Pipelines

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    Despite Opposition, NEXUS Pipe Will be Done & Running This Year

    NEXUS route – click for larger version

    NEXUS Pipeline, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline currently under construction running from Ohio through Michigan–eventually with a connection to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). However, radical environmental groups have fought the project tooth and nail. CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club, launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. The City of Green, OH initially blocked construction, but later cut a deal to allow the pipeline through the area ($7.5 million talks, see Antis of Green, OH Finally Face Reality – Will Allow NEXUS Pipe). While a few Green antis are attempting to force a referendum to reverse the deal struck by the city, pretty much all of the other opposition has thrown in the towel. We haven’t read/heard from the CORNballs (or Sierra Club) in months. And now, antis in Michigan are admitting defeat–they admit that NEXUS will get built and become operational this year…
    Read More “Despite Opposition, NEXUS Pipe Will be Done & Running This Year”

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    Criminal Antis Vandalize Sunoco ME2 Pipe Construction Equipment

    It’s OK to be a blithering idiot and oppose important pipeline infrastructure projects like the Mariner East 2 Pipeline because you believe in the fairy tale of man-made global warming. It’s OK to march and protest and write and name-call, and yes, it’s even OK to launch frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit. Knock yourselves out. It’s your right as a citizen in the greatest country on Mom Earth, a country we call America. What is NOT OK is to vandalize construction equipment used to build the pipeline, causing thousands of dollars in damage, simply because you’re demented and delude yourself that you are somehow saving “the environment” with your criminal action. That is precisely what Sunoco is alleging after someone(s) damaged the engines, fuel systems and hydraulic lines of two pieces of heavy equipment on April 2 & 3 in Chester County, PA (near Philadelphia). Sunoco is offering $10,000 for information leading to an arrest. We certainly hope that happens…
    Read More “Criminal Antis Vandalize Sunoco ME2 Pipe Construction Equipment”

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    More of the Same at Final DEP Hearing for Shell Ethane Pipeline

    Click map for larger version

    For three nights in a row this week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) conducted hearings for Shell’s proposed Falcon ethane pipeline–a 97-mile pipeline system with two “legs” that will feed Shell’s mighty ethane cracker plant now under construction in Monaca, PA. We brought you a report from the first session, an eyewitness account from MDN friend Charlie Schliebs (see Shell Ethane Pipeline Hearing Draws Few Supporters, Many Antis). That session was predominantly populated with antis attempting to paint nightmare scenarios if the pipeline (and cracker) gets built. Last night was the third and final session–in Sewickley. Once again we have an eyewitness account, this time from MDN friend Katie Klaber, former president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition and currently managing partner at The Klaber Group and a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (Pittsburgh branch). Katie is a consummate environmental professional–someone with a lifelong career in environment compliance and someone who served on the Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee of the DEP for more than a decade. She knows a thing or two about projects like the Falcon because she’s seen a thing or two (to borrow from the Farmers Insurance commercials). When the audience realized that Katie was supporting the project (the only one of the first 18 speakers to do so), the hissing started. She and the next few speakers who supported the project were hissed by bad-behaving antis in the crowd, with some Mother F…ers thrown in by an especially outspoken attendee. Nice people, those antis…
    Read More “More of the Same at Final DEP Hearing for Shell Ethane Pipeline”

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    US Forest Service Gets Tough on Illegal MVP Pole Sitting Protester

    polecat

    The kooky antis who are trying to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in the Jefferson National Forest are a gift that keeps on giving. On Monday MDN told you that some of the antis (movement people, from other states/areas) had erected a pole in the middle of a gravel road in the Forest–a road MVP construction equipment uses–and that an anti had scampered up to the top of the 50-foot pole (suspended with ropes) and is living in a platform at the top of the pole (see One MVP Radical Protester Arrested, Another Goes Up a Pole). Other antis, some movement people, some local, are sitting nearby in magic tree houses in a couple of trees. Unfortunately a judge refuses to allow law enforcement to forcibly remove those in the magic tree houses (see WV Judge Refuses to Eject Tree Sitters Blocking Pipeline Work). The tree (and pole) sitters are getting on the nerves of the U.S. Forest Service. According to a Facebook page maintained by the radicals, the Forest Service has blocked volunteers from sending food and water up the illegal pole to the person at the top. They’re also shining bright lights on the top of the pole 24/7. There’s more than one way to make them leave! We also have updated comments from one of the tree sitters–Grandma Red, a 61 year-old woman who recently climbed up to one of the magic tree houses–who says she’s “swinging in the wind.” You got that right, Grandma…
    Read More “US Forest Service Gets Tough on Illegal MVP Pole Sitting Protester”

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    ME1 Pipeline Shutdown in M-U Causing Propane Prices in TX to Drop

    Propane is one of the NGLs (natural gas liquids) that come out of the ground along with natural gas and oil–especially in “wet gas” areas like southwestern PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle area of WV. Ethane and propane have been flowing through the converted Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline for more than year–hauling propane (and ethane) from southwest PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. At Marcus Hook, the propane is loaded onto ships and sent around the world. The world is an important market for our propane. However, ME1 was suddenly switched off on March 3 by order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) after a sinkhole opened up under the pipeline, exposing some of the bare steel to the open air (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). Sunoco Logistics Partners, the owner of ME1, is building a new set of pipelines called Mariner East 2 (ME2) close to the existing ME1. ME2 will also haul ethane and propane to Marcus Hook, greatly expanding capacity. As part of their construction work in Chester County, several sinkholes developed leading to the shutdown of ME1. You might think if the supply of propane suddenly stops, prices would go up. But that’s not what happened. Because the propane ME1 was hauling to Marcus Hook was exported, that supply is now staying here at home. The effect has been to drive DOWN the cost of propane–in Texas!…
    Read More “ME1 Pipeline Shutdown in M-U Causing Propane Prices in TX to Drop”

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    MarkWest Building 6 New Processing Plants, 3 Fractionators in 2018

    Attendees at yesterday’s Utica Midstream conference at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio got an earful about pipelines and processing plants. Perhaps the biggest news coming from the event (for us, anyway), is that MarkWest Energy, now part of Marathon Petroleum, plans to build another six natural gas processing plants and another three fractionation plants in the Marcellus/Utica THIS YEAR. MarkWest plans to spend a whopping $2 billion in the region this year! That’s in addition to building two new processing plants and three fractionation plants last year. A processing plant accepts raw hydrocarbons coming out of shale wells and separates out the methane from everything else–“cleaning up” the methane so it’s pipeline-ready. Fractionation takes what’s left after the methane is removed and separates those other hydrocarbons into their discrete molecules–ethane, propane, pentane, butane, etc. According to MarkWest, M-U moving butane to new markets will be a major focus this year. We also learn that MarkWest’s Sherwood facility (in WV) is now the fourth largest gas processing plant in the U.S.–and by the end of this year, it will be #1! In addition to MarkWest, there were a number of other top notch speakers at yesterday’s event, including Rick Simmers from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources. Rick mentioned in passing there’s a shale well pad in southeast Ohio with a whopping 28 wells on it. Below is a summary of what was said at yesterday’s event…
    Read More “MarkWest Building 6 New Processing Plants, 3 Fractionators in 2018”

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    Shell Ethane Pipeline Hearing Draws Few Supporters, Many Antis

    Click for larger version

    Last night the first of three public hearings held by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection for the planned Shell Falcon Ethane Pipeline project was held in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. About 100 people turned up for the hearing, which lasted an hour and a half. No signs allowed. The only people who could speak had to register first. Of the 23 who did speak, 16 of them (including out-of-town movement antis) spoke against the project, while 7 people spoke in favor. The 97-mile Falcon Ethane Pipeline system has two “legs” that will feed Shell’s mighty ethane cracker plant. Shell is not using eminent domain for any of its leases for the pipeline. Every lease is negotiated and signed with individual landowners. Antis, in large part being organized and agitated by radical groups like FracTracker Alliance, are making a concerted effort to block the pipeline, hoping they can in turn stop the multi-billion dollar cracker plant currently under construction by blocking the pipeline that feeds it…
    Read More “Shell Ethane Pipeline Hearing Draws Few Supporters, Many Antis”

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    Atlantic Coast Pipe Wants 150 NC Workers, $25/Hr + Free Training

    Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the $6.5 billion Dominion Energy/Duke Energy pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina has had a few setbacks, but that isn’t stopping construction on the pipeline–in all three states where it runs. On Monday we reported on the latest setback–news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is refusing to extend tree cutting season for the pipeline (see FERC Won’t Extend Atlantic Coast Pipeline Tree Cutting Deadline). According to Dominion, FERC’s decision will not delay the late 2019 start date for the project. In the meantime, there’s work to be done! One of the places where work needs to get done is North Carolina. We spotted a story from NC that says Dominion and Duke are offering to train “more than 150 people” at Nash Community College, and then put them to work building the pipeline, for $19/hour plus $45/day, which we calculate to be a total compensation package of $24.63 per hour. Details below on how to apply for the jobs and get in on the free college training…
    Read More “Atlantic Coast Pipe Wants 150 NC Workers, $25/Hr + Free Training”

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    VA Tree Sitting Continues in Failed Attempt to Stop MV Pipeline

    Here’s the latest update in the ongoing story of “protesters” who are trying to stop progress in cutting trees for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which will run from West Virginia into Virginia. We previously reported on illegal tree-sitters that judges and law enforcement refuse to remove (see WV Judge Refuses to Eject Tree Sitters Blocking Pipeline Work). The latest to join the tree sitting movement is a 61 year-old woman who calls herself “Red” and claims her family has owned land in the area for seven generations. When MVP workers began removing a ladder on the tree where Grandma Red planned to sit, she began screaming like a petulant three year-old child. Her histrionics got them to stop. She subsequently climbed the ladder and is still perched up a tree. The bald truth of the matter is this: Regardless of this nonsensical display by (a) misguided locals like Grandma Red, and (b) movement anti fossil-fuel radicals, MVP is in the process of getting built and will be completed. Tree sitting protesters are not going to stop it. So let’s grab some popcorn and enjoy the show in the meantime!…
    Read More “VA Tree Sitting Continues in Failed Attempt to Stop MV Pipeline”

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    WV DEP Launches Information Website for Major Pipeline Projects

    You’ve got questions about major pipeline projects planned or under construction in West Virginia? The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection has answers. WVDEP has just launched a website to help residents learn more about five major interstate natural gas pipeline projects: Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline, Mountaineer Gas Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project, Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline, and Rover Pipeline. The website includes maps of pipeline routes, a searchable database for information such as inspection and enforcement actions and permit modifications, public hearing transcripts, and news releases. It’s all in there! Head on over to this page to get your questions answered…
    Read More “WV DEP Launches Information Website for Major Pipeline Projects”

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    Cyber Attack Hits Pipeline Computer System, Rover Pipe Affected

    We’ve read warnings about the potential for cyber (computer) attacks on the U.S. energy industry for several months. We understand how such an attack might affect a nuclear plant, or perhaps the electric grid. Screw up the computers managing and running a nuke plant or a significant portion of the electric grid and you have a class-one serious situation on your hands. However, we didn’t really think about pipelines. Did you know that pipeline networks, like electric grids, are monitored and controlled by computers and those computers can be compromised? We have to admit it was not on our radar screen. But that has now happened–and it affects not only pipeline systems in other parts of the country, but right here in the Marcellus/Utica. Energy Transfer Partners uses a third party service called Energy Services Group to manage all of its pipelines–a massive nationwide network. Energy Services provides EDI (electronic data interchange) services that reportedly cut costs and increases the speed with which companies exchange documents that used to be paper-based. Documents like those used in buying and selling natural gas at various trading hubs along major pipelines. On Monday, Energy Services was attacked electronically, knocking the service out of commission until further notice. Note that gas flowing through pipelines has not been affected. The affected computers don’t turn valves on and off. However, the ability to know who’s gas is flowing through the pipeline (who bought and who sold) has been slowed–on all of ET’s pipelines, including the newly-minted Rover Pipeline…
    Read More “Cyber Attack Hits Pipeline Computer System, Rover Pipe Affected”

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    Offer to Relocate Families Near ME2 Sinkholes; ME1 Down Until May?

    Sinkhole in Chester County, PA

    Sunoco Logistics Partners (aka Energy Transfer Parnters) has had its challenges in constructing the twin Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipelines across Pennsylvania. In March, MDN told you that underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work in Chester County had led to a third sinkhole developing in that area (see 3rd Sinkhole Appears Near ME2 Construction in Chester County, PA). For most of its length, ME2 is being built next to the existing ME1 (Mariner East 1), a liquids pipeline originally built in 1931. The third sinkhole in Chester County exposed a portion of ME1, leading to the state Public Utility Commission “temporarily” shutting down ME1 on March 7 (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). ME1 would be, according to Sunoco, out of commission for “10 to 14 days.” Nearly a month later it’s still not running and until the state Dept. of Environmental Protection gets solid answers about the sinkholes, it won’t restart. It now looks like ME1 won’t be operational again until May. ME1’s closure has put several shippers, primarily Range Resources, in a bind (see Range, CNX Look for Alternatives to ME1 Pipe Following Shutdown). Sunoco needs to conduct geotechnical studies near the sinkholes to get answers that will allow it to resume work. So, Sunoco has offered to temporarily relocate five families living near the three sinkholes–for up to six weeks–while it conducts tests of the area…
    Read More “Offer to Relocate Families Near ME2 Sinkholes; ME1 Down Until May?”

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    One MVP Radical Protester Arrested, Another Goes Up a Pole

    Click image for larger version

    First they went up trees to try and stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from getting built (see WV Judge Refuses to Eject Tree Sitters Blocking Pipeline Work). Now they’re illegally erecting poles for crazies to sit in. That’s what paid, radical protesters do these days: think up the most freakish, idiotic, outlandish stunt they can pull (or pole), in an effort to get publicity for their misguided cause. Not far from where radicals built tree houses in the Jefferson National Forest, a group of protesters gathered on a gravel access road, erected a 50-foot pole (held in place with ropes to nearby trees), and one of the crazies scampered up to the top to sit there (and is still there) in an attempt to block construction vehicles from passing down the road. The protesters on the road near the pole were ordered to move by the police. Most did, although one of them was arrested. As for the woman up the pole, she’s sitting in a makeshift shelter up there and refuses to reveal her name, nor will she come down…
    Read More “One MVP Radical Protester Arrested, Another Goes Up a Pole”

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    PA DEP Releases Draft Final GP-5 & 5A Methane Regulations

    Last December the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued “draft final language” for the proposed General Permit 5A (GP-5A) and the revised General Permit 5 (GP-5)–regulations that supposedly will cut down on fugitive methane from escaping from drill pads and pipelines (see PA DEP Signals Onerous New GP-5 & 5A Methane Regs Coming 1Q18). The onerous regulations, which for now only apply to *new* sources (not existing) were originally prompted by bullying from the Obama Environmental Protection Agency. Even though EPA pressure has disappeared under President Trump, PA Gov. Wolf is still pushing these onerous new regs. GP-5 applies to pipelines and compressor stations, while GP-5A applies to well pads and drilling. Following a flood of new comments, the DEP tweaked the onerous regs once again (for maybe the third or fourth time) and last Friday afternoon, when nobody was working or looking or caring, the DEP published yet another revised final final final final final version of the regs (below). Are they any better than previous versions?…
    Read More “PA DEP Releases Draft Final GP-5 & 5A Methane Regulations”

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    FERC Won’t Extend Atlantic Coast Pipeline Tree Cutting Deadline

    Two weeks ago Dominion Energy asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to extend tree cutting/felling season by an extra 45 days, from March 31 to May 15, in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina (see Atlantic Coast Pipe Asks FERC for More Time to Cut Trees). Due to restrictions for species like the threatened Indiana bat, tree cutting season is limited–from November 16 to March 31. ACP said it couldn’t meet the March 31 deadline due to a late start following state bureaucratic delays. In a presentation Dominion gave to North Carolina environmental officials a few months back, the company said if “we cannot start [pipeline construction] in time to ensure a full and efficient construction season and have to delay service by one year, the impact would be $1 billion.” Dominion maintains that worst case scenario has not yet happened. Following the FERC decision to deny extending the date for tree cutting, Dominion said they’ll shift things around and can still meet their contractual deadline of getting ACP up and running by the end of next year…
    Read More “FERC Won’t Extend Atlantic Coast Pipeline Tree Cutting Deadline”

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    Free Pipeline Training Course in April in SWPA & Eastern OH

    The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has previously offered a 100% free training program for those interested in a career building pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region (see 4-Wk FREE Training Program Helps Unemployed Get M-U Pipeline Jobs and Still a Few Openings for Free Training for M-U Pipeline Jobs in SWPA). GTI is offering the same training program once again in April, at two locations: Armstrong County Industrial Development Council in Freeport, PA, and Belmont College in St. Clairsville, OH. Each location is limited to 20 students. If you are interested and live somewhere within driving distance of either location, what are you waiting for? Sign up before all slots are taken! Starting salaries for graduates “often exceed $50,000” and can lead to careers with salaries in the six-figure range (hey, where do we sign up?!). We have the details of how to enroll for FREE in this valuable training course–a course worth $3,500…
    Read More “Free Pipeline Training Course in April in SWPA & Eastern OH”