Former Head of Fed Pipeline Agency Sticks Up for Rover re Leaks
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 Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). Rover and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) have been in a spat over “numerous” leaks–with OEPA claiming they’ve levied a $431,000 fine on Rover, although it turns out the fine is not yet officially levied (see Turns Out OEPA & Columbus Dispatch Were Lying – Rover NOT Fined). The leak issue has led to FERC shutting down, for now, any further underground horizontal drilling to install pipeline (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). On MDN, we have, admittedly, been pretty hard on Rover. Seems to us they are rushing too fast, leading to mistakes–mistakes the industry can’t afford to be seen making. Have we (and others) been too hard on Rover? We spotted an editorial by Ohio resident and the former head of the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the agency charged with oversight for developing and enforcing regulations for 2.6 million miles of pipeline transportation in the U.S., sticking up for Rover. Brigham McCown says accidents happen and that Rover, “responded to the situation promptly and by the book to control any potentially larger fallout.” Is he right? Is Rover being unfairly criticized for accidents that are bound to happen?… Read More “Former Head of Fed Pipeline Agency Sticks Up for Rover re Leaks”
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 
You can’t see we didn’t warn Rover Pipeline. In our story yesterday about the Ohio EPA’s frustration with Rover over regular spills of drilling mud (and other violations), we pointed out that the OEPA’s language is “Not good news for Rover, when one of the main state regulators (that can stop the project) is leveling criticisms like that” (see 
Last week Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the main operating division of Energy Transfer Equity (ETE), released its first quarter 2017 financial and operating update. ETP is the company that built the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was finally completed after Obama was ejected from office–and is right now building the Rover Pipeline. Another division of ETE was, until last month, Sunoco Logistics Partners. In April Sunoco LP was merged into ETP (see 
As construction of the Mariner East 2 NGL (natural gas liquids) pipeline project heats up, thousands of Pennsylvanians are going back to work. Sunoco Logistics Partners (now called Energy Transfer Partners) said it would take some 8,000 workers to build the twin pipelines called Mariner East 2–from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. When Sunoco LP signed a deal to hire union workers for the pipeline, the deal stipulates half of the hires are local–from within PA. Sunoco has lived up to its word, as evidenced by the testimony of the Operating Engineer’s Union (Harrisburg) who has already seen 50 of its members hired to work on the project. What about the other half, the “foreigners” who come from other states? They’re brought in because of required specialized skills. But even the out-of-staters are welcomed–they’re adding big bucks to the local economy… 
Looks like Middletown Township, in Delaware County, PA (Philadelphia suburb), has finally faced reality that the Mariner East 2 Pipeline is coming through town. To be fair, town council came to that conclusion last September when they voted to grant easements to Sunoco Logistics Partners to build Mariner East 2 across four parcels of public land (see