NEXUS Pipeline

As MDN predicted, yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the NEXUS Pipeline project (see FERC Expected to Approve NEXUS Today; Surveyors have Armed Guards). More precisely, FERC issued a positive Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). These projects are complex and the final Certificate is yet to be granted that allows Spectra Energy to begin digging–but that Certificate is now just a formality. The big nut to crack was the FEIS. With that now granted (executive summary of FEIS below), the final Certificate is on track to be issued in the first quarter of 2017. That is, NEXUS is on track, on time, and WILL get built despite the objections of anti-fossil fuelers. The NEXUS Pipeline is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. But FERC’s approval is not only great news for Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers, it’s also great news for Ohioans as there are numerous taps along the proposed route that will deliver plenty of cheap Utica gas to Ohio residents and businesses. And lest you believe the anti lie that FERC is nothing more than a rubber stamp for the pipeline industry, there are some 38 mitigation projects NEXUS will have to make when building the pipeline–projects that will come at great expense. FERC does it job and does it well, balancing the need for more energy with the impacts that infrastructure will have on landowners and the environment. Here’s the great news, along with some of the reaction…
Read More “FERC Approves NEXUS Pipeline, Project on Track for 2017”

Word on the street is that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will announce a decision today to approve the 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. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. If the decision doesn’t come today, it will come very soon. As MDN reported yesterday, the small city of Green, OH (population 26,000) has put NEXUS on notice that if its surveyors show up and landowners refuse access, those surveyors will be arrested if they “trespass” on the landowner’s property (see Green, OH Threatens NEXUS Surveyors with Arrest for Trespassing). Other news agencies are reporting that surveyors are about to show up with armed guards. Into this mess may come an approval for the project. If NEXUS gets approved, it will have the right to use federal eminent domain laws to build the pipeline, regardless of landowner desires. Does eminent domain also include surveying? One would think so since surveying is part of the construction process. Green’s bluster may amount to nothing if the project receives a final approval today. Below are several stories about surveying for NEXUS, as well as a look at the FERC commissioners who will make the final decision on NEXUS…
Read More “FERC Expected to Approve NEXUS Today; Surveyors have Armed Guards”

Yet another deadline approaches for the 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. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is charged with evaluating and approving (or not) the project. However, as often happens, various state agencies are also involved in the project. One of those agencies if the Ohio EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). In September the Ohio EPA issued permits to allow NEXUS to build five new compressor stations along the pipeline’s route through OH (see OH EPA Grants Permits for 5 NEXUS Pipeline Compressor Stations). The Ohio EPA is back, this time considering whether (or not) to issue stream crossing permits to NEXUS. The pipeline will cross streams and swamps (i.e. “wetlands”) in these watersheds: Upper Ohio, Tuscarawas, Mahoning, Cedar-Portage, Lower Maumee, Ottawa-Stony, Black-Rocky, Huron-Vermilion and Sandusky. The public (i.e. YOU) have until next Monday, Oct. 31, to file comments on NEXUS’ “401 water quality certification” as it is called. Get writing!…
Read More “Oct 31 Deadline to Send Comments to Ohio EPA re NEXUS Pipeline”

The NEXUS Pipeline is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada (see Spectra Energy Files Formal FERC Application for NEXUS Pipeline). It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. One of the first and key parts of getting a pipeline approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is to submit the project for an environmental impact statement (EIS), performed by FERC. Good news. NEXUS received word late last week that FERC has granted the project a favorable draft EIS. That means FERC is of the opinion that the project will not unduly harm the local environment where it is to get built. A favorable EIS is an indication that FERC will grant its full approval for the project (in due time)…
Read More “Spectra’s NEXUS Pipeline Gets Favorable Draft EIS from FERC”