PA DEP Arbitrarily Extends Comment Period for Atlantic Sunrise Pipe

Yesterday MDN pointed out that the battle to build the Williams Atlantic Sunrise pipeline is on–and your help in showing your support to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is very much needed (see It’s Time to Voice Your Support for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline). There is now a second front in which your help is needed–by showing support for the project with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP was supposed to have concluded public comments on water obstruction and encroachment permits related to the Atlantic Sunrise project on May 31st. But as they sometimes do, the DEP just arbitrarily decided to extend the comment period another 60 days–until August 1. No doubt because antis fussed about it. So it’s time to submit your comments of support to the PA DEP as well as FERC, to countermand what will surely be a tsunami of form letters coming from anti-fossil fuelers. Here’s how to make positive comments on Atlantic Sunrise to the PA DEP…
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A few weeks ago MDN brought you the news that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued onerous new regulations on capturing every last molecule of methane all along the route from wellhead to burner tip (see
“Unbelievably dense” is how we would describe the “leaders” of Munroe Falls, Ohio. Going back to 2012, Monroe Falls–a “city” with a population of 5,000–has been attempting to stop legally permitted wells from being drilled on private property within city limits. Munroe Falls ordered Beck Energy to cease and desist drilling activity claiming the driller had not secured permits from the city first (Mother May I?). The object was to never let Beck drill, to deny them the permits they would need to seek, so Beck took them to court and an Ohio appeals court struck down Munroe Falls’ “home rule” zoning ordinances as illegal (see 

Last week the federal EPA released a draft of its final Environmental Justice Strategic Plan for 2016-2020 (full copy below). The feds are now seeking comments, until July 7, which they will toss in the garbage can. The EPA is and remains a rogue agency–out of control and drunk on its own power (with a need to be reigned in). What is so-called “environmental justice” anyway? It’s coded language for screwing “rich” companies and giving the money to poor folk. The aims of the EPA’s enviro justice plan are: (1) radically expand “rulemaking”–which means enacting laws without the legislative branch doing it, and then enforcing the cockamamie laws they make up using their own thugs; (2) come down on state and local governments like a ton of bricks, forcing them to dance to the EPA’s tune; and (3) continue to use unrealistic standards to punish companies that dare to make money and provide jobs. That about sums up the EPA’s approach, in our estimation. The EPA gets to make up its own laws and then enforce those laws–bypassing Congress altogether. It is a gross violation of the U.S. Constitution. Here’s a copy of the EPA’s “justice” plan, along with a more “objective” (than we offered) description of what the EPA is attempting with this latest power grab…
Last week presidential candidate Donald Trump gave a speech on energy and energy policies at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismark, North Dakota. By all accounts, Trump hit the ball out of the park. Before a crowd of some 7,000 people, Trump delighted the audience with a pretty simple message: cut back on regulations that choke America’s exploration and production of energy–and frack a lot more. Which is contrary to “crooked Hillary’s” vision of enacting new regulations to the point that fracking will be banned (see 
There are precisely two counties in all of the State of Maryland that contain Marcellus Shale deposits under them–Garrett and Allegany counties, in the far western tip of the state. Maryland is currently under an idiotic temporary ban (see
Both Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) and Williams yesterday issued statements about their proposed/impending merger that say Form S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been ruled “effective.” As we so often point out, we’re not Wall Street wizards. From what we can determine, an S-4 is a filing between companies that propose to merge. The SEC is (we think) saying that the proposed stock swap between ETE and Williams can move forward, when and if the merger closes. That is, the SEC is cool with the proposed plan to merge. ETE points out there are still roadblocks to such a merger, and Williams continues to press several lawsuits to force ETE into the merger they (ETE) wanted in the first place. Below we have yesterday’s statement about the S-4 along with ETE’s continued “but but but” statement. We also include some interesting and insightful analysis from a writer on the Seeking Alpha investors website…
In the end, it was John Quigley’s own hubris that resulted in his demise as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. As we reported yesterday, last Friday Sec. Quigley suddenly resigned his position (see
In June 2015 then-Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Quigley, slapped Range Resources with an $8.9 million fine–the largest such fine ever levied by the DEP (see