DC Court Forces “Emergency Stop” of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Work
The arrogance of Big Green was on full display yesterday as they rushed to stop the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project project and silence lawfully permitted work. In response to a lawsuit filed by the worst of the worst (the Sierra Club) on Oct. 30th, a liberal court in the District of Columbia yesterday slapped the Atlantic Sunrise project with an emergency stop work order–for the entire project. Work had already begun to lay pipe on the property of Catholic nuns in Lancaster County, PA. The nuns call themselves Adorers of the Blood of Christ. We call them Sisters of the Corn (you can read why here). The Sisters have allowed themselves to be used to oppose the Atlantic Sunrise project by a radical professor from Lancaster County, Mark Clatterbuck, someone who engaged in the North Dakota Access Pipeline protests (protests that turned violent). Clatterbuck enlisted the help of his Big Green buddies in the Sierra Club to try and litigate to stop the federally and legally approved project last week (see Sierra Club Asks Fed Court to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Construction). Yesterday we told you that Williams, the builder, was building at the site of the Sisters first because of the involvement of Clattberbuck and Big Green interference–get the hard part done first (see First Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Gets Buried on Nun Property). We were grinning that pipeline on the Sisters’ property would be the first to be laid and buried in the ground, likely done this week. Today the grin is wiped off our face, we must confess. It’s so sad to see egregious abuses of our legal system like this. We expect the stop work order for the project will be temporary–perhaps a few weeks. But one never knows. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is looking at the question of whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was correct in approving the project in the first place last February…
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Last week midstream powerhouse Williams issued their third quarter 2017 update. CEO Alan Armstrong said this about the Transco Pipeline–a key pipeline in the Marcellus/Utica region: “So far in 2017, we’ve placed four of our ‘Big 5’ Transco expansion projects into service including Gulf Trace, Hillabee Phase 1, Dalton Expansion and New York Bay Expansion with the fifth of the ‘Big 5’ expansions – the Virginia Southside II project – expected to be placed in service during fourth-quarter 2017. The incremental capacity from the fully-contracted Transco expansion projects going in service so far this year reflects a 25 percent increase in Transco’s design capacity.” All five of those projects to one degree or another flow Marcellus/Utica Shale gas. Williams is in a multi-year program to reverse the flow of the Transco. Traditionally it has flowed gas from the Gulf to the northeast. The pipeline is in the process of getting turned around, to flow our gas southward, some of it all the way to the Gulf Coast. With respect to the Atlantic Sunrise project–a part of the Transco system–Armstrong reminded listeners on the analyst phone call that some of that project is already up and running: “And on Atlantic Sunrise, we started construction and have already placed a portion of Atlantic Sunrise into early service on September 1 of this year, providing about 400,000 dekatherms a day of firm transportation service on Transco’s existing mainline facilities, and of course that serve delivery points as far south as Choctaw County, Alabama. So we’re really excited to be starting to see the Transco system turn around and be able to deliver volumes to the south. And I can tell you, that’s very much needed as we’re seeing a lot of demand growth occur in the southeast on our system.” As for the stalled Constitution Pipeline in New York State, Armstrong said to “stay tuned” and that there is “plenty of fight left in this dog.” Armstrong sounded encouraged about the prospects of the Constitution. Below is the full 3Q17 update complete with financials, excerpts from the analyst phone call of interest for MDN readers, and the newest slide deck…
We find this story amusing. A group of left-leaning Catholic nuns in Lancaster County, PA, whipped up by radical environmentalists with ties to Big Green organizations, got it into their heads to try and block a very-safe natural gas pipeline from crossing their property–the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline being built by Williams. The Sisters call themselves Adorers of the Blood of Christ. We call them Sisters of the Corn, because they put a couple of wooden park benches in a cornfield on their property (leased to a local farmer), christening it a “chapel” and claiming because the pipeline would run through the middle of their so-called chapel, building a pipeline is a violation of freedom of religion. In September a federal judge tossed the lawsuit (see 
The odious Sierra Club is at it again. Using what appears to be endless supplies of money from people like the Rockefellers, the Sierra Club, along with a mishmash of other radical environmental groups, filed an emergency motion in federal court on Monday, asking the court to stop any further work on the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas 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. Williams, the company building/owning the project, broke ground in September (see 
Although the anti-fossil fuel group Lancaster Against Pipelines claims “over 1,000 people” have pledged to protest the pipeline in the county, only 26 (or 23, depending on the news source) showed up to get themselves arrested for attempting to stop the pipeline. We’ve previously written about the hypocritical Catholic nuns who operate a retirement home that uses fracked natural gas to heat it, yet oppose a pipeline to flow the same fracked gas under their property. The nuns, called Adorers of the Blood of Christ, have tried several strategies to derail the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. One of stunts they pulled, in league with the radicals from Lancaster Against Pipelines, is to stick a few wooden park benches in the middle of a corn field that they own (leased to a local farmer), and call it a “chapel”–which is why MDN dubbed them Sisters of the Corn. The sisters sued to stop the pipeline on religious grounds, claiming it violates a core religious belief in preserving Mom Earth. A judge saw through that sham and threw out the case (see 
Williams representatives were on hand earlier this week in Tunhannock, PA (Wyoming County) to present a briefing to local politicians and community leaders on the status of the now-under construction Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas 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. Much of the attention has focused on Lancaster County and a small group of antis who oppose the project there. However, Atlantic Sunrise will begin its journey to Lancaster in Susquehanna County, PA–in the northeastern tip of the state. Construction in Susquehanna and adjacent counties is scheduled to begin “very soon,” according to Williams rep Mike Atchie. When it does begin, some of the people working on it will come from the same counties where it’s getting built. Last week the Teamsters held a job fair in Harrisburg (see 
Williams announced yesterday that its New York Bay Expansion pipeline project to flow an extra 115 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas to New York City is now online and working. In July 2015, Williams filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the $130 million project, which will flow Marcellus gas to 500,000 additional New York City residents by the 2017/2018 heating season (see 
Environmental radicals from a group called Lancaster Against Pipelines made good on their promise to disrupt work on Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project–a $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas 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. Lancaster Against Pipelines is headed up by Mark Clatterbuck (who participated in the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline) and his wife Malinda. The clattering Clatterbucks got 20-35 wackos from Lancaster County to load themselves into 16-18 vehicles (numbers change depending on the news source), which they then drove onto an access road used by Williams, where workers are beginning to clear land. The wackos parked themselves right in the middle of the road and stood in front of machinery, preventing Williams personnel from accessing the site. The only problem, for the wackos, is that it was raining so hard (leftovers from Hurricane Nate moving through), that Williams personnel weren’t working at the site anyway! However, it’s the principle of the thing. So the police were called. The so-called protesters were asked to move (or be arrested)–so they moved. End of story. Nobody hauled away in handcuffs, no striking images of people laying down refusing to move (too wet for that). Just a bunch of wackos with nothing better to do for a few hours, along with a few reporters…
Listen up job seekers in eastern Pennsylvania: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is looking for 400 people to work on building Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline–a $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas 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 job fair is happening TODAY (Friday) and TOMORROW (Saturday) ath the Harrisburg-Hershey Crown Plaza located at 23 South 2nd Street in Harrisburg (8am-4pm both days). According to the Teamsters, there are “hundreds of jobs to fill” and they are “looking to expand our workforce quickly.” Qualifications? You need to be 21 years old or older, have a driver’s licence, and be willing to travel. Construction experience is a plus, but not required. Here’s the deets…
As MDN reported yesterday, construction work on two compressor stations part of the Williams $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project began last Friday, the same day the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave the project permission to begin construction (see 
Bad news for the Sisters of the Corn and the radicals at Lancaster Against Pipelines. On Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Williams permission to begin construction on Atlantic Sunrise, 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. Last week the Sierra Club and a mish mash of other nutball groups begged FERC to delay issuing an order that Williams can commence with construction, claiming FERC’s delay in considering a rehearing delayed a lawsuit and the lawsuit hasn’t had enough time to work it’s way through the court system (see 
Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline is primed and ready to begin construction after receiving its very last required permit from Pennsylvania–an Air Quality Plan Approval for air emissions related to construction activities in Lancaster County. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued the Air Quality permit last Friday. You may recall Atlantic Sunrise, 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, received water crossing permits from the DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a few weeks ago (see 
On Friday Williams announced a new pipeline project sure to spur controversy in nutty New Jersey. On Friday Williams filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Rivervale South to Market project. The Rivervale project will expand the mighty Transco pipeline in northern New Jersey to deliver an extra 190 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of low-carbon, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas to markets in northern NJ and New York City. The project calls for “uprating” a little over 10 miles of pipeline (same pipeline with more pressure and more gas), and adding a half mile of new looping pipeline–which is more than enough to set off the environmental whackadoodles at the NJ Sierra Club. Here’s the good news that more fracked shale gas will be on the way to the NYC metro area in time for the 2019/2020 winter heating season…
Two New Jersey towns have sued in federal court, seeking to overturn a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve Williams’ Transco Garden State Expansion pipeline project. MDN brought you the happy news in April 2016 that three Obama-appointed FERC commissioners had approved the $116 million project (see