Williams

Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia | Williams

Williams Locates WV Condensate Pipeline Leak, Remediation Begins
April 28, 2015April 28, 2015

Last Friday Williams finally found the break/leak in a 4-inch condensate pipeline that ruptured nearly two weeks ago (see 2 Williams Pipelines Rupture in Marshall County After Heavy Rains). That’s the good news. The bad news is that testing done of a nearby unnamed stream (that empties into Little Grave Creek) four days after the rupture occurred contained evidence of some nasty chemicals: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Fortunately none of those chemicals have turned up in Little Grave Creek. Williams is now cleaning up and telling the neighbors that as they dig and remove soil from the area of the rupture, the neighbors may smell some foul odors. The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says they “don’t believe” nearby residents are in any danger…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia | Williams

Williams Still Can’t Find Leak in 4-inch WV Condensate Pipeline
April 23, 2015April 23, 2015

Ten days ago heavy rains in West Virginia led to two Williams pipelines rupturing within hours of each other–both in Marshall County (see 2 Williams Pipelines Rupture in Marshall County After Heavy Rains). One pipeline was a 12-inch gathering line for natural gas. The other was a 4-inch condensate pipeline that ended up spilling around 132 barrels of condensate that ended up in nearby Little Grave Creek (see WV DEP to Fine Williams for Condensate Pipeline Leak in WV). Although the WV DEP has rushed to assess a fine because of the condensate spill, they may be putting the cart before the horse. Williams hasn’t yet located where the leak occurred in the 4-inch condensate pipeline…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia | Williams

WV DEP to Fine Williams for Condensate Pipeline Leak in WV
April 15, 2015April 23, 2015

A follow up to our story from Monday when we told you that Williams experienced two pipeline ruptures in Marshall County, WV following heavy rains (see Williams Pipelines Rupture in Marshall County After Heavy Rains). One of the pipelines that burst was a 4-inch condensate pipeline. West Virginia regulators have signaled they will fine Williams for the condensate pipeline leak because it ended up in the nearby Little Grave Creek–contaminating some six miles of the creek. We now know how much condensate leaked out. According to the WV DEP, 132 barrels of condensate (or roughly 5,500 gallons) leaked out. Cleanup and sampling of the creek is still in progress. But that begs the question, what the heck is condensate?…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | West Virginia | Williams

2 Williams Pipelines Rupture in Marshall County After Heavy Rains
April 13, 2015April 23, 2015

Apparently torrential rains in Marshall County, WV last week softened up the earth and led to soil shifting and two Williams pipelines rupturing–within hours of each other. One of the pipelines is a 12-inch gathering line that runs from wells in the area to the nearby Fort Beeler processing plant. The other pipeline is a 4-inch condensate pipeline. Condensate spilled out of a hole and into the nearby Little Grave Creek. Cleanup efforts are ongoing. For a short time, five families who live near the 12-inch gathering line were evacuated as a precautionary measure–but they returned home within a few hours…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Williams

Williams Buys Out EVEP Interest in Utica East Ohio Midstream for $575M
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

In early February, MDN told you that EV Energy Partners, a company with a huge amount of leased acreage in the Ohio Utica Shale region, was looking to sell its 21% interest in Utica East Ohio (UEO)–a midstream/pipeline company operating in Ohio (see EVEP Wants to Sell Interest in Utica East Ohio/More Utica Acreage). Yesterday EV announced they found a buyer–none other than Williams, EV’s partner in UEO. Williams currently owns 49% of UEO and is paying EV $575 million in cash to relieve them of their 21%, for a grand total operating interest of 70% ownership…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

It’s Official: Williams Files with FERC for Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline
April 1, 2015April 1, 2015

It’s finally time for the sun to rise on Williams’ Transco Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project. It seems like we’ve covered the story of Atlantic Sunrise forever–a $2.1 billion project consisting of compression and looping of the Transco Leidy Line in Pennsylvania along with a greenfield (brand new) pipeline segment of 178 miles, called the Central Penn Line, connecting the northeastern Marcellus producing region to the Transco mainline near Station 195 in southeastern Pennsylvania (see Atlantic Sunrise Will Pump $1.6B into Economy, Create 8K Jobs). We’ve covered many of the anti-drilling nutball antics in opposing the pipeline (see Convicted Lancaster Protesters Taunt Williams After Court Date). Even though Williams has conducted countless meetings and filed reams of paperwork–it was only yesterday that Williams filed the full, complete, and official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), asking FERC to approve the project…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Bid to Stop Transco Expansion in PA
March 23, 2015March 23, 2015

Question for THE Delaware Riverkeeper: What address should Williams send you the $1,125,000 bill because you blocked their tree cutting for a FERC-approved pipeline extension in Luzerne County? That’s how much it ended up costing Williams after THE Delaware Riverkeeper found a judge in Washington, DC who stopped Williams from clearing trees along the path of the pipeline expansion starting March 11 (see Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit). Riverkeeper was hoping they could run the clock out because Williams can’t cut those trees from April through October, just in case an endangered Indiana bat decides to roost in a tree. Riverkeeper knows that and wanted to screw with the tree cutting schedule, hoping to buy an additional seven months to mount more legal challenges. The Riverkeeper legal shenanigan cost Williams real money (see Dela. Riverkeeper Leidy Lawsuit Costing Williams $125K per Day). It ended up being 9 days total, until a judge ruled last Thursday that Williams could resume their tree cutting (as we knew they would). Nine days at $125K per day is $1,125,000. Since Riverkeeper lost their case, we think they should pay the bill…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Susquehanna County | Williams

Good News & Bad News with Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY
March 23, 2015March 23, 2015

The good news is that the Constitution Pipeline–a pipeline that will flow Marcellus Shale gas from the enormously productive gas fields in Susquehanna County, PA up into New York, all the way to Schoharie County–is getting built. Construction starts in the next three months. The bad news is that construction will cause pain for some of the 651 landowners along its route. Of those 651 landowners, 125 had refused to sign right-of-way agreements with Williams to install the pipeline (19% of the total). The pressure of eminent domain court action forced many of them to sign–really, they had no choice. For those who didn’t sign, the courts have determined compensation (and forced them to accept it) in all but four remaining cases–all of them in New York State. Those cases are now under review and will soon be resolved. It is a done deal and there’s no stopping it. Some of the cases of landowners who opposed the pipeline, highlighted in an AP article, are due to their anti-drilling philosophy. But there is one case that we find distressing–a farmer who didn’t reject the pipeline–he just wanted it moved to a different part of his farm to prevent disrupting future plans…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams

Judge Rules 7 NEPA Landowners Must Allow Constitution Pipeline
March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

The Constitution Pipeline, a 124-mile pipeline that will flow Marcellus gas from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie Couty, NY where it will connect to both the Iroquois Pipeline and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, received final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval in December (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). Construction was originally slated to begin long before now, but better late than never. The current plan is to begin construction no later than June 1. The remaining roadblocks are permits from the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (which should come very soon), and permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Throughout this entire project most believed the major roadblocks would be in New York State, where most of the pipeline will run. Little did we know that 20 landowners in Pennsylvania (out of 130 along the route of the pipeline) objected and would not let Williams build the pipeline across their property. Williams filed condemnation (eminent domain) proceedings against all 20. In the end, 13 of the 20 settled with Williams, and the other 7 have now been forced, under court order, to allow the pipeline across their property. That decision came earlier this week from U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Williams

Williams Files with FERC to Expand Transco Pipeline from NJ to MS
March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

Yesterday Williams announced that its Transco pipeline subsidiary filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Dalton Expansion Project, which will expand the Transco and flow more Marcellus Shale gas from New Jersey all the way to Mississippi, primarily for electric generation plants, but also for local natural gas distribution by utilities. Transco had a very successful open season and has customers signed up under binding contracts for 100% of the Dalton Expansion Project, which will increase the Transco’s capacity by 448,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas. To help pay for the project, Williams has entered a 50/50 joint venture with AGL Resources’ Dogwood Enterprise on a portion of the pipeline to be built in Georgia. Here’s the details…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD | Transco | Williams

Williams Gets FERC Approval for 11-Mile Pipeline in NE Maryland
March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

Good news! Williams announced yesterday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved their Transco pipeline application to expand the Transco system and construct an 11-mile pipeline lateral connecting Transco to an electric power generating facility in Cecil County, Maryland. The “Rock Springs expansion project” will transport 192,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s soon-to-be-built Wildcat Point Generation Facility. Wildcat will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity–enough to power 390,000 homes in the region…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Leidy Lawsuit Costing Williams $125K per Day
March 19, 2015March 19, 2015

The clock is ticking. As we told you on Monday, THE Delaware Riverkeeper–Maya van Rossum–is using her bags of money from the William Penn Foundation to try and stop the FERC-approved expansion of the Transco pipeline in northeastern Pennsylvania (see Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit). The project, known as the Leidy Southeast expansion project, would add new pipeline next to existing pipeline–called looping. Williams (owner of the Transco) can only cut trees down along the path it needs to clear until April 1st. After that, they must wait until Nov. 1st to begin cutting again in order to avoid cutting down trees that may (or may not) become roosting spots for the endangered Indiana bat. van Rossum & company have gotten a sympathetic judge in D.C. to halt the tree cutting while he reviews her latest frivolous lawsuit. She’s trying to run the clock down. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was supposed to rule earlier this week. They didn’t. Every day they delay is costing Williams $125,000. We sincerely hope Williams sends that bill to van Rossum once the tree cutting begins again…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Research | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Atlantic Sunrise Will Pump $1.6B into Economy, Create 8K Jobs
March 17, 2015March 17, 2015

Williams pushed out a new economic analysis of their Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project yesterday. The project, if built, will cost $2.1 billion and consist of compression and looping of the Transco Leidy Line in Pennsylvania along with a greenfield pipeline segment, called the Central Penn Line, connecting the northeastern Marcellus producing region to the Transco mainline near Station 195 in southeastern Pennsylvania. Additional existing Transco facilities are being added or modified to allow gas to flow bi-directionally. The preliminary project design includes 178 miles of new greenfield pipe (Central Penn North & Central Penn South), two pipeline loops totaling about 12 miles (Chapman Loop, Unity Loop), 2.5 miles of existing pipeline replacement, two new compressor facilities in PA, and other facility additions or modifications in five states (PA, MD, VA, NC, SC). There’s been some push back by small groups of anti-drillers in places like Lebanon County and Lancaster County (PA) where a phony Indian tribe claims the pipeline will run through ancient burial grounds (see Convicted Lancaster Protesters Taunt Williams After Court Date). Meanwhile, the adults at Williams continue to make progress. The analysis they released yesterday shows the Atlantic Sunrise project will pump $1.6 billion into the economies of the states where it’s built, and create 8,000 jobs…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Someone needs to sue THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) the way that organization is suing legitimate and legal companies to block legitimate and legal activity in the Marcellus Shale. Delaware Riverkeeper apparently has endless bags of money, made available to them by the Park Foundation, Heinz Endowments and other anti-drilling “non-profit” groups, to file endless frivolous lawsuits. The latest is particularly insidious. Williams has just received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a few loops–extra lengths of pipeline immediately next to existing pipeline–for the Transco Pipeline in northeast PA and in NJ (see FERC Approves Williams Leidy Southeast Project in PA/NJ). Part of the requirement by FERC is that Williams cannot cut down trees between April and October–a full seven months–to avoid “harming” the endangered Indiana bat that may (or may not) roost in those trees…
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Energy Services | Williams

Williams Hauls in $1B Cash from New IOUs, Paying Down Old Debt
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Not to be outdone by MarkWest that just raised $650 million in cash from new IOUs–MDN noted last week that Williams had gone shopping for several multiples of that amount (see Williams Goes Shopping for $3B, Floating Notes to Pay Down Debt). Williams reported yesterday they were successful in raising all $3 billion, some of which they’ll use to pay down older debt…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Williams

Latest Anti-Drilling Attack on Constitution Pipeline: “It’s Illegal”
March 3, 2015March 3, 2015

We’ve noticed a renewed effort on the part of anti-drillers to stop the already FERC-authorized Constitution Pipeline, slated to run from Susquehanna County, PA–where they can actually drill for natural gas–through upstate New York to Schoharie County (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). New York State’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) must grant what’s called a 401 Water Quality Certificate that allows the Constitution to lay pipe through and under swamps, creeks and other bodies of water. The DEC held a series of public hearings on the Constitution (see Pro-Drillers Out in Force at Constitution Pipeline Hearing in Binghamton). Last week the time for public comment closed–which is why we’re now seeing anti-drillers launching a coordinated attack, as a last-ditch effort to stop the Constitution. Their attack includes sympathetic (and sycophantic) media stories and an attempt to re-brand the Constitution as “the Keystone XL pipeline of natural gas.” What a joke! Bobby Kennedy Jr. went on MSNBC (a network virtually no one watches) to make some outrageously false claims about the Constitution pipeline and FERC. It all adds up to a well-coordinated, well-funded attack by Big Environment trust funders…
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