What is the Future of Pipeline Projects at FERC with Chatterjee Leaving?
Earlier this month Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, RINO, said that the July FERC open meeting (which happened two weeks ago) would likely be his last meeting. His term was supposed to officially end on June 30, but with no new nominee to fill his post in place, he has stayed on a bit beyond the end of his term. We suspect he’ll be out the door within a month. So what does that mean for FERC and the future of pipeline projects at the agency? Chatterjee’s exit portends big changes on the way, and most of them are not good…
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In June MDN brought you the news that three Democrat judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for a long-completed and flowing natural gas pipeline in the St. Louis area that flows Marcellus/Utica gas to residents, businesses, and electric generating plants throughout the region (see 
In June MDN brought you the news that Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline is being flow-restricted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA). Some 40% of the Marcellus/Utica molecules that flow through TETCO’s pipeline to destinations in the southeastern U.S. have disappeared and were predicted to stay that way until the end of September (see 
Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) had laid 31 miles of pipeline and had cut trees for 222 miles along the 600-mile route before Dominion Energy, the builder, decided last summer it no longer wanted to be in the interstate pipeline business, canceling ACP (see 
Increasingly ours is a world run by computers. Even in-the-ground pipelines are monitored and controlled by computers. The ransomware attack earlier this year against Colonial Pipeline, a pipeline that flows a significant amount of refined products (gasoline and diesel fuel) from the Gulf Coast where it’s refined as far north as New Jersey, was a wake-up call for all pipelines. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) heard the call and responded. In May the TSA issued an initial “security directive” requiring pipelines, including natural gas pipelines, to do certain things to protect themselves and the public they serve. Last week TSA issued a second such pipeline directive.
After deliberating for an hour, a jury in Chester County, PA declared two off-duty constables guilty of not filling out a tax form–a third-degree misdemeanor. The Chester County District Attorney’s case against innocent men hired to protect the Mariner East (ME) Pipeline project from crazy anti-fossil fuel nutters crashed and burned when the judge in the case threw out all charges save one. How much money did the DA’s office spend to convict two low-level constables of not filing the right paperwork? Somebody in that office should LOSE HIS OR HER JOB. Most likely the DA herself–Deb Ryan.
Yesterday MDN reported that Chester County, PA officials sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) asking the agency to immediately shut down flows along the existing Mariner East 1 pipeline for fear that new sinkholes related to Mariner East 2 work will develop and break an existing, older ME1 pipeline, creating a public hazard (see C
In March 2019 MDN brought you the news that Wood Group had been awarded a $34 million contract to build 28 miles of the 60-mile Risberg Pipeline from Crawford County, PA to Ashtabula County, OH (see 
Energy Transfer’s (ET) Revolution Pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania is the financial gift that keeps on giving–for the state of Pennsylvania. Revolution Pipeline runs through Bulter, Beaver, Allegheny, and Washington counties. The 24-inch gathering pipeline shifted and exploded in September 2018, just as it was entering service (see 
Because of recent sinkholes developing near the construction of the Mariner East 2X pipeline, Chester County, PA officials have sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) asking the agency to immediately shut down flows along the existing Mariner East 1 pipeline. All of the ME pipelines flow NGLs, mainly ethane (sometimes propane and butane). Officials say seven sinkholes have developed near ME construction *just this year* and they are concerned more sinkholes will develop and potentially crack or break an existing pipeline. One recent sinkhole swallowed a small tree (caught on video, below).
The people of St. Louis can call and thank the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) when their natural gas supplies and/or electricity are turned off later this summer because the Spire STL pipeline must shut down. In June MDN brought you the news that three far-left Democrat judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for a long-completed and flowing natural gas pipeline in the St. Louis, MO area that flows Marcellus/Utica gas to residents, businesses, and electric generating plants throughout the region (see 
How does this sound? You’d like a good job in the oil and gas pipeline industry, something skilled that requires some schooling. But you have a job now and can’t attend a class full-time and you can’t afford the tuition. If you live West Virginia, a huge opportunity has just opened up for you. TC Energy (pipeline giant based in Canada) is partnering with Kanawha County’s BridgeValley Community and Technical College to create programs to train future gas technicians for jobs that are expected to be in high demand in the next three to five years. If you live and stay living in WV, the 60 credit-hour (two-year) college program is tuition-free. Much of the work can be done online in a blended format–traveling to school for lab work only.
This is so tiresome. The Chester County District Attorney’s office continues to persecute two lowly Pennsylvania Constables for doing their job in warning off crazy anti-fossil fuel fanatics who approached a construction site for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. The DA’s office thought it could fool everyone with a catchy slogan, calling what the constables did a “buy a badge scheme.” What it was, was two guys working for near minimum wage who happen to have a badge, using that badge to keep people from hurting themselves. And for that, they’re being prosecuted by the Chester DA. Shameful. The case is being tried before a jury right now.