NY DEC Nervous that FERC Will Overturn Constitution Pipe Ruling
The Cuomo-corrupted New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is spitting and sputtering, “warning” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that if they (FERC) decide to rule that NY took too long to approve the Williams Constitution Pipeline and now gives the project a go-ahead, the DEC intends to rain down all sorts of legal hell on the agency. Which tells us one thing: the DEC is VERY nervous that their power to block pipeline projects is about to be neutered.
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The Mariner East 1 pipeline sprung a small leak and spilled 20 barrels (~840 gallons) of ethane and propane in Berks County, near Philadelphia, on April 1, 2017 (see 
A 30-inch segment of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission Company (Tetco) interstate natural gas pipeline exploded in January, sending two people to the hospital and destroying two nearby homes when fires from the blast spread (see 
We spotted a story about landowners in the Philadelphia suburbs who currently have to live with construction of the Mariner East 2 pipelines (plural, there are two of them, ME2 and ME2X), literally happening in their back yards. While we are strong supporters of the ME2 project, we are not unsympathetic to landowners and the hassles they have to endure while it’s being built.
We about fell out of our chair when we read an editorial appearing in the far-left Providence (Rhode Island) Journal. We call Rhode Island the “People’s Republic of Rhode Island” because it’s about as far left as North Korea or China. Most folks in the state irrationally hate all fossil fuels and believe renewables will save them from man-made global warming. At least, that was our impression. We were shocked to read an editorial in yesterday’s Journal that makes a strong case for, pleads for, new natural gas pipelines to get built in New England.
One of the arguments often heard from those who oppose natural gas pipelines is that “nobody” benefits from the pipeline except the sleazy Big Corporation that builds and profits from it. A single pipeline running through Ohio and Michigan puts that lie to rest. Rover Pipeline, built and operated by Energy Transfer, paid out some $73 million in local property taxes in 2018 when the pipeline first began operation. For 2019, with the full pipeline operating at 100% capacity for the entire year, Rover says they will pay out ~$180 million in property taxes! Taxes that fund schools, roads, first responders and other worthy causes.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo finally got his wish last year by forcing the operator of the Indian Point Energy Center (nuclear power plant) located near New York City to agree to partially close down next year, and fully close down in 2021. We recently got a small preview of what will happen when Indian Point goes offline. In March Indian Point went completely offline for two weeks–scheduled outage for one reactor, and a malfunction in the other. Guess which form of energy took up the slack? It wasn’t solar. It wasn’t wind. It wasn’t hydro. It wasn’t magic fairy dust. It was natural gas that rode in to save the day.
This is nuts! This is insane! Because of overproduction, lack of pipelines, and an existing pipeline down for maintenance, natural gas sellers at the Waha natural gas trading hub (in West Texas) are actually paying buyers to take the gas off their hands–up to an amazing $5 per thousand cubic feet!!!!
What will Jeff Tittel of the odious New Jersey Sierra Club say now? Tittel and his ilk have for years litigated to block a natural gas pipeline that would flow Marcellus gas from PA into New Jersey, a pipeline that would cross through 10 miles of scrub pines colloquially known as the Pinelands–a “protected” area in NJ. Tittel objected to cutting down a few hundred scrub pine trees to make way for the pipeline. And just like that, Mother Nature came along last weekend and torched 10,000 acres of those same scrub pines via a forest fire. Maybe Mom Nature is clearing the trees for the pipeline?!
There’s no polite way to say this: The people of Bristol, Vermont are STUPID. The Bristol Selectboard, citing a pending lawsuit by rabid anti-fossil fuel nuts, recently voted to end a license agreement with Vermont Gas granting the utility permission to build distribution pipelines along town roads. Now the town is doomed.
There must be something in the water in New England. Today we told you about mass insanity in Bristol, Vermont, and now a story about a small community in nearby Massachusetts that wants to block 2.1 miles of new looping pipeline (buried next to an existing pipeline) in Longmeadow, Mass. All because local fruit loops want to ban new “fossil fuel” infrastructure. Lunacy is breaking out everywhere in New England!
Anti-fossil fuel radicals are making noises, threatening noises, about how they may react when and if (as seems likely) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decides to overrule New York State and allow the Williams Constitution Pipeline to finally, after five years, get built.
An important project from Williams, the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) which would beef up capacity along the Transco pipeline system going into New York City, is now under review in New Jersey. Part of the project must pass through NJ on its way to NY–and it’s time to 
A lawsuit that began life a year ago, in March 2018, has finally been settled between suburbanite landowners near Philadelphia and Sunoco Logistics Partners over construction activities related to the Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline project.