Regulation

Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Sunoco Logistics

ME2 Construction in Lebanon County Stopped for 50 Gal Mud Spill
March 19, 2018March 19, 2018

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just shut down further drilling for the Mariner East 2 Pipeline project at Snitz Creek in Lebanon County, PA because of a 50 gallon spill of non-toxic drilling mud. This isn’t the first time the DEP has stopped underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work at Snitz Creek. Last November they did the same thing for a piddly 1 gallon spill (see PA DEP Shuts Down ME2 Drilling in Lebanon, PA for 1 Gal Mud Spill). In the parlance of today, leaking 50 gallons of drilling mud into Snitz Creek is a nothing-burger. Biased reporters like those at PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania make it out to be the environmental crime of the century. There’s more environmental damage from overfilling a gas tank at the local Sheetz that spills two gallons of gasoline onto the pavement than there is from spilling 50 gallons of non-toxic kitty litter (or toothpaste, or lipstick) into Snitz Creek. But there you go. Sunoco voluntarily reported the incident, and was promptly shut down at that site until further notice. Meanwhile, a few weeks ago a farmer in nearby Lancaster County spilled 100,000 gallons of manure into two creeks–with zero consequences. Why didn’t the DEP shut down the farm?…
Read More “ME2 Construction in Lebanon County Stopped for 50 Gal Mud Spill”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Approves NatGas Pipeline Under Potomac River
March 19, 2018March 19, 2018

Anti-fossil fuel nutters have been on a holy mission to stop a 3.5-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being built under the Potomac River by Columbia Gas (see Maryland Antis Oppose 13th Pipeline Under Potomac as “Dangerous”). The pipeline will be built to feed a larger pipeline project being built by Mountaineer Gas called the Eastern Panhandle Expansion–a pipeline to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Last week MDN reported that Mountaineer has just begun work on their project (see Mountaineer Gas Begins Work on Morgan County, WV Pipeline). We commented that Maryland, under RINO Gov. Larry Hogan, had not (yet) caved to radical antis and their pressure to block the Columbia project–which would be the 13th pipeline Columbia has built under the Potomac River (see Maryland Antis Oppose 13th Pipeline Under Potomac as “Dangerous”). Good news. On Friday Maryland (surprisingly) granted the necessary permits for the Columbia project…
Read More “Maryland Approves NatGas Pipeline Under Potomac River”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Ontario County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Tioga County (PA)

Empire Pipe Plans 2 Compressors in PA & NY to Move Marcellus Gas
March 19, 2018March 19, 2018

Click image for larger version

Empire Pipeline, the midstream (pipeline) subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company (based in Buffalo, NY), earlier this month filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build two new compressor stations along the Empire Pipeline–one in Tioga County, PA, the other in Ontario County, NY. Without building any new pipeline, the addition of these two compressor stations will allow an extra 205,000 dekatherms per day (or 205 million cubic feet/day) of PA Marcellus gas to flow through the Empire Pipeline system. The project, called Empire North Project, will provide much-needed natural gas for Upstate NY and Canada. It will also connect to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, so who knows? Maybe some Marcellus molecules will find their way into New England too. The gajillion dollar questions is, will the Andrew Cuomo-corrupted NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation try to stop this project as they have just about all other Marcellus-to-NY projects?…
Read More “Empire Pipe Plans 2 Compressors in PA & NY to Move Marcellus Gas”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Transco | Williams

FERC OKs Transco Garden State Expansion Phase 2 for Startup
March 19, 2018March 27, 2018

In April 2016, three Obama-appointed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners approved the $116 million Williams Transco Garden State Expansion pipeline project (see FERC Approves NJ Pipeline – More Marcellus Gas on the Way!). The project was created to address supply disruptions following Superstorm Sandy in 2012. By upgrading compressor stations and adding a new meter station, the Garden State Expansion project will supply an extra 180 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas to a new delivery point on Transco’s existing Trenton Woodbury Lateral pipeline. However, two towns in Burlington County, NJ (Bordentown and Chesterfield), where some of the work would be done for Phase 2 of the project, filed a lawsuit last year asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to overturn FERC’s previous decision to allow the project (see FERC Fights NJ Town Effort to Decertify Garden State Expansion). We’re happy to report the lawsuit was unsuccessful. We’re even happier to report that both compressors are built and as of Friday, FERC granted permission for both stations to come online and begin pumping extra Marcellus gas through the system…
Read More “FERC OKs Transco Garden State Expansion Phase 2 for Startup”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

FERC Grants Limited Rehearing Request for Constitution Pipeline
March 16, 2018March 16, 2018

There’s a number of threads to the ongoing saga of Constitution Pipeline, a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into New York State and from there, into New England. The Andrew Cuomo-corrupted NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) refused to grant the pipeline necessary federal stream crossing permits, blocking construction, in April 2016 (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). There have been a number of court cases and regulatory actions since that time. Williams, the builder of Constitution, asked the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) to overrule the DEC and allow construction to begin. In January of this year, FERC denied that request (see Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC). In February of this year, Williams asked FERC to reconsider their decision (see Constitution Pipe Files for FERC Rehearing, Then Back to Court). FERC has 30 days to rule on the rehearing request. If they don’t do anything, it’s considered an automatic rejection. However, on Wednesday (just under the wire), FERC granted a “limited” rehearing request–meaning FERC wants more time to consider the request before making a final decision. It’s not a “yes” that they will reconsider and perhaps overrule the DEC–but it’s also not a “no.” Which is a good thing…
Read More “FERC Grants Limited Rehearing Request for Constitution Pipeline”
Berkeley County | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Morgan County (WV) | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD | West Virginia

Mountaineer Gas Begins Work on Morgan County, WV Pipeline
March 15, 2018March 19, 2018

Anti-fossil fuel nutters have been on a holy mission to stop a 3.5-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being installed under the Potomac River (see Maryland Antis Oppose 13th Pipeline Under Potomac as “Dangerous”). They are trying to pressure the pusillanimous RINO governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, to block the project–a project from Columbia Gas Transmission (now part of TransCanada). Don’t tell the antis, but the pipeline system Columbia’s proposed 3.5-mile pipeline will feed is now under construction in West Virginia, just on the other side of the Potomac. In 2017, Mountaineer Gas launched the Eastern Panhandle Expansion pipeline project–a project to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Mountaineer’s pipeline expansion will be fed by the 3.5-mile Columbia Gas pipeline under the Potomac. There are three phases to the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project: Phase One runs a 22.5-mile, 10-inch-diameter steel pipeline from Morgan County to Martinsburg; Phase Two includes a loop to Charles Town; and Phase Three will build a four mile segment of pipeline into Martinsburg. The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection approved the Eastern Panhandle Expansion in February (see WV DEP Issues Permit for Mountaineer Gas Pipeline in Eastern WV). As of last week, work on Phase One has begun, on both ends of the 22.5-mile pipeline…
Read More “Mountaineer Gas Begins Work on Morgan County, WV Pipeline”
Dominion Energy | Duke Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines | Regulation

NC Republicans Slam Democrat Gov. for Approving Atlantic Coast Pipe
March 15, 2018March 15, 2018

We’re not quite sure what to make of this story. North Carolina has been, as we’ve long pointed out, nitpicking in an attempt to slow down (or stop) the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) from traversing the state (see NC Plays “Death by a Thousand Questions” with Atlantic Coast Pipe). Dominion Energy and Duke Energy are building the $5-$6.5 billion, 594-mile ACP–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina–reaching almost to the border with South Carolina. NC has a Democrat governor, Roy Cooper, whose administration has been hassling ACP for months. But then, all of a sudden, the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality issued permits approving the pipeline–which happened at the same time Dominion and Duke set up a $58 million fund “to protect the environment” in those counties where the pipeline will run. Sure sounds like a $58 million bribe to us, but hey, what do we know? If it gets the job done, it’s a cost of doing business, right? So now NC Republicans, who would normally be in favor of a project like ACP, are crying foul and launching an investigation into NC Gov. Roy Cooper’s $58 million “slush fund,” threatening to hold up work on ACP…
Read More “NC Republicans Slam Democrat Gov. for Approving Atlantic Coast Pipe”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

EPA Throws Bankrupt Philly Refinery a Lifeline
March 15, 2018March 15, 2018

In January MDN brought you the sad news that the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which operates the East Coast’s largest refinery on the banks of the Delaware River, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see Philadelphia Refinery Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). PES’ stated reason for bankruptcy is due to an onerous EPA requirement that refiners must blend in biofuel with gasoline and diesel, or purchase very expensive credits. PES can’t blend, so they must buy the credits, and buying the credits put them under water financially. Sadly, the Trump administration caved to the Midwest corn growers lobby and decided to uphold the Obama EPA’s onerous requirement to buy credits. But what’s this? Following withering criticism of the EPA, and visits to PES from luminaries like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the EPA has had a change of heart. The EPA has asked the bankruptcy court judge to waive $350 million PES owes for the credits (about half of the total bill). Will it be enough to save PES?…
Read More “EPA Throws Bankrupt Philly Refinery a Lifeline”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV DEP Orders Rover Pipe to Stop Construction for Violations
March 14, 2018March 14, 2018

Rover Pipeline is in hot water again. This time it’s not Captain Craig “Ahab” Butler from the Ohio EPA, but the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection. In a letter just released publicly (dated March 5), WVDEP slapped Rover with a “cease-and-desist” order, stopping all construction of Rover in the state, because of inspections in February that found 14 violations of water pollution regulations. The violations occurred in Doddridge, Tyler and Wetzel counties. Violations ran the range of leaving trash behind at construction sites to improper perimeter controls (no erosion devices installed) to failure to clean up the roads they used. In addition to trouble in WV, Rover is also facing new issues in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. In February heavy rains in the region caused “slippage issues” where the pipeline is being installed. Rover filed a report with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week to say it has eight crews working to correct slippage issues at six locations along its 51-mile Burgettstown Lateral. Here’s the latest on WV shutting down Rover, and Rover’s work to fix slippage issues…
Read More “WV DEP Orders Rover Pipe to Stop Construction for Violations”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

PA PUC Votes Thursday to “Ratify” Shutdown of ME1 Following Sinkholes
March 14, 2018March 14, 2018

Last week MDN reported that due to underground horizontal direction drilling (HDD) in Chester County, PA for the Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline project, a third sinkhole had developed. ME2 is being built close to the existing Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline. The sinkhole exposed a portion of the ME1 pipeline to the open air, which is why the head of the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) temporarily shut down the propane and ethane flowing through ME1 (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). The shutdown is for 10-14 days, which sent ME1 customers Range Resources an CNX Resources scrambling to find alternate ways to ship their ethane and propane (see Range, CNX Look for Alternatives to ME1 Pipe Following Shutdown). Tomorrow the PUC will meet and as part of that meeting, they will vote to ratify the action of PUC Chairwoman Gladys Brown in issuing last week’s emergency shutdown order…
Read More “PA PUC Votes Thursday to “Ratify” Shutdown of ME1 Following Sinkholes”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Introduces New Paperwork to “Save Time” on Permit Reviews
March 14, 2018March 14, 2018

We bet you didn’t know that a bloated, inefficient government bureaucracy like the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) can cut down on the amount of time it takes them to review permits necessary in the drilling process (like erosion and stream crossing permits)–just by changing the paperwork. That’s the claim the DEP is making. Yesterday the DEP released new paperwork–new forms to fill out–for Chapter 105 General Permit Registrations relating to water obstructions and encroachments. These new forms “will improve the quality of General Permit registration requests, eliminate unnecessary redundancies, and reduce review time frames.” Yeah, and we have a bridge in Brooklyn we’d like to sell ya…
Read More “PA DEP Introduces New Paperwork to “Save Time” on Permit Reviews”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA House Committee Approves 5 “Fix DEP” Bills – What’s Next?
March 14, 2018March 14, 2018

As we reported last week, this week the PA House of Representatives was due to host a hearing on a slate of bills aimed at fixing not only the slowmo way the state Dept. of Environmental Protection approves permits, but also roll back some of the egregious regulatory overreach in PA (see PA House Considers “Fix DEP” Bills at Hearing on March 13). The House State Government Committee met yesterday and approved three bills (out of five) to fix the DEP. Another two bills were previously approved by the same committee back in January. With all five common sense bills now reported out of committee, what happens next?…
Read More “PA House Committee Approves 5 “Fix DEP” Bills – What’s Next?”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

ODNR Proposes New Spacing Rules for Shale & Conventional Wells
March 14, 2018March 14, 2018

Yesterday the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, posted draft rules for changing well spacing for both conventional and Utica Shale wells. The new rules, which the public can comment on now (comments due by April 10th), will establish new minimum distances horizontal shale wells may be drilled from the boundaries of drilling units and new minimum distances from other horizontal wells. In our quick read of the proposed regs, it looks like shale wells must be drilled at least 400 feet from the drilling unit boundary line. There is no required minimum between shale wells drilled on the same pad as part of the same drilling unit. Below are the proposed regs from ODNR…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Orange County | Pipelines | Regulation

Court Rejects NY DEC Attempt to Stop Short Power Plant Pipeline
March 13, 2018March 13, 2018

Valley Lateral Pipeline map – click for larger version

The Andrew Cuomo-corrupted New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is now out of options in its quest to block a tiny, 7.8-mile pipeline that would connect the Millennium Pipeline to a gas-fired electric generating plant under construction in Orange County, NY. Yesterday the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition by the DEC asking the court to vacate two orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) allowing the pipeline to continue construction. Which means construction on the pipeline has restarted and will almost certainly be completed within a month. The plant the pipeline will feed, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Valley Energy Center, is wrapping up construction. Recently antis had a cow when they saw steam coming from the plant, part of the commissioning process (see Antis Apoplectic at Sight of Steam Coming from NY Power Plant). Before the new plant can go online, it needs fuel, which is why the Millennium project is so important. Now that the 2nd Circuit has rejected its petition, the DEC says it is still “reviewing its options” with respect to “next steps.” Frankly, there are no options and no next steps. The Cuomo-corrupted DEC has lost…
Read More “Court Rejects NY DEC Attempt to Stop Short Power Plant Pipeline”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov Justice Signs Bill to Guarantee 12.5% Minimum Royalty
March 12, 2018March 12, 2018

While everyone was focused on the passage of a co-tenancy bill in West Virginia (see WV Gov. Justice Does 180 – Says He’ll Sign Co-Tenancy Bill), another bill, with arguably more impact on both rights owners and drillers, quietly made its way through the legislative process and was signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice on Friday. We’re talking about a bill that guarantees that rights owners (i.e. landowners) will get an actual, guaranteed minimum royalty of 12.5%–regardless of post production deductions. WV Senate Bill (SB) 360 is now the law! The bill was proposed to counter what landowners say was a miscarriage of justice at the hands of the WV Supreme Court in the Leggett v. EQT Production, a case in which the Supremes (in a very unusual move) reversed their own decision from a few months before and allowed EQT to deduct post-production expenses (see WV Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Post-Production Deductions OK). While this is fantastic news for landowners/rights owners in WV, you can’t escape the larger implications, which is that there is now no reason (no excuses left) why the PA version of this bill, introduced for the past three consecutive two-year sessions (six years total), can’t also get passed…

Important Note: SB 360 does NOT apply across the board, to all WV leases. It only applies to limited cases, like Leggett v. EQT, which are “flat rate royalty leases.” See a further explanation below.
Read More “WV Gov Justice Signs Bill to Guarantee 12.5% Minimum Royalty”
Allegheny County | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Shell | Washington County

PA DEP Schedules 3 Hearings for Shell Ethane Pipeline
March 12, 2018March 12, 2018

Click for larger image

In February, MDN told you the Pennsylvania State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) had caved to pressure from anti-fossil fuelers with regard to Shell’s proposed Falcon Ethane Pipeline project (see PA DEP Caves to Pressure, Extends Comment Period for Shell Pipeline). Shell is working on an ethane “pipeline system” with two “legs” to feed the mighty cracker plant being built in Monaca, Beaver County (see Shell Working on 94-Mile Ethane Pipeline to Feed PA Cracker). The DEP advertised an official comment period for the project on Jan. 20, giving interested parties until Feb. 20 to file their comments–an entire month. However, one month isn’t enough time for anti-drillers to marshal the faithful to try and sink the project. FracTracker Alliance, an anti-fossil fuel organization, colluded with other groups to put the word out to flood the DEP with demands to keep the comment period open. The DEP caved and extended the comment period to April 17th along with three public hearings (circus freak shows), to give the FracTracker faithful time to mount publicity and legal offensives to try and stop the project. The DEP has just announced the dates and locations for the three public hearings…
Read More “PA DEP Schedules 3 Hearings for Shell Ethane Pipeline”