PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole
Sunoco Logistics Partners (aka Energy Transfer Parnters) has had its challenges in constructing the twin Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipelines across Pennsylvania. Earlier this week MDN told you that underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work in Chester County has led to a third sinkhole developing in the area (see 3rd Sinkhole Appears Near ME2 Construction in Chester County, PA). For most of its length, ME2 is being built right next to ME1 (Mariner East 1), a liquids pipeline originally built in 1931. ME1 now flows 70,000 barrels a day of NGLs like propane to Marcus Hook, PA. The third sinkhole has exposed a portion of ME1. That is, bare steel pipeline was uncovered due to the sinkhole. Not good. That situation led to the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) slapping ME1 with an emergency shut down order yesterday…
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Last Friday a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia granted Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) the right to enter and construct the pipeline on properties of landowners who have refused to negotiate a right-of-way across their land. There are nearly 300 landowners who have refused to deal with MVP–and their time is now up. Instead of getting a higher price for leasing their property, MVP will first build and later let a court determine how much money the landowners will receive. The courts almost always determine amounts lower than could have otherwise been negotiated between the landowner and the pipeline company. Oh well. Some folks have to learn the hard way…
Sometimes radicals who have “jumped the shark” and descended into complete lunacy go up a tree–literally. We’ve spotted this mental condition before (see 
As MDN reported last Friday, the very first cargo of LNG (liquefied natural gas) left the Cove Point LNG export facility in Lusby, Maryland (see 
A brand new midstream (i.e. pipeline) company called Mettle Midstream Partners has just launched. Two private investment firms, Pearl Energy Investments and Natural Gas Partners, are investing a cumulative $100 million in the new venture. Quite a vote of confidence! Mettle is based in Dallas, TX, but is looking to buy or build “first-class midstream assets in resilient unconventional plays across the U.S.” Will one of those areas be the Marcellus/Utica? Consider this: The company’s president and chief commercial officer has worked in a number of shale plays, including the Marcellus/Utica. While the company doesn’t specifically say they are targeting our region, we think it’s a pretty safe bet they are…
In February, Sunoco Logistics Partners agreed to pay a massive (historically high) $12.6 million fine to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for “permit violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project” (see 
Earlier this week MDN told you the ship that would carry the very first cargo of LNG from Cove Point LNG had docked (see 
Southern LNG, a unit of Kinder Morgan, filed a request with the Dept. of Energy yesterday asking the DOE for “blanket authorization” to export LNG from the Elba Island LNG plant in Georgia beginning in the third quarter of this year…