Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines | Regulation
NC DEQ Denies Water Permit for MVP Southgate, Claims Lack of Info
Somebody’s lying–and our money is that the North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are the liars. The DEQ recently denied a federal Section 401 Water Quality Certification permit (issued under the federal Clean Water Act) for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate project, claiming MVP has not provided information it needs to properly evaluate the project. MVP says it’s bent over backward and forward to give DEQ everything it needs.
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Dominion Energy has laid 35 miles (so far) of the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project that will run from West Virginia to North Carolina to bring Marcellus/Utica gas to the South. However, the project has been stalled for months due to multiple lawsuits brought by colluding Big Green groups. We recently told you about a whispering campaign that says Dominion may abandon the project (see 
Anti-fossil fuelers in Massachusetts who are desperate to block a federal (and state) approved compressor station from getting built in Weymouth, MA continue to use a mix-up at the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (over air sample test results) as an excuse to bully the DEP into reversing its decision to grant a permit for the project. The DEP, to its credit, is not caving to the pressure.
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 
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