Williams Successfully Blocks Blue Racer Midstream IPO…for Now
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.
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Chester County, PA District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan famously announced to the world last December he would investigate Sunoco Logisitcs and their Mariner East (ME) pipeline projects for “crimes” (see 
On August 1, Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Pipeline Company (TETCO) pipeline exploded in Lincoln County, Kentucky–killing one and sending six to the hospital (see 
The radical Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) published a “report” (i.e. propaganda) in 2017 that made the preposterous claim that New England customers have overpaid utility bills by $3.6 billion due to collusion between the natural gas and electricity industries (see 
Last week we brought you an update on outstanding litigation and the status for Dominion Energy’s 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (see 
Last week MDN told you that oral arguments would be heard on Thursday at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in what we believe is one of (perhaps THE) most important shale cases ever in the Keystone State (see 
Yesterday MDN brought you news of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruling that disallows PennEast Pipeline from using the delegated power of eminent domain to cross properties either owned by, or with easements granted to, the state of New Jersey (see 
What’s the status of Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), a 600+ mile pipeline that will run from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina? Only 35 miles of pipeline is currently built, and all construction, at the moment, is blocked by the U.S. Fourth District Court of Appeals. Almost all of the workers for the project (thousands of them) have been laid off. Big Green groups with deep pockets have harassed the project from the beginning by filing lawsuits, blocking construction. Yet Dominion Energy, the primary partner and builder of ACP, remains “confident” the pipeline will, eventually, get built. When?
Well, score a victory for the forces of evil. Sometimes Darth Vader wins–that’s life. Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that PennEast Pipeline cannot use the power of eminent domain to “condemn” (take possession of) land that is owned or otherwise controlled by the State of New Jersey because it violates the Eleventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. According to the judges, the Eleventh Amendment says states have sovereign immunity from such actions.
EQT contracted two drilling rigs from Orion Drilling in 2014 that later, in 2015 and 2016, experienced trouble–like a 50,000-pound drilling block slamming to the ground kind of trouble. EQT canceled the contract and would no longer use the two rigs. Orion sued claiming breach of contract. A jury decided EQT was in the right by canceling the contract. Orion asked a judge to overturn the jury decision and order a new trial. Yesterday the judge refused, meaning the jury decision stands and Orion now owes EQT $2.8 million to cover EQT’s attorneys’ fees and costs. Ouch, that didn’t go as planned.
On Monday MDN told you that radical anti-fossil fuelers and the City of Oberlin, OH won a minor victory of sorts against the long-completed NEXUS Pipeline project (see 
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The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), which once supported (in court) Sunoco Logistics Partners method of requesting permits for the Marcus Hook facility (near Philadelphia), has just flip flopped and change sides, now siding against Sunoco and the permits the DEP itself issued for the Marcus Hook facility. DEP is now siding with the radical Clean Air Council demanding that all of the work at the Marcus Hook facility be done under a single emissions permit, not separate permits.
Last October MDN brought to your attention a lawsuit filed by a Washington County, PA couple, Robin and Thomas Pflasterer, against Range Resources (see 
Since late last year we’ve tracked a lawsuit brought by radical antis and the City of Oberlin, OH against the long-completed NEXUS Pipeline project. Last Friday the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court that handles challenges to regulatory agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), refused to drop the case and told FERC to once again try to justify the project in light that some of the gas gets exported to Canada.