Opposition Mounts to Tiny Pipeline in Albany, NY Region
On February 1, 2019, National Grid filed a petition with the New York Public Service Commission for a “Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need” (i.e. permission to build and operate) for a tiny 16-inch, 7.3-mile natural gas transmission pipeline. The purpose of the new pipeline is to beef up supplies of natural gas in the Capitol region of the state–around Albany. Opposition by radical green supporters continues to mount, with those opposing calling it a “fracked gas pipeline.”
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In March a group of Pennsylvania landowners from Lancaster County asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case in which they say they’ve been screwed over by Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, that the pipeline should not have had the right to use eminent domain to build the pipeline before the matter of compensation was fully adjudicated (see 
Last week the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, being built by Equitrans Midstream, got a boost from the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP). WVDEP has submitted a revised stream/river crossing permit previously rejected by a federal court. The reworked permit means construction will once again resume in some areas where it’s currently stalled, maybe by mid-year.
For the past 12 consecutive months and counting, the United States has been a net exporter of natural gas. That means we sell more gas to other countries than we buy. What a turnaround from just a few years ago! What may surprise you is that the way we export most of our gas is via pipeline–to Canada and Mexico. And what may further surprise you to learn is that our exports to Canada have hit new record highs thanks mostly to two Marcellus/Utica pipelines–Rover and NEXUS.
Last week MDN told you that NextEra Energy, a partner in Equitrans’ 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA, said MVP will most likely not get finished this year (see 
Big Green groups continue to sue pipeline companies and their projects in an attempt to block any new pipeline anywhere from getting built–period. One of their favored angles of attack is to try and find loopholes in, or even overturn, the Natural Gas Act of 1938.
Andrew Cuomo has himself painted into a corner. In recent years he’s pandered to his radical/left environmental base by blocking natural gas pipelines. Another such project now must be decided, by May 16. Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project needs a water crossing permit from New York State. If Cuomo rejects the project, both Consolidated Edison and National Grid, the two utilities that supply New York City and its suburbs, including all of Long Island, with natural gas, have said they will slap a moratorium on all new gas customer hookups. Either way Andy is toast. Which way will he decide?
In the end, it was the right thing to do. Word has leaked out and is now being trumpeted by anti-pipeline “news” outlets (like PBS’ StateImpact Pennsylvania) that Sunoco (i.e. Energy Transfer) has purchased the homes of two homeowners who live near Mariner East 2 pipeline construction–both homes located near sinkholes related to pipeline construction. Sunoco paid each homeowner $60,000-$100,000 more than fair market value.
THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya van Rossum, along with a couple of radicals from Lancaster County flying under the name Lancaster Against Pipelines (the Clatterbucks), hoped they could convince the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a case that a series of lower courts dismissed–a case that would shut down the now-operating Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline (see 
Pennsylvania State Sen. Gene Yaw (Republican from Lycoming County), who serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee, 
The anti-drilling zealots that populate the levers of power in New Jersey, along with their colluding Big Green compatriots, continue a holy mission to block PennEast Pipeline, a pipeline the majority of which will get built in Pennsylvania. Anti-pipeline nutters are attacking the project on several fronts, including in the courts, and by claiming the pipeline would affect nine “potential” historic sites along its path through NJ. Will federal courts and regulators fall for the ruse?
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted 5-0 to deny Sunoco Logistics Partners permission to restart construction of Mariner East 2 pipeline in West Whiteland Township in Chester County. Why? Because construction at that location (Shoen Road), along with three other locations, is currently under review in Commonwealth Court. In other words, for the time being (until the court rules), the PUC’s hands are tied.
Last we had heard, the official word coming from Equitrans, builder of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), is that the project will be done and online by the end of this year. However, a partner in the project, NextEra Energy, is now saying otherwise.
A group of four Democrat Pennsylvania State Senators and one RINO, all from the Philadelphia region, have requested the Senate committee that will hold a hearing on reconfirming state Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell to a second term, be put on hold. The gang of five are fighting the completion of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project and believe McDonnell improperly approved and has covered up problems with the project. Don’t you love it when Dems turn on their own?