Energy Services

Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Dominion Contacting First Responders re Atlantic Coast Pipeline
May 17, 2017May 17, 2017

Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), Dominion Energy’s $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina, has begun an outreach program with Local Emergency Planning Committees in several West Virginia counties. The pipeline is not yet fully approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Dominion expects that approval sometime this fall (see Dominion CEO Says Atlantic Coast Pipeline is Full Speed Ahead). However, Dominion and ACP would not be wasting their time and the time of local first responders with meetings, if they didn’t believe the project is already in the bag. So we take these meetings as a good sign that ACP is on the way… Read More “Dominion Contacting First Responders re Atlantic Coast Pipeline”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

Turns Out OEPA & Columbus Dispatch Were Lying – Rover NOT Fined
May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

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 Ohio EPA Slaps Rover Pipe with $431K Fine for Spills, Other Issues). Based on OEPA’s report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC then told Rover to stop any new horizontal drilling underground (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). But at the end of last week, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer told the ace reporters at Natural Gas Intelligence that Rover has NOT been fined by the OEPA (see ET Disputes Ohio EPA Action on Rover, Says there Is No $431K Fine), which led us to say in our opening: “Somebody somewhere isn’t telling the truth.” We now know who didn’t tell the truth: the OEPA and the Columbus Dispatch… Read More “Turns Out OEPA & Columbus Dispatch Were Lying – Rover NOT Fined”
Accidents | Delaware County (PA) | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

ME2 Drilling Leaks 575 Gal of Bentonite Mud into Delco Creek
May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

Sand bags placed to contain a leak of bentonite clay into Chester Creek. Credit: Middletown Coalition for Community Safety

When pipeline companies lay a pipeline–they dig a trench. But what happens when you come to a road, or a river, or a creek or another structure where you can’t just dig a trench? For those places, you drill horizontally underground–kind of like what shale drillers do. When drilling horizontally underground, the drill bit gets hot and needs to be cooled, so drilling “mud” is piped in to cool the bit as it chews away. Drilling mud for pipelines is, essentially, bentonite–a nontoxic clay. Bentonite is used to make shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and kitty litter. You’ve probably already used a product today that contains bentonite. Sometimes when drilling, the bentonite mud leaks out–traveling along cracks in the rock. It’s called an “inadvertent return” in the business. We call it a leak. Fortunately, bentonite can leak all day long and it doesn’t pollute anything. However, if enough of it leaks into a river, stream, or wetland (i.e. swamp), it can smother aquatic life. Poor little critters can’t breathe. And that’s not good. Such leaks are what have slowed down progress on building the Rover Pipeline in Ohio–where one such incident leaked 2 million gallons of drilling mud (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). A leak of 575 gallons of drilling mud into a creek is hardly worth mentioning, but it recently happened when Sunoco Logistics was drilling horizontally under the Chester Creek in Delaware County (near Philadelphia) for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. According to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, not a single fish was killed in the leak… Read More “ME2 Drilling Leaks 575 Gal of Bentonite Mud into Delco Creek”
Energy Services | Huntingdon County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Huntingdon Family Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline Fails, Game Over
May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see PA Anti Literally Goes Up a Tree to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline). It ultimately didn’t matter, because Sunoco came back and cut down the few trees they need to cut anyway (see Sunoco Tricks Radicalized Protester – Returns and Cuts More Trees). In December, the up-a-tree girl and her mom, with lawyers and backing by Big Green money, launched a final “hail Mary” pass by appealing a case to the PA Commonwealth Court, asking the court to stop the ME2 project by claiming it doesn’t have the right to use eminent domain (see Desperate Antis Try One Last Legal Maneuver to Stop Mariner East 2). Like so many other “hail Mary” desperation passes, this one never found the arms of a receiver. Yesterday the court turned down the appeal… Read More “Huntingdon Family Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline Fails, Game Over”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pipelines

Dem Candidate for NJ Gov Opposes PennEast, After He $upported It
May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

Phil Murphy

There is a primary and general election later this year for the office of governor in New Jersey. Democrats are crawling all over themselves to try and win the nomination. All of them have made the PennEast Pipeline a campaign issue by opposing it (“I hate it”…”No, I hate it more!”). It is an appeal to the unhinged, radical environmental movement in the state–a movement that seems to have much more power than its size suggests it should. In what we find rather amusing (and disgusting, at the same time), the leading Democrat candidate, Phil Murphy, previously invested in the companies that are behind the PennEast Pipeline project. Now he says he opposes the pipeline… Read More “Dem Candidate for NJ Gov Opposes PennEast, After He $upported It”
Commodity Price | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

Why Rover Pipe is a Big Deal & How it Affects Natl NatGas Prices
May 15, 2017May 15, 2017

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 Ohio EPA Slaps Rover Pipe with $431K Fine for Spills, Other Issues). Based on OEPA’s report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC then told Rover to stop any new horizontal drilling underground (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). And last Friday, we told you that Energy Transfer is claiming they’ve not been fined by the OEPA (see ET Disputes Ohio EPA Action on Rover, Says there Is No $431K Fine). Oy vey! Gas traders have taken notice of this unfolding drama, and the news surrounding Rover has actually moved the price of gas up. Which seems somewhat incredulous. You mean, a single pipeline has the power to make the national price of natural gas go up or down? How can that be?! Here’s a statistic you don’t often read: Rover Pipeline, when it’s fully functional, will move 14% of all the gas produced in the Marcellus/Utica (using today’s production numbers). That is an incredible statistic–and it has the power to move the price of natural gas–up or down… Read More “Why Rover Pipe is a Big Deal & How it Affects Natl NatGas Prices”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

CORNballs Strike Again, File Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline
May 15, 2017May 15, 2017

A group of landowners in Ohio calling themselves the Coalition to Reroute Nexus (CORN), whom we affectionately call CORNballs, have filed a lawsuit in court against the NEXUS pipeline project. Not to actually reroute NEXUS, but to kill it. To stop it. The landowners are asking a federal court to block the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from allowing the project to proceed–which of course is not going to happen–and to legally bar the NEXUS Gas Transmission project from building the pipeline. Which has been the aim of the CORNballs from the beginning–contrary to the party line that they just want it rerouted around them. The CORNballs seem to be in league with antis in the City of Green, OH, who recently voted to give $100,000 of taxpayer money to high-priced Cleveland lawyers to try and stop NEXUS (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). Green also gave CORN $10,000, which no doubt is helping fund CORN’s legal effort to stop NEXUS… Read More “CORNballs Strike Again, File Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

PA State Senator Introducing Law to Send Protesters Cleanup Bill
May 15, 2017May 15, 2017

Here’s a story we LOVE! As we previously reported, anti-fossil fuel “protesters” (i.e. paid thugs) in North Dakota, there to try and stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being completed (which didn’t work), left a major mess behind when they finally moved on (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?). The protesters, supposedly there to protect Mom Earth, left behind massive piles of garbage which, with the spring floods, threatened the local environment they were supposedly there to protect. State and local governments ended up paying millions of dollars to clean up the filth left behind to avoid an environmental catastrophe. As we’ve also reported, a number of times, anti-fossil fuel zealots from Lancaster County, PA are attempting to lure the same group of paid rabble-rousers to peaceful Lancaster County to reenact the same destruction–in a bid to stop the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project (see PA Anti Hopes to Bring Standing Rock Disaster to Lancaster County). Earlier this month a local state senator from Lancaster, Scott Martin, convened a closed-door meeting to help local law enforcement and first responders prepare for the coming lawlessness of the protesters (see Lancaster Forum to Focus on Handling Anarchists in Pipeline Protest). Now Sen. Martin is set to introduce legislation that will give the bill for any cleanup of a large protest camp–to the protesters! That’s right, if they want to “assemble peaceably” and speak their minds–go right ahead. But if you create a massive dump like you created in North Dakota, this time you (the nutty protesters) are going to pay to clean it up. LOVE IT!… Read More “PA State Senator Introducing Law to Send Protesters Cleanup Bill”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Slight Delay: New Date for FERC Approval of Atlantic Coast Pipe
May 15, 2017May 15, 2017

There has been a slight delay from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the approval process for Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. On Friday, FERC issued an official update to Dominion to say that instead of issuing a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on June 30, 2017, as previously promised, the agency will now provide the final EIS on July 21, 2017–three weeks later. The final EIS is an important step in the process–perhaps THE most important step. When/if FERC issues a positive EIS that finds a project will not cause undue environmental harm, it’s usually all over. Yes, other steps are involved, but a final approval is then a foregone conclusion. So IF the final EIS is delivered on July 21, a 90-day clock begins ticking. FERC will then have until Oct. 19 to deliver their final final final approval of the project…
Read More “Slight Delay: New Date for FERC Approval of Atlantic Coast Pipe”
Accidents | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

ET Disputes Ohio EPA Action on Rover, Says there Is No $431K Fine
May 12, 2017May 12, 2017

Somebody somewhere isn’t telling the truth. Earlier this 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 Ohio EPA Slaps Rover Pipe with $431K Fine for Spills, Other Issues). Based on OEPA’s report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC then told Rover to stop any new horizontal drilling underground (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). But a recently filed report with FERC for the Rover project indicates only three spills and takes the tone it’s no big deal. And, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer told the ace reporters at Natural Gas Intelligence that Rover has not been fined by the OEPA…
Read More “ET Disputes Ohio EPA Action on Rover, Says there Is No $431K Fine”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

PA Roars Its Approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline with Petition, Comments
May 12, 2017May 12, 2017

While Williams is battling New York State in court, and in Washington, to get its Constitution Pipeline approved, another Williams project in neighboring Pennsylvania is much closer to construction–the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final seal of approval for the project in February (see Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). But like NY, PA is holding up the project. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not, so far, granted necessary permits to allow construction to begin. Williams embarked on a public relations campaign to enlist support to pressure PA Gov. Tom Wolf and the DEP to grant the permits so construction can begin. The DEP is holding up this project and the 8,000 jobs it will create during construction. Yesterday, Williams delivered a petition to Gov. Wolf with the signatures of 3,000 people supporting the project. Will it be enough to get Wolf and the DEP off their collective rear ends to issue the permits?…
Read More “PA Roars Its Approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline with Petition, Comments”
Energy Services | Williams

Williams is Done Buying & Selling Assets – For Now
May 12, 2017May 12, 2017

Williams CEO Alan Armstrong sat down with a Reuters reporter earlier this week to discuss the company and its deal making over the past few years, and what lies ahead. And boy oh boy, what a ride it has been! In June 2014, Williams cut a deal to buy out (and merge in) Access Midstream for $6 billion (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Access, with major pipeline gathering systems in the Marcellus/Utica, was the spun-off former Chesapeake Midstream. Under intense pressure from corporate raiders on its board, Williams agreed to sell itself to Energy Transfer in 2015 (see Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B). In June 2016, the $20 billion takeover of Williams fell apart (see Dead as a Doornail: ETE Terminates Merger with Williams). In August 2016, Williams sold off its Canadian assets for $1 billion (see Bold Move – Williams Selling Canadian Assets for $1B). In March 2017, Williams significantly increased its ownership share in a pipeline gathering system in northeastern PA in a complex deal where it sold off its share in another pipeline system along the New Mexico/Texas border (see Williams Closes Deal to Increase Ownership in NEPA Pipeline System). And in April, Williams sold it’s Gulf Coast cracker plant for $2.1 billion (see Williams Sells Gulf Coast Cracker Plant to NOVA Chemicals). Whew. You can hardly keep up with all! Armstrong says the dealmaking is now done–at least for a while. The company likes what it has and will concentrate on making the most of their current assets… Read More “Williams is Done Buying & Selling Assets – For Now”
Accidents | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order
May 11, 2017May 11, 2017

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 Ohio EPA Slaps Rover Pipe with $431K Fine for Spills, Other Issues). We also said, in the last sentence of that post, “Rover needs to get this situation under control before an emergency stop work order is slapped on them.” Such an order, more or less, has now been issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Yesterday FERC sent a letter (copy below) to Rover telling the pipeline it can no longer drill horizontally underground for the pipeline in some locations–until it complies with certain measures outlined by FERC and gets FERC staff sign-off every step of the way. In other words, Rover has likely just been delayed–due to its own haste and by not displaying the proper contrite attitude toward the OEPA. No one to blame but themselves…
Read More “FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Williams Tries an End-Run Around NY DEC for Constitution Permit
May 11, 2017May 11, 2017

Does Williams have an “ace in the hole” with respect to the Constitution Pipeline? The Constitution, a ~$900 million, 124-mile pipeline planned to run from Susquehanna County, PA into Upstate New York, was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in December 2014 (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). After a year and a half of delays from the New York State Dept. of Conservation (DEC), an organization now corrupted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the DEC capriciously denied stream crossing permits for the project (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Williams, the builder of the project, subsequently sued in federal court to force the state to issue the permits. The outcome of that lawsuit is due any month now (see Constitution Pipeline Still Waiting on “Biggie” Court Decision). However, Williams is now attempting another strategy, parallel to their lawsuit, that may grant them game, set and match. The stream crossing permits withheld by the NY DEC are permits issued under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act. The DEC has the (delegated from the federal government) responsibility for issuing or denying Water Quality Certification (WQC) under Section 401. What if the feds were to snatch back that responsibility for themselves? Williams is asking the Trump White House to have the Army Corps of Engineers step in and grant the WQC for the Constitution under Section 401–as a replacement or substitute for the DEC. Such a move is allowed under the law–if a state refuses to act within a “reasonable” time period. If the Army Corps does step in and grant the Constitution a WQC, it would, in a word, emasculate the DEC and strip them of a great deal of their power–something we’ve previously warned about (see Bloomberg Predicts Court Will Strip NY’s Right to Stop Constitution). Will it work?… Read More “Williams Tries an End-Run Around NY DEC for Constitution Permit”
Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | NGLs | Regulation | Schuyler County

Crestwood Drops Seneca Lake Natgas Storage Plan, Keeps LPG Plan
May 11, 2017May 11, 2017

Seneca Lake LPG facility – click for larger version

MDN has extensively covered the fight to get the Seneca Lake Storage Project permissioned. In 2009 Inergy filed a request to convert a depleted salt cavern along the shore of Seneca Lake (in Schuyler County, NY, near Watkins Glen) into a propane/natural gas storage facility. Inergy was later bought by and merged into Crestwood Midstream, and Crestwood Midstream later became Crestwood Equity. The New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been sitting on its hands from the beginning, refusing to grant the necessary permits to allow the facility to open. Sound familiar? Same old delay and later deny strategy from man-child Andrew Cuomo. The plan, from the beginning, is to store both natural gas and LPG–or liquefied petroleum gas, commonly known as propane. Due to the ongoing delay from the NY DEC, last May the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which would oversee construction of the project, granted a two-year extension for the project to be completed (see Stalled Seneca Lake Propane Storage Project Gets FERC Extension). In a regular report filed with FERC on May 9, Crestwood’s Arlington Storage subsidiary (the company on paper attempting to build the facility) withdrew its request to build the portion of the project that would store natural gas–the “Gallery 2” project. However, Crestwood/Arlington Storage is still pushing forward with LPG (propane) storage at the Seneca Lake facility. A small-but-dedicated group of nutjob antis are heralding this as some sort of “tremendous victory.” It is nothing of the sort. The main part of the project has always been about storing propane, not natural gas… Read More “Crestwood Drops Seneca Lake Natgas Storage Plan, Keeps LPG Plan”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Dominion Gets a Name Change, New Logo
May 11, 2017May 11, 2017

As of yesterday, midstream and utility giant Dominion and all of its various subsidiaries has changed its name–adding “Energy” to the end. No longer is the website dom.com (a catchy URL that’s easy to remember). As of today, the URL is dominionenergy.com (we need to talk to someone in their branding department–all those extra keystrokes are nuts!). Dominion Resources, Inc., has become Dominion Energy, Inc., complete with a new logo. At least they still have the same stock ticker, a plain “D”. A whole list of subsidiary companies controlled by Dominion have also changed their names. Dominion East Ohio has become Dominion Energy Ohio. Dominion Hope has become Dominion Energy West Virginia. Questar Gas, bought by Dominion last year (see $4.4B Dominion-Questar Merger Happens Tomorrow), has become three companies: Dominion Energy Utah, Dominion Energy Wyoming, and Dominion Energy Idaho. And oh, what’s this? The newly renamed Dominion Energy, Inc. (the parent company) turned around and on the same day renamed itself to Dominion Generation, Inc. Got it all straight? No, we don’t either. That’s why you need Dominion’s scorecard… Read More “Dominion Gets a Name Change, New Logo”