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PA DEP Gets Ready to Issue 401 Water Cert for Leidy South Pipe
Last December Williams announced its Leidy South Project, a new expansion of the Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania (see Williams Unveils “Leidy South Project” to Expand Transco in PA). In early August Williams officially filed a full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build Leidy South (see Williams Files Leidy South Project with FERC to Expand PA Transco). However, FERC is not the only agency with a say in whether or not the project moves forward. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) must grant Leidy South a federal Clean Water Act Section 401 water/stream crossing permit.
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Not everyone who lives in the Greater New York City area is falling for the bogus line by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that he’s not to blame for a natural gas shortage plaguing the region. As we’ve chronicled, endlessly, Cuomo ordered his Dept. of Environment Conservation to reject the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
Here’s a story that slipped under our radar for the past few months, but is now out in the open for all to see. In June Blue Racer Midstream, a gathering and processing system with 700 miles of pipelines in Ohio and West Virginia in the “heart” of the Marcellus/Utica, began the process to file for an initial public offering (IPO)–to become a publicly traded company. Blue Racer hopes to raise $600-$750 million with an IPO, money to expand. Midstream giant Williams, which owns roughly 29% of Blue Racer, sued in July to block the IPO.
Most of the drama surrounding Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project has centered on New York State and its corrupt Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who denied a federal Clean Water Act Section 401 water crossing permit for the project (see 
New York Gov. Andrew “Don Corleone” Cuomo continues his sleazy vendetta against National Grid, the New York City/Long Island gas utility company that is refusing to connect *new* customers to their natural gas system because Cuomo has denied new sources of natural gas for that system. So far NY media is licking Cuomo’s boots on this issue, publishing sob stories that blame National Grid for the hardships now faced in the region. But residents in NYC and Long Island are not fooled. They see what’s really happening.
This story is befuddling–we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it. The North Carolina Utilities Commission has filed a protest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) objecting to Williams’ Leidy South expansion project, a project that is being built 100% in Pennsylvania! Why are NC regulators objecting to work being done in another state 500 hundred miles away?
A brief pause to enjoy an unqualified victory over the wackadoodles at the litigious New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club. Williams has just placed into service its Rivervale South to Market Project in New Jersey, now flowing enough fracked Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas to service an extra 1 million homes in the northeastern U.S. The Clubbers opposed the project and ultimately couldn’t do a thing to stop it.
Reversing a decision they made in January 2018 (see 
Williams’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco) filed a request yesterday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to start up the final pieces of its Rivervale South to Market Project in New Jersey. We first told you about the Rivervale project in 2017 when Williams filed an application with FERC (see 
This is one of those “feel good” stories. Going back to 2012, a number of officials in Wyoming County and the borough of Tunkhannock began to dream about connecting the borough to locally extracted Marcellus Shale gas. Among those who helped turn the dream into reality were Williams (the pipeline company) and Cabot Oil & Gas (shale driller). Thanks to the efforts of all involved, Tunkhannock eventually received state-backed funding to build “phase one” of the project (see 
In March 2017, radical green groups, including the Sierra Club, Lancaster Against Pipelines, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness, Allegheny Defense Project, Clean Air Council, Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County, and Heartwood, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an attempt to block construction of the $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project in Pennsylvania (see 
Last week midstream giant Williams released its second quarter 2019 update. Although the company reported net income of $175 million, up 130% over the previous year’s 2Q, total revenue dipped a tad from $2.09 billion to $2.04 billion. Amidst a lot of good news, there was one cloud. Because northeast drillers are pulling in the production reigns (given super low prices), and because Williams has recently sold off a bunch of assets, the company has launched a “voluntary separation program” to reduce head count.
Last December MDN brought you news of a new Transco pipeline expansion project, the Williams “Leidy South Project,” to expand Transco capacity in Pennsylvania (see 
The stories are beginning to appear in New York metro and now national media that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to block the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is having serious negative economic consequences–right now. For example, the owners of a New York City deli had planned to open a new burger restaurant in Brooklyn. National Grid is refusing to run gas service to the ready-to-go restaurant, and now the deli owners are left holding a $400,000 bag (of loans) to repay for work in getting the new restaurant ready.