Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia
Politically Radioactive Joe Manchin to Reintroduce Save MVP in 2023
Last week U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, made another attempt to “shock” his permitting reform bill, a bill that would allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to finish up more quickly, into life (see Dr. Manchinstein Tries to Shock Permitting Reform Bill into Life). That effort died on the Senate operating table (see Manchin’s “Save MVP” Permitting Reform Dies (Again) in Senate Vote). AP is reporting that Manchin, who has become politically radioactive, will try again in January to get his bill passed.
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Last Thursday, residents who live near a natural gas compressor station in Brooke County, WV, asked WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) officials to address pollution and noise from the facility before recommending it for a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The facility is owned by Appalachian Midstream Services, LLC, which we discovered (after a great amount of digging) is a subsidiary of Williams. Nearby residents from both WV and Pennsylvania (which is located a few hundred feet away) showed up to ask questions about, and point out problems with, the Mountaineer Compressor Station, which has been online since March 2021. The compressor is also located less than five miles from the border of Ohio (the northern Panhandle area of WV).
In August, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (a confirmed shale energy hater who becomes Governor on Jan. 1), announced that he had finally bullied Energy Transfer into pleading “no contest” (meaning they don’t admit to a darned thing) in a so-called criminal case against the company for a series of accidents affecting construction for both the Revolution and Mariner East pipelines (see 
Contrary to all the blabbering by enviro-nuts, using natural gas reduces so-called greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon dioxide (CO2), and helps to achieve theoretical “net-zero” carbon emissions much sooner than by not using natural gas. Validere, a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) SaaS company, released a study on Friday that is eye-opening. The study looks at the climate benefits of building and using two Appalachia-to-Southeast pipelines–the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP, now canceled), and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP, on pause).
Spire Inc. is the owner and operator of the Spire STL Pipeline, a 65-mile pipeline that connects to and flows Marcellus/Utica gas from the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline in Scott County, IL, to residents and businesses in the St. Louis, MO area. Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a new permanent certificate for the pipeline to operate (continue operating). Both Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick and former NRDC lawyer and extremist radical Commissioner Allison Clements voted in favor of the permanent certificate–but not before they trash-talked it one last time.
Here’s something you won’t read on any other news or blog site: Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) failed to issue a final certificate to build and operate the Williams Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion project. The project is vital for delivering more Pennsylvania Marcellus gas to New Jersey and beyond. Williams CEO Alan Armstrong, in a strongly-worded letter to FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick in November, warned the project is in jeopardy if it doesn’t get a certificate now, this year (see 
Two days ago, MDN brought you the news that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, would make one more attempt to “shock” his permitting reform bill (that would allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to finish up more quickly) into life once again (see 
Last week MDN told you that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s latest attempt to pass a so-called permitting reform bill (that would save Mountain Valley Pipeline as part of the bargain) had once again crashed and burned (see 
In 2020, EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), sold *all* of its Marcellus assets, which were located in Bradford County, PA, to Tilden Resources for $130 million (see 
In April, a group of nearly 200 protesters from some 60 different wacko anti-fossil fuel groups turned out to protest a tiny 5-mile pipeline proposed in the Springfield, Massachusetts area (see 
On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold its last meeting of 2022. It appears it will be the very last meeting for FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick, who has been blocked from receiving a reappointment hearing by WV Sen. Joe Manchin. Without a hearing, Glick will be forced to step down after this year. Blocking Glick is about the only thing Manchin has done right this year. At any rate, at Friday’s meeting, the five (soon to be four) FERC commissioners will vote on a variety of issues. Two of the issues (projects) are vital to the Marcellus/Utica: a new certificate for the Spire STL Pipeline to continue operating, and a certificate to allow the Williams Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion project to proceed.
In March, MDN told you that the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project for work done near an apartment complex (see 
On Wednesday, Congressional House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (Republican from Arkansas) and U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany (Republican from Wisconsin) and Pete Stauber (Republican from Minnesota) sent a letter signed by 24 House members to both the House and Senate Appropriations (i.e. spending money) committees. The letter requests that any year-end funding package prohibits federal funding for the listing of the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).