3 PA Senate Bills Would Fundamentally Change Pipeline Economics
Pennsylvania State Senator Andy Dinniman (Democrat from Chester County, PA, near Philadelphia) is an anti-driller and anti-pipeliner. Dinniman recently introduced three bills that would, if passed, fundamentally change the economics and likelihood of whether or not pipelines are built in the Keystone State. The first bill Dinniman sponsored would create an “impact fee” on pipelines: 50% of the fee raised would go to the counties where the pipeline crosses, 40% would go to the local municipality where the pipeline is located, and 10% would go to the PA Public Utility Commission. The next bill would allow local municipalities and school districts to slap a big tax on pipelines–on top of the impact fee previously referenced. The final bill requires pipeline land agents to be registered with the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission. There are elements in each of the bills that, under other circumstances, are interesting and we might even be able to support. SOME elements–not all. But coming from Dinniman the purpose is clear–he aims to shut down natural gas pipelines in PA…
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Rover Pipeline is Energy Transfer’s $3.7 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. On April 13, Rover workers experienced an “inadvertent return” of “horizontal directional drilling fluid”. That is, they sprung a leak and spilled nearly 2 million gallons of drilling mud (see 
We’ve noticed a meme, largely started by an Associated Press article endlessly repeated and published in dozens of news outlets across Pennsylvania, that the recent budget deal (with a severance tax) passed by the traitorous Republican-controlled PA Senate “jams a shale tax and industry permits into unhappy package” that now sits before a House that essentially has no choice but to adopt it. Here’s the establishment “received wisdom” in a nutshell: Drillers don’t get what they want (a severance tax), but they do get what environmentalist wackos don’t want (streamlined approvals for permits). And guess what? “That’s politics.” And if you don’t like it, on either side of the equation, you’re an unrealistic dope who doesn’t know anything about politics. We manifestly reject that assertion. Here’s why this deal is one sided–a severance tax only deal. Big Green groups with endless pockets to fund litigation factories are already talking about how if this budget is passed with what they want (a high severance tax) but also with what they don’t want (streamlined approvals for permits), no problem. They’ll just sue to remove the streamlined permits part, leaving drillers with the high severance tax. That’s how “fairness” works for Democrats and antis. Get part of what you want, then litigate the rest–force it on people who don’t want it. That’s the strategy laid out in the AP article claiming both sides are unhappy, implying it’s a good deal because both sides are getting something they want and something they don’t want. The clear signal being sent by environmentalists is that they’ll litigate their way to happiness. Meanwhile the Marcellus industry will get the shaft, which is why the House MUST reject this budget as written…
As MDN has previously reported, Mountaineer XPress Pipeline includes 165 miles of new pipeline with approximately 2.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of transportation capacity from existing and future points of receipt along or near the Columbia pipeline system–most of it located in West Virginia (see 
In March, MDN told you about a small group of radical protesters who established a protest “camp” on a private farm along the path of the Williams $3 billion, 198-mile Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA (see 
The radicals at the Sierra Club are taking another run at stopping Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project in its tracks–before the first inch of pipe is laid. ACP is a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. This time Sierra Club nutters are using a novel approach to try and stop ACP. They’ve asked North Carolina regulators to revoke approval of affiliate agreements by Duke Energy to use the gas that will flow through the pipeline. The Sierra Club’s argument is that the agreements, signed in 2014, are no longer valid. Duke doesn’t need as much natural gas (for electric generation) as they thought they would. And therefore to stay locked into the agreement would be an unfair burden to Duke’s rate payers. If Duke were to pull out of the deals, the ACP project would collapse, which is what Sierra Club happens. Duke has responded that the gas will be used for more than electric generation. Given that NC now has a Dem governor who doesn’t like fracking (see 
In January 2016, MDN told you about a $130 million, 30-mile natural gas pipeline proposed by New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) to connect NJNG’s distribution system serving customers in Ocean, Burlington and Monmouth counties (in NJ) and the interstate pipeline system adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike. The idea came about after Superstorm Sandy. How can NJNG create reliable natgas service in the region, preventing major disruptions like that which happened after Sandy? The “Southern Reliability Link” pipeline project was the result, and in January the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved it 5-0 (see 
In May, MDN told you that virulent anti-drillers in Youngstown, OH, puppets of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), have once again circulated a petition to put a so-called Community Bill of Rights ballot measure on the ballot this November (see 
Radical anti-fossil fuelers with THE Delaware Riverkeeper and New Jersey Sierra Club, along with a mish mash of other fringe “environmental” groups, are becoming shrill in their demand that fracking be permanently banned in the Delaware River Basin. Riverkeeper, Sierra Club and other nutjob groups are this week delivering a petition they claim has over 63,000 signatures (many of them made up or dead) calling on the governors of the four states that are part of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to vote to permanently ban fracking in the DRBC’s jurisdiction. Each day this week the group of, whatever you call them, are delivering the petitions in staged media events, in each state capital. These groups have wanted and lobbied for a permanent ban for years. Why push so hard for it now? What’s the urgency? Why go on the road now to demand an outright ban? There is only one reason we can think of for why these radicals are pushing so hard now: they are running scared, concerned that a lawsuit by a Wayne County landowner in federal court will go against the DRBC and finally force the issue, allowing fracking (see 
For years anti-drillers have used the word “frack” and “fracking” as a pejorative, to try and smear the oil and gas industry. The word is shortened from “hydraulic fracturing” and meant to connote a “naughty” word of similar sound. The supremely untalented Julian Lennon (son of Beatle legend John Lennon) and his stepmom, Yoko Ono, went on Jimmy Fallon’s show a few years ago to sing a song called “Don’t Frack My Mother” (watch it below). That’s the mentality of anti-drillers. The word “frack” is short, sounds like something dirty, and is useful for protest signs, bumper stickers, and songs. Never mind that fracking is only one small part of the success in extracting shale oil and gas. The larger, arguably more important technological breakthrough is horizontal drilling. But it’s hard to shorten “horizontal drilling” into a bumper sticker slogan that sounds dirty. So back in 2013 we offered to enhance the fracking phrase (see 
The “most serious remaining legal challenge” to Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2 Pipeline project is a challenge by the odious Big Green group, the Clean Air Council, based in Philadelphia. CAC claims in a court case in Common Pleas Court in Philly that ME2 violates the federal and state constitutions. The case takes up constitutional claims that have “not yet been addressed in other litigation.” It dawned on us when reading an account of the case and who says what about whether or not Sunoco has the right to use eminent domain and whether or not ME2 is a public utility, is why does the CAC even care? Why are they the ones bringing the lawsuit? After all, pipelines don’t pollute the air! Well, technically that’s not 100% true–pipeline compressor stations do emit some air pollution, depending on how they are powered (diesel engines). But at the end of the day, pipelines pollute the air far less than other forms of transportation, like trucks and trains. How does CAC even have “standing” to bring such a lawsuit? Of course the fact that CAC is litigating is a tip-off that there is Big Green money behind the effort–and CAC is just a tool being used in a wider collusion (conspiracy?) to stop the pipeline…
We’ve been listening to fake news about a supposed connection between Russia and the Trump campaign for so long now, we’re ready to puke. It’s a totally fabricated story without even an allegation of wrongdoing. Fake news outlets like CNN run this garbage endlessly (so we’ve been told, we NEVER watch CNN). So perhaps you can forgive us for not highlighting and bringing you this news before now. There IS a Russia scandal–a serious one. But it has nothing to do with Donald Trump. The real Russia scandal is that Putin and Russia have been funneling millions of dollars to U.S. Big Green groups, like the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, in an attempt to smear and block fracking in the U.S. Russia is funding these efforts not because they care a scintilla about the the environment (come to think of it, the Sierra Club doesn’t care about the environment either, not really). No, Russia is funding anti-fracking efforts by Big Green as a way of eliminating competition for Russian oil and gas. If they can throw some money at the nutjobs in our country, and if those nutjobs can convince unthinking masses to go along, problem solved for the Russkies. Here’s the lowdown on the REAL Russia scandal…
Anti fossil fuelers believe they have a new angle in their years-long war to prevent Sunoco Logistics Partners from building the Mariner East 2 twin pipelines across the state: drilling mud spills. When a pipeline company installs a new pipeline, the vast majority of pipe is laid in trenches. However, there are places (creeks, rivers, wetlands, roadways) where you can’t just dig a trench to lay the pipe. In those cases, you drill underground horizontally, something called horizontal directional drilling (HDD). When you drill through rock, you need drilling mud to cool the drill bit as it chews away. Drilling mud is typically bentonite, a non-toxic clay substance used to manufacture things like toothpaste, cosmetics and kitty litter. The only threat from bentonite is that it can smother aquatic life if enough is spilled. Or it can foul a water aquifer–making the water in your well cloudy for a period of time, until it settles. Such an instance recently happened in Chester County, when Sunoco’s drilling for ME2 fouled an aquifer, causing well water for some 15 homes to become temporarily unusable (see 
For the past two years running, the Delaware River Basin Commission, a cooperative organization with five members–Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–has received more than half a million dollars per year from PA as its dues to support the anti-drilling organization. The problem is, PA pays its full share, but states like NY and NJ consistently short-change the DRBC. PA Gov. Tom Wolf is a big DRBC fan. Wolf supports the DRBC’s ongoing ban of drilling in the Delaware River Basin–which unfairly denies landowners in Wayne and Pike counties (PA) from benefiting from Marcellus Shale drilling–Wolf’s own constituents. However, the DRBC’s gravy train from PA is now over. Gov. Wolf recently allowed the PA budget to pass, without his signature. Part of the budget bill whacks PA’s contribution to the DRBC to just $217,000 this year–less than half of what is has been getting. The effort to whack the DRBC came from PA representatives in northeastern PA, tired of the ongoing drilling ban. Looks like layoffs are coming to the DRBC. They don’t do a heck of a lot, so why not? Time to toss the bureaucrats out on their rear-ends…
We spotted an outrageously fake news story published in something called the Public News Service that quotes an organic farmer in northern Ohio who is opposed to the NEXUS Pipeline–a pipeline that won’t even cross her property. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. It is a joint venture between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy. The Ohio organic farmer claims a NEXUS compressor station a mile from her property “will create a toxic cloud” and ruin her crops. She also claims “toxins” leak from pipelines, and that compressor stations “contain dangerous cancer-causing chemicals.” Yes, any time you want to oppose something, throw out the “c” word, to make sure they get good and scared. Other problems caused by pipelines: livestock illness and death; spontaneous explosions; fires; mini-earthquakes. To which we say, what a load of organic bullcrap…