Radical Enviro Groups Ask FERC for Full Investigation of ET Rover
Here is a short list of radical environmental groups that are despicable and loathsome in every sense of the word: Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks, Freshwater Accountability Project, Friends for Environmental Justice, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Iowa, Keep Wayne WILD, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Ohio River Citizens’ Alliance, and Oil Change International. They have dedicated themselves to stopping work on, and ultimately blocking, Energy Transfer’s (ET) $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica Rover natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. The problem, however, is that ET has given these groups an open door to pedal their anti-fossil fuel nonsense. Indeed, ET has given them an open door to block further progress on building Rover. How? By rushing construction that has led to a string of accidents and incidents, alienating the thin-skinned Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and a number of landowners. One of the accidents, perhaps the most prominent accident that’s been the focus for much of the radical’s efforts, was a 2 million gallon spill of drilling mud into a wetland near the Tuscarawas River back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). After receiving a tip, the OEPA tested some of the recovered drilling mud and claim they found diesel fuel mixed in (see OH EPA Says Diesel Fuel Found in Rover 2M Gal Drilling Mud Spill). That finding led the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to launch an investigation. On Wednesday, the radical groups we list above sent a five-page letter to FERC requesting a “formal and full investigation” of the entire Rover project. In other words, shut it all down and give Rover a detailed anal exam. Every day the Rover Pipeline goes over its projected online date, the company loses $10 million. If FERC agrees to the nutters’ request, well, let’s just say it’s not good news for ET…
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Rover Pipeline (i.e. Energy Transfer) has settled an ongoing dispute with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (a PRIVATE organization) to pay them $1.5 million in what MDN views as shakedown money. Which is far less than the “asking” price of $1.5 million PER YEAR over the next five years ($7.5 million total). The payment comes after Rover paid the same organization $2.3 million for knocking down a dilapidated old house that was under consideration to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the $2.3 million paid for This Old House, the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office said they had worked out a deal with Rover to pay the organization $1.5 million as compensation for something they haven’t even done yet but presumably will do–disturbing other “historic sites” as the pipeline cuts across the state. Apparently the history buffs felt the agreement was for $1.5 million per year over the next five years. Rover said (in so many words), “in your dreams.” No way. So the matter was referred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for dispute resolution. Before FERC could render a decision, the history buffs settled with Rover for a one-time additional payment of $1.5 million (a $1.5M bird in the hand is worth more than a $7.5M bird in the bush). Here’s the background for this shakedown, and a copy of the signed agreement stipulating a one-time payment of $1.5 million to the PRIVATE Ohio State Historic Preservation Office…
Rover Pipeline, Energy Transfer’s $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada, will almost certainly not go online in July as originally planned–at least according to an article on The Street evaluating the project and its builder, Energy Transfer. At the heart of the delay is a series of spills that have occurred while drilling underground, horizontally, under rivers and creeks (and other structures) in which drilling mud has spilled. The largest such spill, to date, happened on April 13 when around 2 million gallons of drilling mud spilled close to the Tuscarawas River (see 
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… 
Several radical environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, and the Ohio-based nutters at FreshWater Accountability Project filed an official request with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pull the Corps’ issuance of a “blanket” approval for the Rover Pipeline to use underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and instead require Rover to get a permit for each of the 45 bodies of water they intend to drill under with the technique. Which would, of course, bring the project to a halt–the intended outcome by the radicals. The groups are attempting to capitalize on several leaks experienced by Rover using HDD, including a 2 million gallon drilling mud spill in April that continues to generate headlines today (see 
Rover is Energy Transfer’s $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. On April 13, Rover workers experienced an “inadvertent return” of “horizontal directional drilling fluid”. That is, they sprung a leak and spilled nearly 2 million gallons of drilling fluid (see 
We’ve spilled plenty of digital ink covering the Rover Pipeline and its recent troubles with “inadvertent returns” (i.e. leaks) of non-toxic drilling mud, called bentonite (see 
Rover is Energy Transfer’s $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), charged with overseeing interstate pipeline projects, granted final approval for the project in early February (see 
It was full speed ahead for Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline construction project in Ohio–until a series of drilling mud spills hit, including one that dumped some 2 million gallons of bentonite mud into a wetland near the Tuscarawas River in Stark County, OH (see 
Radical environmental groups are seeking to stop the Energy Transfer Rover Pipeline project by using recent violations as leverage. The FreshWater Accountability Project, begun in Ohio after the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District signed agreements to sell water to the shale industry, along with Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday asking the federal agency to stop all construction on Rover. The request will almost certainly go nowhere–but Rover’s own actions have opened the door to this action. We understand that accidents happen when drilling horizontally underground for pipelines and that sometimes you get an “inadvertent return” (leak) of drilling mud slipping up to the surface. But it’s tough to explain away a 2 million gallon leak (see 
More trouble for Energy Transfer and the Rover Pipeline project as the company is working against a tight deadline to get the $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that traverses Ohio up and running this year. It appears as if the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) is hellbent on picking a fight with the project. Perhaps some of OEPA’s criticisms are justified–perhaps some are not. We’ll give you the “lay of the land” (pun intended) as we see it. Early on Rover appeared to rush too much, resulting in numerous drilling mud spills in locations where Rover was drilling underground to avoid creeks and rivers and other structures. One of those spills dumped 2 million gallons of drilling mud (i.e. bentonite) in a wetland next to the Tuscarawas River (see 
While reviewing documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Energy Transfer Rover pipeline project, we came across a letter filed by ET yesterday. The letter (full copy below) addresses the recent “inadvertent return” (i.e. major leak) of 2 million gallons of drilling mud in a swamp next to the Tuscarawas River (Stark County, OH). Following that leak and other leaks, FERC told Rover to stop any new underground drilling not already under way (see 
We’re not sure we have the full, 100% story, but we have enough of it to have some righteous anger. In May 2015, Rover purchased a house in Carroll County, OH, located near where the pipeline, and a compressor station for that pipeline, is due to run. Rover bought the house to use for offices for several Rover affiliate companies. After buying it, Rover determined the house was “ill-suited for its intended purpose” and decided to demolish it. Problem was/is, that house was under consideration to be added to the National Register of Historic Places (see 
Early last week MDN brought you the news that Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project has been fined by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) for $431,000 for “18 incidents involving mud spills from drilling, stormwater pollution and open burning at Rover pipeline construction sites have been reported between late March and Monday” (see 
As MDN began reporting last week, Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline, a $4 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada, has quickly become a soap opera. MDN brought you the news that Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project has been fined by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) for $431,000 for “18 incidents involving mud spills from drilling, stormwater pollution and open burning at Rover pipeline construction sites have been reported between late March and Monday” (see