural gas all the way from Alberta (in western Canada) to the Toronto Dawn Hub in eastern Canada (see Canadians Approve TransCanada Pipe Lowball Plan to Compete with M-U). TransCanada cooked up a deal last year to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. TransCanada’s pipeline theoretically can ship 3.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas from west to east. When Rover Pipeline is full online sometime in 2018, it will ship up to 3.25 Bcf/d of Marcellus/Utica gas to the Dawn Hub. If NEXUS Pipeline ever gets built, it too will one day flow gas all the way to the Dawn Hub–up to 1.5 Bcf/d. TransCanada is attempting to get there first. In this clash of the titans, between western Canadian gas and Marcellus/Utica gas, who wins? There will be a number of winners, including the drillers shipping the gas. And the pipeline companies shipping the gas. But perhaps the biggest winners will be Ontario residents who use natural gas. Their prices to buy and use gas are heading much lower…
Read More “Competition Heats Up Between W. Canadian & Marcellus/Utica Gas”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

Bad Blood: Rover Pipe CEO Sends Caustic Letter to Ohio EPA, FERC
September 28, 2017September 28, 2017

Last week MDN brought you the news that Ohio EPA’s director, Craig Butler, has kind of tipped over into the deep end with his rantings and ravings about Rover Pipeline (see Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe). Butler held a conference call with the media where he made wild allegations. What seems to have precipitated Butler’s media bender is a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) earlier in the week to allow Energy Transfer, builder of Rover, to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in most Ohio locations, after banning it for several months (see FERC Lifts Rover Horizontal Drilling Ban, Pipeline Work Resumes). ET has responded to Butler’s tirade with a hard-hitting (we’d call it caustic) response. In a letter to Butler, carbon copied to FERC, Rover President & CEO Matthew Ramsey essentially says Butler and the OEPA is trying to cover its own mistakes in not requiring storm water permits for most of the project’s life–then coming along after the fact saying Rover didn’t apply for those permits (when OEPA never required them in the first place). Ramsey also said Butler “refuses to recognize the law” that FERC, and not OEPA, is in charge of this project. It gets better. Ramsey says he is “mystified by what you are trying to achieve” by requiring something (said storme water permits) Rover is now voluntarily doing–permits that OEPA itself has approved! This letter really takes the gloves off and (our words) calls Butler a lunatic. Read it for yourself and see what you think…
Read More “Bad Blood: Rover Pipe CEO Sends Caustic Letter to Ohio EPA, FERC”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Huntingdon County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

Anti-Pipeline Quartet Sues Sunoco, ET, Police, Others re ME2 Arrests
September 27, 2017September 26, 2017

Two serial, paid protesters, along with a landowner and her daughter have sued Sunoco Logistics and parent company Energy Transfer for breaching their constitutional rights. You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in March 2016 in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see PA Anti Literally Goes Up a Tree to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline). It ultimately didn’t matter, because Sunoco came back and cut down the few trees they needed to cut anyway (see Sunoco Tricks Radicalized Protester – Returns and Cuts More Trees). Eventually law enforcement got around to arresting the daughter, and the mom (who also trespassed during tree clearing). Law enforcement also arrested two serial criminal trespassers/antis who participated. Unfortunately, in a miscarriage of justice, the charges against all them were later dropped (see Charges Dismissed Against Tree Sitting Anti in Huntingdon County). The quartet is now suing everyone and his brother: “The suit accuses Sunoco, plus a private security firm, a publicist, and 27 state and local police officers of violating constitutional protections over free speech, false arrest, malicious prosecution and equal protection.” More Big Green money at work with yet another frivolous lawsuit…
Read More “Anti-Pipeline Quartet Sues Sunoco, ET, Police, Others re ME2 Arrests”
Defiance County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines

First-Hand Account: Rover Pipe’s Negative Impact on One Ohio Farm
September 22, 2017September 22, 2017

Not everyone on the “pro” side of the pipeline issue is happy with Rover Pipeline and the work they’ve done in Ohio. You know that MDN is supportive of the Rover project. You also know that MDN believes Craig Butler, director of the Ohio EPA, is way out of line with his campaign to fine Rover $2.3 million. However, Rover is not lily white in their handling of building the pipeline across Ohio. They’ve made mistakes. And they’ve made some enemies of the people who should be their biggest supporters–farmers whose land they cross. MDN editor Jim Willis recently spoke with one of those farmers, from the Definance, OH area. Ben Polasek owns a farm that has been in the family for four generations. He plants wheat, corn, and soybeans on his Ohio land. Polasek says he is a strong supporter of the energy industry–and of pipelines. However, he says, “Rover has not shown any respect for the landowners of this project.” Polasek says Rover made promises–like being able to access fields he needs to plant–only to see those promises broken. He also believes Rover didn’t properly plan for the heavy rains that caused his property to become a mud pit in areas where Rover was working. With pictures (below) and an impassioned letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (also below), Polasek is asking FERC to hold Rover responsible for the damage done to his, and other farmer’s, property…
Read More “First-Hand Account: Rover Pipe’s Negative Impact on One Ohio Farm”