New EPA “Guidance” Overrides States re Issuing Pipe Permits
That didn’t take long. Barely two months ago President Trump signed an Executive Order 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 Pipes). While a comprehensive review is under way as part of the order, late last week EPA issued new guidance about Section 401 which says, among other things, EPA itself can go ahead and issue 401 permits even if a state (like New York) refuses to do so.
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Two important pipeline projects, PennEast and Adelphia Gateway, are at various stages of approval. PennEast is a $1 billion (or $1.2 billion, depending on the source) new greenfield pipeline project from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ. PennEast will flow PA Marcellus gas to markets in NJ. Adelphia Gateway is an old oil pipeline, already in the ground, that runs from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook. Adelphia will flow Marcellus gas to the Philadelphia region. PennEast was announced in 2014, and Adelphia in 2017. Neither has yet begun construction. What’s the status for each project?
On May 15 New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), under the direction of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, denied a permit for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline (see 
Ever notice how leftists force their will on the American people via leftist judges–because they can’t win at the ballot box? It’s frustrating that we elected President Trump to do a job, and his administration is doing their darnedest, and at every turn there’s a lib Dem judge waiting to make life miserable. Such is the case with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which just rendered a decision (by three Dem-appointed leftist judges) in an Appalachian pipeline lawsuit that is actually a win for the pipeline–but also a warning shot that the lib Dem judges want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to bow to their demands that FERC consider mythical man-made global warming when evaluating future pipeline projects.
We’ve said, for years, that it’s just fine to be a clueless idiot and protest pipelines, fracking, drilling, fossil fuels–whatever. BUT, protesting doesn’t give you the right to illegally block a legal activity, like building (or operating) a pipeline, drilling a shale well, etc. Irrational anti-fossil fuelers are trying to excuse their illegal, anarchist behavior by claiming it’s somehow free speech or freedom of expression. WRONG. And now, the federal government is in the process of revising its criminal guidelines to ensure such behavior sees jail time and stiff fines.
Last Tuesday evening a 68-year-old woman was home in her bed in Clarion County, PA when she heard an explosion and a wall collapsed on her. She freed herself from the rubble and drove to a neighbor’s house for assistance. The home, a garage and greenhouse were all destroyed as a result of the explosion and fire. The cause? Natural gas “migrating” in the basement of the home. A local delivery pipeline and a nearby transmission pipeline were both taken out of service while the PA Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) investigation unit takes a look at the cause.
We’re always delighted to share news of a “new” pipeline project in the Marcellus/Utica. This particular project from Dominion Energy, tiny compared to most, its unusual in that it will flow natural gas from western PA into Ohio to feed a new natural gas-fired electric plant. You don’t often see gas from PA flow to Ohio for local use. Kind of a “man bites dog” story.
Last August the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a decision overruling the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to allow National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access Pipeline project to proceed (see 
Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, collects data on all aspects of the U.S. energy industry. We spotted a newly updated spreadsheet issued by EIA that lists all “liquids” pipeline projects from 2010 to the present (and planned into the future). That caused us to look for another spreadsheet EIA produces (also recently updated) showing all natural gas pipeline projects from 1996 to the present (and planned). Jackpot! We culled both lists and have pulled out just those projects (below) for the Marcellus/Utica.
Last December MDN told you that even though NEXUS Pipeline, a $2.6 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Ohio into Michigan is built and has been fully online since November, the Coalition to Reroute NEXUS (CORN), along with the City of Oberlin, Ohio, filed yet another lawsuit (with the D.C. Court of Appeals) to nullify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) original decision to approve the project (see 
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected hearing a case appealed from a lower court by a group of Lancaster County landowners who claim Williams and their Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project abused eminent domain authority by building the pipeline before litigating (for years) how much money landowners should receive–landowners who refused to negotiate in good faith in the first place.
We recently brought you several stories about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s predictable (and foolhardy) rejection of the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project to pipe more natural gas to a desperate New York City and Long Island (see