Regulation

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    Rover (Again) Asks FERC for Permission to Finish Horizontal Drilling

    Yesterday Energy Transfer Partners, the builder of the Rover Pipeline, once again asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) if they could pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in a couple of key locations in Ohio, so they can finish phase one of the pipeline somewhere close to on-time. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. It is a critical piece of sorely needed infrastructure for the Marcellus/Utica industry. As soon as ET received approval for the project in February, they began building it. But they hit a few snags along the way, including an “inadvertent return” (i.e. leak) of 2 million gallons of drilling mud in a swamp next to the Tuscarawas River (Stark County, OH). Following that leak and other leaks, FERC told Rover to stop any new underground drilling not already under way (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). A few weeks later ET asked FERC if they could begin drilling again in a few key locations (see Rover Gets Serious About Mud Spills, Asks FERC for OK to Drill). But so far, nyet. Yesterday ET asked again, “respectfully,” to restart HDD drilling…
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    FERC Gives Dominion VA/MD/DC Pipeline Favorable Enviro Assessment

    In October 2016, Dominion announced a new pipeline project called Eastern Market Access Project (see Dominion Announces $145M Project to Expand Gas Supply to DC & MD). The project will beef up two compressor stations in Virginia, build a new compressor station in Maryland, and add a couple of pipeline taps near Washington, D.C. The purpose of the $145 million project is to deliver more gas to Washington Gas (and its customers), and to deliver gas to a new gas-fired electric power plant being built in Maryland. A Dominion spokesman confirmed for MDN that the gas will come from either the Marcellus or Utica plays. Some good news to report: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) for the project…
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    Pittsburgh Suburb Moves to Regulate Seismic Testing by H&H

    One of the first steps before a company decides to drill for shale gas (or oil), is to conduct a seismic survey–bouncing sound waves through the rock layers a mile or more down–to “see” what the geology looks like. It helps drillers target locations with the best possibility of success, which is a good thing for everyone (no unnecessary “misses” when drilling a well). One of objectives of the original Act 13 law passed in PA in 2012 was to provide uniform zoning ordinances for the oil and gas industry, so drillers don’t have to work with a crazy quilt patchwork of zoning requirements in every new town in which they drill. That failed when seven selfish towns filed a lawsuit that ultimately went to the PA Supreme Court, where the towns won the right to pass their own zoning regulations for oil and gas drilling (see PA Supreme Court Rules Against State/Drillers in Act 13 Case). So now drillers have to face different standards/restrictions/rules in every town where they drill. Thank you seven selfish towns! Huntley and Huntley is one of those drillers. In May MDN told you that H&H is conducting seismic surveys in Westmoreland County (see Huntley & Huntley Targets New Drilling in Westmoreland County, PA). H&H now wants to conduct seismic surveys in neighboring Allegheny County, in the Borough of Oakmont (suburb close to Pittsburgh, northeast side of the city). Because of H&H’s interest, Oakmont has (surprise!) proposed a new seismic survey ordinance. We have a copy of the 9-page ordinance below. Oakmont will hold a special meeting on July 3rd to discuss it…
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    Free at Last! EPA, US Army Corps Rescind Obama WOTUS Rule

    In May 2015 the Obama rogue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). Essentially the rule change redefined everything down to mud puddles (no, we’re not exaggerating) as being subject to the federal Clean Water Act. It was yet another attempt to bring oil and gas regulation under the purview of the federal government, a violation of the U.S. Constitution. In October 2015, a federal judge stopped WOTUS from going into effect while it’s litigated (see Sixth Circuit Court Stops EPA from Implementing WOTUS Anywhere). Eventually 31 states along with other entities filed briefs with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opposing the rule (see 31 States Ask Court to Dump Obama WOTUS Rule as Unconstitutional). A number of Senators and Congressmen joined the lawsuit (see 21 Senators, 67 Representatives Join Case Against EPA WOTUS Rule). You can see just how unpopular the rule was/is. So it is with enormous pleasure and pride we bring you the news that the Trump EPA and Army Corps of Engineers has reversed course, filing a new rule to rescind the Obama WOTUS rule…
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    Shell Gets Important Wastewater Permit for Beaver Cracker Plant

    It was more than six months in the making, but finally the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has granted Shell a permit that allows the facility to discharge wastewater and storm water into the Ohio River. Which may sound like Shell just got a permit to pollute the Ohio River–but that’s not what is happening. Shell is building their mighty $6 billion ethane cracker on a site formerly used as a zinc smelter. The old Horsehead Corp. plant held a permit that allowed the plant to discharge wastewater with some total dissolved solids (TDS) into the Ohio. When Shell bought the site, they also inherited the Horsehead permit for wastewater discharge. Shell filed a plan back in December with the PA DEP to modify that permit for the forthcoming cracker plant (see Shell Cracker Wastewater Discharge Becomes an Issue). So-called environmentalists jumped up and down like a rattlesnake had entered the room–but their showboating had no effect. After six months of review, the DEP has determined Shell’s wastewater request is OK by them, and will not unduly harm the environment. So last Friday, the DEP issued a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit amendment for the cracker plant. This is an important step, without which construction on the plant would not begin…
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    DC Court Tells Millennium FERC Can Override NY DEC Pipeline Delay

    An Appeals Court decision issued Friday has (in our opinion) HUGE ramifications for New York State and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that has been corrupted by political influence from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It also has ramifications in other states with overactive environmental agencies too. It is hard for us to overstate how important we think this decision is. The NY DEC has been corrupted and politicized by one of the most corrupt governors New York has ever had: Andrew Cuomo. The Cuomo DEC has unilaterally decided not to issue 401 water crossing permits for several federally-authorized pipeline projects, including Williams’ Constitution Pipeline, NFG’s Northern Access Pipeline, and a teeny tiny 9-mile pipeline Millennium wants to build from their main pipeline to an under-construction natgas-fired electric plant in Orange County, NY, called the Valley Lateral Project. Millennium took the bull by the horns early on, when it was apparent the DEC was following the same pattern of delay and then deny, suing the DEC (see Millennium Pipeline Sues Cuomo’s Corrupt DEC Over Expansion Delay). On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the lawsuit by Millennium, which at first blush may seem like a blow. But it was the reasoning and opinion of the judges in dismissing the case that may change everything in New York. The judges said there is no case because if, as Millennium says, the DEC is denying the water permits, FERC itself has the power to jump back in and simply override NY DEC and issue the permits. This is a BOMBSHELL decision. That is, it’s a bombshell if FERC (with a soon-to-be-in-place quorum) exercises its constitutional authority…
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    FERC Issues Positive Final EIS for Mountain Valley Pipeline

    As predicted, on Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a $3.5 billion, 303-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. In the EIS (full copy below), FERC says: “We determined that construction and operation of the projects would result in limited adverse environmental impacts, with the exception of impacts on forest….We conclude that approval of the projects would result in some adverse environmental impacts, but the majority of these impacts would be reduced to less-than-significant levels.” While a favorable EIS all but assures the project will get approved, it is not a final approval. A final approval will come after a full quorum of voting commissioners is in place–currently there are only two of five members sitting who can vote. Anti groups did their best to spin and smear the MVP project–all to no avail. All of their machinations, even with help from local anti reporters, amounts to nothing. This project is happening…
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    VA Sec Natural Resources Tells Dominion to Back Off re AC Pipeline

    A lot of communication (letters, phone calls, meetings) fly back and forth between a midstream (pipeline) company and regulatory agencies when an application is filed for a project. Particularly a project like the Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline, $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. Companies like Dominion send letters, make phone calls and meet with federal and state regulators, attempting to anticipate and answer questions and concerns. It’s a natural part of the process. So we found it interesting, indeed strange, that the Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, Molly Ward, sent a letter to Dominion back in April (just now coming to light) in which she tells Dominion to back off and that people in the agencies that work for her “will not base their decisions on requests or suggestions from an applicant.” The Roanoke Times, “reporting” on the letter, opens their article with this sentence: “Attempts by Dominion Energy to sway regulators in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline permitting process prompted a top official under Gov. Terry McAuliffe to notify the utility that state agencies would not heed those efforts.” So now, when a company attempts to provide information, perhaps anticipating issues and concerns for regulators, and reaches out to contact them proactively, that’s called an attempt at “swaying” and is somehow nefarious and underhanded. Should Dominion contact regulators to ask them to NOT approve the project? Ridiculous! Of course Dominion is going to try and convince regulators that the project is worthy/sound/needed/safe/etc. That’s their job! Why would Ward not want her people to hear directly from Dominion? Her people hear plenty from the other side, anti-fossil fuel nutters opposed to the project…
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    True Colors of Politicized NY DEC Evident on Agency Website

    The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGANY), sent an email last Friday to members alerting them to the profound bias evident for all to see on the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) website with respect to renewable vs. fossil fuel energy. It seems the DEC has been politicized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and now reflects his energy bias in promoting so-called renewable energy sources over fossil fuel energy sources. As IOGANY points out in their email (and as we’ve stated many times), nobody is against renewable sources of energy. They (and we) are, however, against the state choosing sides and promoting some sources over others, when it doesn’t make sense environmentally nor economically. IOGANY’s observations are compelling–showing just how biased agencies like the DEC have become…
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    Canadian Regulators Line Up to Support TransCanada Lowball Plan

    TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal last year to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. In October, TransCanada launched an open season to lock up customers for the new, lower-priced option. The open season was a bust because TransCanada insists on a 10-year commitment (see TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust). TransCanada revived their plan in February. The original deal required a 10-year term with a long-term tolling rate between C$0.75/GJ to C$0.82/GJ. In February, the advertised deal was for a 10-year term and a simplified single rate of C$0.77/GJ (see TransCanada Revives Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline). Although it looked almost like the same deal all over again with the same 10-year term and about the same price, TransCanada dropped a minimum amount to be shipped and is letting shippers opt out after five years under certain conditions. The changes worked (see TransCanada Says Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Worked, Shippers Sign Up). The plan needs a bevy of regulatory approvals, not only from the National Energy Board but also provincial agencies as well. Those agencies are now falling into line and giving their blessing, which has to happen by November 1st…
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    Radical Enviro Groups Ask FERC for Full Investigation of ET Rover

    Here is a short list of radical environmental groups that are despicable and loathsome in every sense of the word: Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks, Freshwater Accountability Project, Friends for Environmental Justice, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Iowa, Keep Wayne WILD, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Ohio River Citizens’ Alliance, and Oil Change International. They have dedicated themselves to stopping work on, and ultimately blocking, Energy Transfer’s (ET) $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica Rover natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. The problem, however, is that ET has given these groups an open door to pedal their anti-fossil fuel nonsense. Indeed, ET has given them an open door to block further progress on building Rover. How? By rushing construction that has led to a string of accidents and incidents, alienating the thin-skinned Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and a number of landowners. One of the accidents, perhaps the most prominent accident that’s been the focus for much of the radical’s efforts, was a 2 million gallon spill of drilling mud into a wetland near the Tuscarawas River back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). After receiving a tip, the OEPA tested some of the recovered drilling mud and claim they found diesel fuel mixed in (see OH EPA Says Diesel Fuel Found in Rover 2M Gal Drilling Mud Spill). That finding led the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to launch an investigation. On Wednesday, the radical groups we list above sent a five-page letter to FERC requesting a “formal and full investigation” of the entire Rover project. In other words, shut it all down and give Rover a detailed anal exam. Every day the Rover Pipeline goes over its projected online date, the company loses $10 million. If FERC agrees to the nutters’ request, well, let’s just say it’s not good news for ET…
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    Radical Enviros Now the Tail Wagging the PA DCNR Dog re Funding

    As they so often do, radical environmentalists are creating chaos and confusion–this time in Pennsylvania. As MDN reported, earlier this week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of Appeals, in a sharply divided 3-2 decision, sided with a virulent anti-drilling group, the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation, against the state in saying that any revenue generated from leasing and drilling on state-owned land MUST be used solely for conservation and the environment (see PA Supreme Court Hands Antis Partial Victory re State Land Drilling). The aim of the PA EDF is to disrupt Marcellus Shale drilling by any means necessary. This is one of those means. The three liberal justices who rendered the decision say the law is clear on intent–that money raised from leasing state-owned lands for drilling must be used for environmental purposes. Now the PA EDF is arrogantly telling the State of Pennsylvania that the money raised from drilling can’t be used for general operating expenses of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR)–the very organization that oversees the state lands and is in charge of said leasing. In the upcoming budget, due to be ratified by June 30th, PA Gov. Tom Wolf and the legislature had planned to use $100 million from the lease and royalty fund to “pay for DCNR’s daily operations or be transferred to another fund for statewide environmental and infrastructure projects.” But in an ominous threat, the EDF lawyer said spending money on DCNR operations “doesn’t comply with the court opinion on how the funds can be used.” Which begs the question: What in the world CAN you spend the $100 million raised from royalties and lease fees on?…
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    Mountain Valley Pipeline Final Enviro Impact Statement Due Today

    The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a $3.5 billion, 303-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2015, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners. The project has faced stiff opposition from landowners in both West Virginia and Virginia. Although the project is not yet fully approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the project did get a favorable Draft Environmental Impact Statement from FERC last September (see FERC Gives WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Provisional Thumbs Up). MVP had wanted a final Environmental Impact Statement by March 10th, but that didn’t happen. Instead, FERC delayed a final EIS until today, June 23rd. What happens after MVP gets a (presumably) favorable final EIS? Right now FERC doesn’t have a quorum of commissioners who can vote to allow construction to begin. However, the hope around Washington, DC is that the Senate will take a final vote on two new commissioners before the July 4th holiday. If that happens, FERC may well vote to allow MVP to begin at any time following a quorum…
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    RINOsaurs Enlist Help from Big Oil to Push Insane Carbon Tax

    A group of creaking, tottering old RINO (Republican in Name Only) dinosaurs (i.e. RINOsaurs) left the golf course long enough to lobby President Trump on the insane idea of a so-called “carbon tax” back in February (see RINOsaurs Lobby Trump to Enact Socialist “Carbon Tax”). Two of them were from the Ronald Reagan Administration–George Shultz and James Baker III, both former Secretaries of State. A carbon tax is nothing more than a way to slap a regressive tax on every citizen of the country–as if we aren’t already taxed enough. If you live in the great middle class of this country, you already pay close to 50% of your income in various federal, state, local, property, sales and other taxes. Add it up sometime, you’ll see we’re not exaggerating. A group of Republican “elder statesmen” (as fake news source CNN calls them) met with Team Trump at the White House to push this disastrous plan, calling it (be careful not to vomit), “conservative.” There’s nothing conservative about it. We thought perhaps that was the end of it, and the the RINOsaurs lumbered back to the golf course. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Somehow the old farts have now enlisted the help of some Big Oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and BP, to help push a carbon tax in the U.S. We have little doubt Trump will go for it (he’s not stupid, like establishment swamp dwellers around DC). However, we find it troubling that people in our industry are buying into the hype around man-made global warming, and see a tax as the potential fix…
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    Fixing the Nearly Unfixable EPA – Abuses, Collusion & Coverups

    The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been a rogue agency for years under the previous Obama administration. To be fair, the agency has been a problem long before that–pretty much since its inception. Now that President Trump is attempting to reign in the EPA by trimming its budget and focusing it on its original intent–to clean up America’s air and water–leftists are having a cow. In a devastating column published by Dr. Jack Rafuse, a former White House energy adviser, Rafuse exposes some of the egregious collusion and criminal cover-ups perpetrated by the EPA. Rafuse lays bare the swamp that needs draining at the EPA, providing justification for Trump’s actions in reigning in this rogue agency. This is the real news that fake newsers in mainstream media won’t tell you…
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    Duke, Piedmont Ask FERC to Extend Atlantic Coast Pipe Contract

    It takes a lot longer these days to get a big pipeline approved than it used to. In April 2014, Dominion promoted an open season for what would later become the $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. By September 2014, Dominion said they had enough commitment to move forward with the project (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). Little did Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas (now owned by Duke) know that in signing up for the project, it still wouldn’t be built more than three years later. True fact: It only took 410 days to build the Empire State Building, from the first shovel of dirt moved to opening the doors on the completed building. Some 102 stories high, tallest building in the world for decades. Nowadays it takes half a decade just to get a pipeline approved! This is nuts, folks. At any rate, Duke Energy and Piedmont have just filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend the contracts they signed to use Atlantic Coast because as of June 30, 2017, those contracts expire if the pipeline isn’t built. Duke is interested in seeing the pipeline get built, so they can use it…
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