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FERC Denies CORNball, Sierra Club Request to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

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, is now under construction. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). However, radical environmental groups have fought the project tooth and nail. CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club, launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. One such action was to file a request last fall for a rehearing of FERC’s decision to approve the project (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court). A rehearing is the first step to take, a necessary step before Big Green groups can legally file a lawsuit against the project. In what is being characterized as a blow to the CORNballs and their buddies at the Sierra Club, FERC last week denied that request for a rehearing of the NEXUS approval, meaning it looks like clear sailing for NEXUS to complete their project, even with various lawsuits pending…
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Fed Court Grants Green, OH Request to Stop NEXUS Pipe Construction

Who says you can’t buy a court decision–at least a temporary one? Back in May MDN told you about the antis running the City of Green, Ohio hellbent on stopping the NEXUS Pipeline, all of it (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). Green City Council voted to use $100,000 of taxpayer money to hire a Cleveland law firm to file a lawsuit “aimed at stopping the pipeline from being built or stopping the project altogether.” NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, was the first major pipeline project to get approved after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) once again had a quorum (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Green’s high-priced lawyers filed their lawsuit in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, requesting an emergency stay blocking construction. Late last week a three-judge panel voted 2-1 in favor of Green’s request for an emergency stay, which temporarily blocks further construction of an 8-mile segment of the NEXUS Pipeline in the vicinity of Green (but not anywhere else). The judges believe Green’s lawsuit is likely to prevail in court–hence stop any construction for now around Green. The big problem, from our limited legal understanding, is that the underlying lawsuit filed by Green challenges the Ohio EPA’s decision to grant water crossing permits for the ENTIRE 257-mile pipeline through Ohio. If Green prevails in that case, construction on the entire pipeline (as it passes through Ohio) is stopped–not just an 8-mile segment around the pipeline-phobic Green…
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Sierra Club Withdraws Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

The uber-litigious Sierra Club and it’s vaunted stable of attorneys have been caught with their pants down–legally speaking. One of the (many) pipelines the Clubbers oppose is NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from FERC in August (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). The Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project in September (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). Seeing the NEXUS freight train moving on down the tracks, the Clubbers filed a request for “rehearing” with FERC in September (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court). Before anyone can sue to stop a federal pipeline project, the first step is to request a rehearing. If FERC delays or rejects a rehearing request, the “aggrieved” party can then launch a lawsuit in federal Appeals Court. And that’s what the Sierra Club did last week. They filed a lawsuit against NEXUS in the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking the court to force FERC to conduct a new review of the project, and in the meantime, shut it all down (see Sierra Club Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline). There’s just one teeny tiny problem: The landowner the Clubbers was using as their excuse to file the lawsuit recently sold his property to NEXUS. Oops. Now the Clubbers don’t have a reason to sue, so with tail between legs, they withdrew the lawsuit yesterday…
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Sierra Club Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

Honestly, the Sierra Club launches so many petitions with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), and so many lawsuits against FERC regarding pipelines, it’s hard to keep them all straight. One of the northeast pipelines the Clubbers oppose is NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from FERC in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). The Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project in September (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). Seeing the NEXUS freight train moving on down the tracks, the Clubbers filed a request for “rehearing” with FERC in September (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court). Before anyone can sue to stop a federal pipeline project, the first step is to request a rehearing. If FERC delays or rejects a rehearing request, the supposedly aggrieved party can then launch a lawsuit in federal Appeals Court. And that’s what the Sierra Club did earlier this week. They filed a lawsuit against NEXUS in the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking the court to force FERC to conduct a new review of the project, and in the meantime, shut it all down. The Sierra Club is rather good at shutting down pipelines and destroying jobs, as they recently did in PA (see Sierra Club Pipeline Lawsuit Throws 2,500 in PA Out of Work). Fortunately the PA episode was short-lived (just two days and work resumed). The question now is, will the lib judges in DC put up with yet another lame lawsuit from the Clubbers and shut down NEXUS construction?…
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Anti-NEXUS Referendum in Bowling Green, OH Defeated by Huge Margin

When we notice municipal referendums and ballot measures related to blocking shale drilling and pipelines, we always highlight them. Such a ballot measure appeared on the ballot in Bowling Green (Wood County), OH on Tuesday. We honestly were not aware of it prior to reading an article in the Toledo Blade. The ballot measure called for a ban on pipelines that flow natural gas and other fossil fuels over city-owned property. It’s aim is to prevent NEXUS Pipeline from building nearby. Antis got enough signatures for this glittering jewel to appear on the November ballot. And how did the good people of Bowling Green vote? They saw right through this one–voting it DOWN by a huge margin: 61%-39%. That’s a blowout, politically. But you know antis. Nothing, including the truth, will ever change their minds. The Bowling Green ballot measure was the work of out-of-towners–the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)–about whom we’ve written plenty (see our CELDF stories here). CELDF, based in Pennsylvania, targets towns with sufficiently large pockets of nutters who will sign on to their garbage. As they usually have to do, the CELDF needed to ramrod the Bowling Green ballot measure through a lengthy legal process, eventually getting permission from the Ohio Supreme Court before it could appear on the November ballot. How did the nutters take such a humiliating defeat? CELDF-hired lawyer Terry Lodge (from Toledo), pledged to bring the ballot measure back again and again in future, wasting taxpayers’ money…
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NEXUS Pipe Goes to Court to Gain Easements on 42 Ohio Properties

NEXUS Pipeline has had to use the unpreferred last option and has taken landowners of 42 properties to court using eminent domain in order to secure easements so they can lay pipeline through those properties. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS received final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). In early October, FERC gave NEXUS permission to begin construction (see NEXUS Cleared to Begin Construction, Rover Cleared to Restart HDD). While 97% of the landowners along the proposed route have signed easements for the pipeline, a few have not. The landowners NEXUS has taken to court (so far) are in Ohio, in Stark, Summit, Wayne, Medina, Lorain, Sandusky, Wood and Erie counties. Yes, there are still a few lawsuits hanging out there, including a lawsuit by Green, OH and one by the Coalition to Reroute Nexus (CORN). However, it seems unlikely the lawsuits will stop the project. Here’s the unfortunate news about NEXUS suing a few holdouts…
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NEXUS Pipeline Begins Construction in OH, MI

Last week NEXUS Pipeline notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) they had begun construction on the $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. We purposely held off on sharing this exciting news until we could tell you where construction has begun. Each week NEXUS, like other interstate pipelines answering to FERC, provides a weekly update on construction and other project activities. We have a copy of that report (below). What does it show? Preliminary activities are taking place to move equipment, put up signage, and begin to work in “Spread 1”–meaning somewhere within Columbia, Stark, Summit, and Wayne counties in Ohio. Similar work is happening in “Spread 4”–meaning counties in Michigan. Initial site preparation is already happening at three of the four planned compressor stations. Here’s what we have been able to piece together about the initial construction work done on NEXUS…
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NEXUS Cleared to Begin Construction, Rover Cleared to Restart HDD

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…
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NEXUS Pipe Seeks to Begin Construction Oct 10; List of Contractors

NEXUS Pipeline map – click for larger version

Something just now coming to light. Last week NEXUS Pipeline sent a request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting that it be allowed to begin construction of the pipeline “on or before” Tuesday, October 10th. That’s next Tuesday, folks! NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS received final approval for the project from FERC in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Two weeks ago one of the final remaining hurdles came down when the Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). The project still faces court challenges (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court), however, those challenges are long-shots. Given that all permits have been issued, last Thursday NEXUS sent FERC a request to begin construction (see the request below). As part of the request, the contractors that will build the pipeline were named. We’ve pulled those names into a handy list, for those looking for jobs and those who want to sell goods and services to the companies actually building the pipeline…
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Competition Heats Up Between W. Canadian & Marcellus/Utica Gas

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…
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Green, OH Spends Big $ on 2 Appeals in Bid to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

Back in May MDN told you about the antis running the City of Green, Ohio (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). Green City Council voted to use $100,000 of taxpayer money to hire a Cleveland law firm to file a lawsuit “aimed at stopping the pipeline from being built or stopping the project altogether.” Looks like the law firm is earning at least some of that considerable amount (total bill so far: $67,367). The strategy the lawyers have adopted and now implemented is to file two appeals–one with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the other with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s appeals board. The Green antis hope one or both will throw up a roadblock to slow, and ultimately stop, the NEXUS Pipeline from getting built. NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, was the first major pipeline project to get approved after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) once again had a quorum (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Less than two weeks ago the Ohio EPA issued a federal water permit for the project (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). Green is asking OEPA to reconsider their action in issuing the permit. Here’s the latest in the ongoing war against fossil fuels…
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CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court

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, is about ready to begin construction–any time. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Last week one of the final remaining hurdles came down when the Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). The only cloud on the horizon are multiple lawsuits and regulatory requests filed by anti-fossil fuel groups, including CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club. Both groups have launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. Those efforts, which increasingly are long-shots, continue. Here’s what CORN and the Sierra Club are doing now that Ohio EPA has given the project its blessing…
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Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover

At a staged media event yesterday, Ohio EPA director Craig Butler had no end of insults for Energy Transfer and their Rover Pipeline project, making wild claims that the company now owes the state $2.3 million in fines (see today’s companion story). However, at the same media event, Butler had faint praise for another project–NEXUS Pipeline. The OEPA issued a federal water permit for the project on Tuesday. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. The project is co-owned by DTE Energy of Detroit and Spectra Energy (now part of Canadian company Enbridge). NEXUS got final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). At yesterday’s media circus, Butler said he and his agency have learned from their “mistakes” with Rover, and that NEXUS’ application includes much more detailed plans. Although OEPA likes the NEXUS paperwork, the agency is requiring more “contingency and storm water planning” from NEXUS as a condition of the permit…
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NEXUS Pipeline Tax Bonanza: $33M in Tax Rev for Single OH County

Columbiana County, OH

How often have you read that pipelines are “private companies” and solely created for “corporate greed”–not benefiting landowners all that much, and certainly not benefiting the communities through which they pass. All take, no give. We read those kinds of nonsense statements in so-called mainstream media all the time. False allegations. Fake news. Here’s some real news: One pipeline–the planned 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–will generate ~$33 million in tax revenue over five years for a single county along its route–Columbiana County, OH. That’s tax money going to a local school district, multiple townships and other local government entities. How’s that for “this pipeline doesn’t benefit anyone but the company that owns it”? This story rips the facade off anti arguments that pipelines don’t benefit anyone but corporate greedsters…
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Antis Continue to Fight Inevitable NEXUS Pipe, Change Strategies

Anti fossil fuelers committed to stopping (NOT rerouting) the newly approved NEXUS Pipeline in Ohio continue to pin their hopes on a meritless lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see CORNballs Strike Again, File Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline). However, just in case that doesn’t work (which of course it won’t), members of the Coalition to Reroute NEXUS (or CORN, folks we call CORNballs), have two more strategies up their sleeve which they hope will work. The first is to convince the Ohio EPA to deny a federal stream crossing permit for the project. That tactic worked in Communist New York State, so they hope maybe it will work in Ohio. Second, if all else fails, a couple of CORN members are running for the local town board in the districts where they live (in Media County). No doubt they plan to make mischief at the town board level, perhaps by introducing/passing illegal zoning ordinances to try and slow down or stop NEXUS…
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New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline

Two new members added to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by President Trump (Neil Chatterjee and Rob Powelson), added to the Obama-appointed member (Cheryl LaFleur) have not wasted any time in authorizing their first major pipeline project as a group. Last week the trio voted to approve the first major pipeline project since a quorum has been reestablished–NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. On August 4th, NEXUS, which is a jointly owned project between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy (now part of Enbridge), sent a letter to the new FERC quorum urging fast action (see NEXUS Pipeline to FERC: Please Approve Project – NOW). Perhaps the letter did the trick. On Friday, August 25th, the three issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity (full copy below) allowing the project to move forward. Because of the delay when FERC was without a quorum, NEXUS says the pipeline will now evaluate and supply a new construction schedule, but they do plan to have the pipeline up and running sometime in 2018…
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