Pipelines

Accidents | Chester County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

PA PUC Investigating New ME2 Pipeline Sinkholes in Chester County
July 20, 2020July 20, 2020

Energy Transfer’s subsidiary Sunoco Logistics is trying to finish up final construction of the Mariner East 2X pipeline in southeast Pennsylvania. ME2 and ME2X flow natural gas liquids including ethane and propane from eastern Ohio and western PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. As the pipe travels through Philly neighborhoods, some of the geography is limestone (porous) and when drilling to install pipes, it has led to sinkholes. Another seven such sinkholes have appeared since June and the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) is investigating.
Read More “PA PUC Investigating New ME2 Pipeline Sinkholes in Chester County”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chester County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Philly Inquirer Says “Dark Money” Used Against Anti-Pipe Candidates
July 20, 2020July 20, 2020

The Philadelphia Inquirer published a story today that is (surprise!) totally one-sided and biased. The story has the provocative title of, “‘Dark money’ groups spent $517,000 against two Philly-area candidates who oppose the Mariner East pipeline.” Oooohhh. It’s dark money and sinister and it was used against two virtuous, pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow Democrat candidates in primaries. Completely absent from the story is any reference to Big Green dark money that was poured into those same races (see Steyer Big Green Group Dumps $200K of Dark Money in SEPA Elections).
Read More “Philly Inquirer Says “Dark Money” Used Against Anti-Pipe Candidates”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Summit County

Some OH Lawsuits Against Long-Finished NEXUS Pipe Still Active
July 20, 2020July 20, 2020

NEXUS Pipeline, a $2.6 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Ohio into Michigan, has been fully online since October 2018 (see More of NEXUS Pipe Goes Online, FERC Approves Compressor). In typical fashion, Big Green groups and landowners (some of them backed with Big Green money) tried to shut the pipeline down via lawsuits, but ultimately could not (see our NEXUS lawsuit stories here). Some landowners claimed the pipeline damaged their property during construction. Most of those lawsuits were either tossed or settled. However, there are still a few outstanding landowner lawsuits against NEXUS still active.
Read More “Some OH Lawsuits Against Long-Finished NEXUS Pipe Still Active”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Buffett Out of Favor with Fellow Dems After Buying Dominion Pipes
July 17, 2020July 17, 2020

Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett (with more money than God) is a darling of the Democrat left because he’s a Democrat and often $upports leftist causes. Buffett has even praised crazy Bernie Sanders for championing the little guy. Yet Buffett isn’t ready to give up capitalism the way most of the rest of his party advocates. When it comes to investing and making money, Buffett is betting big on fossil fuels. Less than two weeks ago Buffett finalized a deal to buy all of Dominion Energy’s natural gas pipeline business, including major assets in the Marcellus/Utica (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). The Dominion deal is making Buffett’s Democrat friends very unhappy.
Read More “Buffett Out of Favor with Fellow Dems After Buying Dominion Pipes”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Trump Admin Releases Updates to National Environmental Policy Act
July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

In January President Trump announced a list of proposed changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in an effort to strip away some of the governmental red tape that has built up over the years like plaque in an artery, preventing important infrastructure projects like pipelines, dams, bridges, and roads from getting built (see Trump Seeks to Speed Up Pipeline Projects by Tweaking NEPA Law). Over the past 20 years or so the left has become adept in their use of NEPA to block new projects, claiming environmental harms. Trump wants to reverse that trend. Yesterday the final version of the Trump Administration’s tweaks to NEPA was released, setting off a firestorm of protest from the more radical elements of the “environmental” movement.
Read More “Trump Admin Releases Updates to National Environmental Policy Act”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation

Riverkeeper Lawsuit Challenges Trump Changes to Water Permits
July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executive Order Making it Harder to Block Pipe). In keeping with the EO, the EPA issued a draft new rule in August 2019 tightening up standards used in Section 401, creating new boundaries so states like New York and Washington can’t continue to “color outside the lines” by rejecting pipelines for political reasons, as they have both done (see EPA Issues Proposed New Rule for Section 401 Water Permit). A final version of the new rule was released on June 1 (see EPA Issues Final Rule to Prevent States from Blocking Pipelines). On Monday, extreme leftist group THE Delaware Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule.
Read More “Riverkeeper Lawsuit Challenges Trump Changes to Water Permits”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines

North Carolina is Biggest Loser re Canceled Atlantic Coast Pipe
July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

Some 12 days ago Dominion Energy announced it is throwing in the towel and canceling the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project that would have stretched from West Virginia to North Carolina. The company also announced it is selling its pipeline business to Warren Buffett (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). The cancelation of ACP is a major blow to Marcellus/Utica drillers, but it’s an even bigger blow and more impactful for another group…
Read More “North Carolina is Biggest Loser re Canceled Atlantic Coast Pipe”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Niagara County | Pipelines

Federal Judge Overrules NY Town to Allow NFG Compressor Station
July 15, 2020July 15, 2020

click for larger version

National Fuel Gas Company’s (NFG) $500 million Northern Access Pipeline project aims to build 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY to flow PA Marcellus fracked shale gas into the Empire State. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline and a compressor station in Niagara County, NY. The Town of Pendleton, where the compressor station will be located, has refused to issue a permit for the station. Yesterday a federal judge overruled the town and said NFG can move forward with construction of the compressor station when it’s ready to do so.
Read More “Federal Judge Overrules NY Town to Allow NFG Compressor Station”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

10 Democrat Senators Ask Warren Buffet to Invest in WV NatGas
July 15, 2020July 15, 2020

Waaaiiit just a minute. Did we just slip through the looking glass? Ten Democrat State Senators from West Virginia sent a letter earlier this week to Warren Buffett asking the billionaire to consider investing in natural gas projects in the Mountain State. The letter states their sadness that Atlantic Coast Pipeline was canceled, but expresses hope that Buffett’s purchase of Dominion’s other pipeline assets augurs a bright future. We could have sworn this letter was sent by conservative Republicans!
Read More “10 Democrat Senators Ask Warren Buffet to Invest in WV NatGas”
Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Snyder County

PA PIPE Grants to Extend Gas Pipelines in Monroe, Snyder Counties
July 15, 2020July 15, 2020

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) grants cover part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the more-than-a-dozen (so far) PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Two more PIPE grants totaling over $1 million have just been awarded–one in Synder County, the other in Monroe County.
Read More “PA PIPE Grants to Extend Gas Pipelines in Monroe, Snyder Counties”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | TC Energy/TransCanada | West Virginia

Mountaineer Xpress Pipe Back Online After Unplanned Maintenance
July 14, 2020July 14, 2020

Whew. We can now breathe a sigh of relief. On July 7 TC Energy’s Columbia Gas Transmission subsidiary announced an unplanned outage (for maintenance work) for the Mountaineer XPress (MXP) pipeline in West Virginia–near Leach, Kentucky (see Mountaineer XPress Unplanned Maintenance Knocks 2 Bcf/d Offline). The “force majeure” outage knocked nearly 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas flows offline. On Saturday, July 11, TC Energy brought Mountaineer XPress back online–two days earlier than forecast.
Read More “Mountaineer Xpress Pipe Back Online After Unplanned Maintenance”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines

After Killing ACP, Antis Attempt to Do Same to MVP Southgate
July 13, 2020July 13, 2020

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Anti-fossil fuel nutters, emboldened by the cancelation of the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B), have turned their hopes and dreams and desires on defeating a much smaller project–the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate pipeline.
Read More “After Killing ACP, Antis Attempt to Do Same to MVP Southgate”
Accidents | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

NJ DEP Stops Construction of Southern Reliability Link Pipe
July 10, 2020July 10, 2020

Southern Reliability Link map (click for larger version)

New Jersey Natural Gas’ (NJNG) $130 million, 22-mile natural gas pipeline project called the Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline project to connect NJNG’s distribution system serving customers in Ocean, Burlington and Monmouth counties (in NJ) has been under construction for a year. Construction has continued even during the virus pandemic (see Pipeline Thru NJ Scrub Pines Continues Building During COVID-19). The odious Sierra Club (anti-fossil fuel nutters) has finally succeeded in convincing the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection to shut down construction on the project–at least temporarily.
Read More “NJ DEP Stops Construction of Southern Reliability Link Pipe”
Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Weymouth Compressor Continues Construction Despite Judge’s Ruling
July 10, 2020July 10, 2020

Weymouth compressor station construction (credit: Patriot Ledger)

The Weymouth compressor station is the last piece of Spectra Energy/Enbridge’s Atlantic Bridge pipeline project–a project which took years to build. In July 2019 the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) granted an air permit for the final piece, the Weymouth compressor station (see Mass. DEP Issues Air Permit for Weymouth Compressor Station). Last month (a full year later!), Obama Judge William Kayatta from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturned the state permit, telling the DEP to do it all over again (see Obama Judge Overturns Air Permit for Weymouth, MA Compressor Stn). We’re delighted to see the judge’s ruling has not stopped construction on the project.
Read More “Weymouth Compressor Continues Construction Despite Judge’s Ruling”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

Mountaineer XPress Unplanned Maintenance Knocks 2 Bcf/d Offline
July 8, 2020July 8, 2020

Can a single pipeline suddenly going offline in the Marcellus/Utica cause the biggest daily drop in natural gas production across the country–ever? Apparently it can. Yesterday TC Energy’s Columbia Gas Transmission subsidiary announced an unplanned outage (for maintenance work) for the Mountaineer XPress pipeline in West Virginia (near Leach, Kentucky). The “force majeure” outage knocked nearly 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas flows offline until at least next Monday, July 13.
Read More “Mountaineer XPress Unplanned Maintenance Knocks 2 Bcf/d Offline”
Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline Becomes Belle of the M-U Ball
July 8, 2020July 8, 2020

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On Monday MDN brought you the tremendously sad news that Dominion Energy has canceled plans to build the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). However, there is a silver lining in that news and other news from this week for a somewhat competitive project, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
Read More “Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline Becomes Belle of the M-U Ball”