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Time to Support Transco’s Northeast Supply Enhancement Project

In March the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Williams Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipe Gets Favorable DEIS). The project is meant to increase pipeline capacity and flows heading into northeastern markets. In particular, Transco wants to provide more Marcellus natural gas to utility giant National Grid beginning with the 2019-2020 heating season. National Grid operates in New York City, Long Island, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. There are a number of components to the project, but the key component, the heart of the project, is a new 23-mile pipeline from the shore of New Jersey into (on the bottom of) the Raritan Bay–running parallel to the existing Transco pipeline–before connecting to the Transco offshore. This project needs *your* help. Please join MDN in supporting the project by signing this online petition to FERC. A second way you can support the project is by attending and speaking at one of four regional FERC hearings, which begin next week…
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Va. Water Bd Wants More Assurances re MVP & ACP Pipeline Projects

In October 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved two important Marcellus/Utica pipeline projects–Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), and EQT Midstream’s Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) (see FERC Approves Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley Pipeline Projects). ACP is a $6.5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. MVP is a $3.5 billion, 303-mile natural gas pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. However, as we’ve all learned the hard way, federal approval by FERC is only the first step. Individual states get a very limited say in pipeline project siting by being given the power to issue federal Clean Water Act permits for stream crossings. Some states, like New York, abuse the power and attempt to shut down federal projects. Other states, like Virginia, waffle around. Here’s the latest from Virginia. The state Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) decided last year to let the federal Army Corps of Engineers handle the water permitting for the two pipelines. But then the state Water Control Board (WCB) stepped in, claiming they have authority to help regulate the construction of these two federal projects (which they don’t, but that’s a story for another day). The WCB eventually approved MVP and conditionally approved ACP. However, under extreme pressure (bullying) from Big Green proponents, the WCB is rethinking their approvals and has “cracked the door open” to review the water crossings already approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. Yeah, it’s a hot mess in Virginia…
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Dynamite Stolen from Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Site in Lancaster County, PA

Approximately 640 pounds of dynamite and 400 blasting caps were stolen from a locked trailer at a construction site for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Marietta (Lancaster County), PA this past weekend. Because the theft involved explosives, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been called in to investigate. The ATF is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. We sincerely hope the perp(s) are caught and go to jail–for a long time. If you know anything, call the ATF hotline at 888-ATF-BOMB (888-283-2662). Not sure who thought up that phone number for the ATF, but it’s certainly memorable! Here’s the details…
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PA DEP Hunger Games Competition to Distribute $12.6M in ME2 Money

In February Sunoco Logistics Partners agreed to pay a massive (historically high) $12.6 million fine to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for “permit violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project” (see Sunoco LP Pays PA DEP $12.6M to Resume ME2 Pipeline Construction). Sunoco’s ME2 construction activities caused a few erosion issues here and some drilling mud leaks there–so-called “harms” to the environment. Surely some of the massive, historically high $12.6 million fine Sunoco is paying will be used to “fix” those problems, right? Wrong. Sunoco has to pay twice–pay to clean up the problems AND pay the fine. The fine was essentially a shakedown–Sunoco had to pay it or they would not be allowed to resume construction work on ME2. Yesterday the DEP announced a new program to distribute the $12.6 million of fine money. In Hunger Games tradition, the DEP is launching a lottery for the 85 municipalities along ME2’s path, allowing those “districts” to submit begging proposals to request some of the money for programs in their district. What kind of programs? “[P]rojects that reduce or minimize pollution and protect clean water.” In other words, just about anything contestants can dream up. They have 45 days, from May 7 to June 21, to make a grab for the cash (i.e. submit a grant application)…
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Duke Energy Refiles 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Plan

Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. The project is called the Duke Central Corridor Extension Gas Pipeline. Both of the proposed routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPEs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! With just weeks before a final approval by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), Duke asked the state to push the pause button last August (see Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Put on Hold). At the time, Duke said they had “potential concerns” about building the pipeline on a property close to a Superfund site in Reading, should they build it along the alternate route. Those concerns have now been addressed and the project is unpaused and moving forward once again. Duke recently refiled their application to build the new pipeline along the alternate route, with a few tweaks. The usual suspects are turning up to oppose it all over again…
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Sunoco Requests Change of Drilling Methods for ME2 Near Sinkholes

Underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work done by Sunoco Logisitics Partners in Chester County to install the twin Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipelines has led to the development of three large sinkholes (see 3rd Sinkhole Appears Near ME2 Construction in Chester County, PA). The third sinkhole that developed exposed a portion of the existing Mariner East 1 pipeline, causing ME1 to be closed until further notice (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). In order for ME1 to reopen, the state Public Utility Commission has to be assured further drilling for ME2 won’t further disturb ME1. The problem is that the underground geology in that area of Chester County is known as a karst–analogous to Swiss cheese rock layers underground. Not conducive to HDD work. So Sunoco is changing gears. The company has filed a request with the Dept. of Environmental Protection (which oversees the regulation of the project) to change from using HDD to instead using a couple of alternative methods to get the pipe in the ground–including trenching. Before the DEP gives its OK, they will first hold a public hearing on April 30th in West Chester…
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ME2 Pipeline Cuts Down PA Trees Vacated by Protesters

Bet you didn’t know that if a pipeline company waits until antis leave the treetops where they’ve been perched because of concerns about high winds, and then the pipeline company nips in early in the morning and cuts down those vacated trees (legally), it’s considered a “predawn timbering raid.” That’s the hilarious headline given to yet another anti-pipeline, anti-drilling article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, covering news about cutting down three trees on a property in Huntingdon County, PA. For the past two years the Gerharts have used illegal protest tactics to stall tree cutting on their property. Out-of-state Big Green radicals, along with the Gearharts’ own daughter, have lived on-and-off in the tops of three white pine trees, building magic tree houses so they can lay around and do whatever. The tree occupation has prevented Sunoco Logistics Partners from cutting the trees, which are in the path of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. At daybreak on Sunday, April 8th, after observing the greenie weenies had left the night before scared of impending high winds, Sunoco snuck in and cut down the trees, much to the consternation of the Gerharts who called it a “underhanded and cowardly attack.” We call it funny! And smart. So much for the dedication of antis. They scamper down trees when it gets a tad windy up there–something to keep in mind…
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Rover Pipe Asks FERC for OK to Open New Segments in OH, MI

Click for larger version

On Friday Energy Transfer Partners asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to start up service along another major chunk of it’s massive Rover Pipeline. ET wants to begin service along a 100-mile segment of Rover in northwest Ohio and in Michigan. ET also asked for permission to start up a segment of Mainline B in Crawford and Wayne counties (OH). The 100-mile segment, called the Market segment, completes the pipeline as it connects to the Vector Pipeline in Livingston County, Michigan. ET says 99% of all pipeline for Rover is now in the ground and done. Some 83% of underground horizontal direction drilling (HDD) required to install small portions of the pipeline under creeks, rivers, bridges, roads, etc. is now done. It won’t be long now until Rover is done done. Here’s the latest great news that most of the rest of the pipeline is now ready to begin service…
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NatGas Groups Urge Trump to Act Against States Blocking Pipelines

Five natural gas trade associations representing pretty much the entire natgas industry (producers, suppliers, pipelines and local gas utilities) sent a joint letter to President Trump on Tuesday asking the President to clarify the role of states in administering Clean Water Act Section 401. Specifically, the groups want the president to slap around individual states that are abusing Section 401 to block critical pipeline projects–like how the corrupt Andrew Cuomo in New York is blocking the Constitution Pipeline by withholding Section 401 approval for the project. The five groups which collectively call themselves the Natural Gas Council, say in the letter that some states abuse Section 401 “to hijack the permitting process for pipelines that transport natural gas in interstate commerce.” In other words, New York’s action not only hurts the residents of New York, it hurts the residents and producers in Pennsylvania that produce the gas, and potential customers in New England and beyond who would use the gas (i.e. interstate commerce). While Section 401 gives states a say in how federally-approved pipeline projects are managed, it does NOT give states the right to outright reject those projects. The Natural Gas Council is calling attention to this ongoing violation and wants Trump to do something about it…
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Williams Seeks OK to Expand Transco to Move Marcellus Gas South

The hits keep comin’ from Williams. Yesterday Williams announced it has filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the mighty Transco Pipeline to increase the amount of gas the pipeline can flow to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S by 296,375 dekatherms (296 million cubic feet) per day. The Southeastern Trail expansion project (SET), as it is called, includes building 7.7 miles of 42-inch pipeline looping (pipeline laid next to existing pipeline) in Virginia, adding extra horsepower at existing compressor stations in Virginia, and making some pipe and valve modifications on other existing facilities in South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana to allow for bi-directional flow. The project aims to bring more gas to utilities, including PSNC Energy, South Carolina Electric & Gas, Virginia Natural Gas, the City of Buford, Ga., and the City of LaGrange, Ga. Note that Mountain Valley Pipeline recently announced they want to expand the MVP project an extra 70 miles to serve PSNC Energy (in North Carolina) too. Williams is currently working to finish up the Atlantic Sunrise project, which includes new pipeline to feed Marcellus gas from northeastern PA into the Transco mainline. Bottom line: This new Southeastern Trail expansion project will bring Marcellus gas to more customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. And that’s a good thing!…
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MVP Tree/Pole Sitters Select Wrong Area, Tree Cutting Continues

We’ve been monitoring the developing situation in Virginia where anti-fossil fuelers continue to protest against Mountain Valley Pipeline in the Jefferson National Forest. Some of the protesters are fueled by an irrational hatred of fossil fuels (movement people), while others are locals who believe digging a trench for a pipeline will destroy their scenic vistas. The movement people arrived from out of town and whipped up the locals. A mix of both have taken to sitting in treetops (see WV Judge Refuses to Eject Tree Sitters Blocking Pipeline Work), while one is sitting at the top of a pole illegally planted in the middle of a roadway (see US Forest Service Gets Tough on Illegal MVP Pole Sitting Protester). The tree sitters and pole sitter can’t exist without ground support–people who pass food, water and toilet paper up to the nuts at the top. Police and the Forest Service are beginning to clamp down on the people on the ground. This past week three people were arrested for various crimes–mostly for refusing to move out of the way, although one was arrested for assault and another for reckless driving. The protesters sitting in trees and on the pole thought all tree cutting would stop after March 31, due to federal regulations protecting potential endangered bat habitats. What the sitters apparently didn’t know (or bother to find out) is that tree cutting CAN continue in areas not included in bat habitats. Where the sitters are perched is not included in the cutting prohibition. Whoops! All of that tree and pole sitting has been for nothing (laughing our posteriors off)…
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Mountain Valley Pipeline Launches Plan to Expand 70 Miles into NC

MVP Southgate proposed route – click for larger version

We love it! Even though Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) has only just begun to build along it’s 301-mile route from West Virginia to southern Virginia, and even though MVP faces opposition from extremists who sit in the tops of trees and on top of poles (see Radicals Go Up a Tree in Quest to Illegally Block MVP Construction and US Forest Service Gets Tough on Illegal MVP Pole Sitting Protester), MVP is now going on offense. Yesterday MVP announced a binding open season (time when customers can sign on the dotted line) to expand the not-yet-built MVP pipeline where it will terminate in southern Virginia by another 70 miles–into two northern North Carolina counties. The MVP Southgate project, as it’s called, will flow gas from the MVP mainline in Pittsylvania County, another ~70 miles south to new delivery points in Rockingham and Alamance counties in North Carolina. MVP Southgate will provide low-cost natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale regions for delivery to PSNC Energy customers as well as existing and new end-user markets in southern Virginia and central North Carolina…
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Busybody Brigade to Help Va. DEQ “Monitor” MVP Pipe Work

As Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) begins construction and launches a plan to expand their pipeline another 70 miles (see today’s lead story), the Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says it is eager to work with radical antis to monitor work that will be done by MVP in the Old Dominion. MVP is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA–and perhaps beyond into North Carolina (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Launches Plan to Expand 70 Miles into NC). MVP is being built by EQT Midstream, NextEra Energy and several other partners. It has been hassled by protesters and sued by a cadre of Big Green groups–all with no result. The pipeline is currently under construction. Since there’s no stopping it, antis intend to launch a host of volunteer “monitors” to rat out pipeline workers that do anything from drop a candy wrapper on the ground to drive 2 miles an hour over a locally posted speed limit. In other words, a busybody brigade. To which we say: Go ahead–knock yourselves out. MVP has nothing to hide. If you want to waste your time, it’s yours to waste. The DEQ, under Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam, is only too happy to work with the busybody brigade to further hassle MVP…
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Dominion Announces Cove Point LNG Open for Business

Dominion Cove Point LNG is open for business–so says Dominion in a press release issued yesterday. As MDN reported late last week, the Gemmata LNG carrier had returned to Cove Point to load a second commissioning cargo of LNG (see 2nd Commissioning Cargo Now Being Loaded at Cove Point LNG). The commissioning cargo was not Marcellus/Utica gas but gas brought to the facility to be used in working out all the kinks–to be sure the facility operates as advertised. That’s now done. The LNG carrier Patris was due to dock at Cove Point Monday morning. As far as we can tell, that did happen. According to Dominion’s statement, the facility entered commercial service as of yesterday, which we take to mean the Patris is getting loaded as you read this. One article about the opening of Cove Point seems to imply the natural gas feeding it may not all come from the Marcellus/Utica. That’s bunk. We have information showing 100% of the gas will come from Marcellus/Utica drillers…
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Constitution Pipe Files Brief with Supreme Court, Exposes Cuomo/DEC

In January, the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England–filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to overrule a lower court decision and allow the pipeline to get built in New York State (see Constitution Pipeline Appeals NY Fight Directly to U.S. Supreme Court). The Andrew Cuomo-corrupted Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) suckered Constitution into refiling an application for a state-issued (but federal) water crossing permit a second time, restarting a one-year clock under which NY could render a decision about the pipeline. Constitution fully cooperated with the DEC, changing plans at the DEC’s request. With four days left on the clock in the second one-year period, DEC, in bad faith, issued a denial of Constitution’s request for the permit (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). In January Constitution filed the lawsuit with the Supreme Court, but earlier this week Constitution filed a “reply brief” in the case. In the brief, Constitution exposes the DEC’s actions as nothing more than a political move orchestrated by Andrew Cuomo himself. It is a devastating brief, laying bare the naked corruption of Cuomo and those who run the DEC…
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Antis: Sunoco Damaged Own Equipment to “Change Conversation” re ME2

Last week MDN reported that two pieces of heavy equipment being used by Sunoco Logistics Partners to build the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Chester County, PA had been severely, intentionally damaged (see Criminal Antis Vandalize Sunoco ME2 Pipe Construction Equipment). As Sunoco pointed out, there is no doubt who perpetrated the crime: Someone(s) who oppose the ME2 project. Antis who tipped over into engaging in a criminal act in their misguided, twisted attempt to save Mother Earth from the evils of fossil fuels. Sunoco is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Antis know darned well it was one of their own who did the crime–either a local or (more likely) someone from out-of-state, an imported radical who couldn’t help himself. Wackos. Antis are now trying to focus attention away from their own criminal element by having the gall to allege Sunoco may have damaged their own equipment as a way of “changing the conversation.” Antis are offering their own $10,000 reward in order to shift the focus away from themselves. This is really sick stuff…
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