Regulation

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    FERC: Constitution Pipeline Should Make Changes to Lessen Impacts

    From the beginning when it was first proposed, MDN has chronicled the journey of the proposed 125-mile Constitution Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from the gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA to central New York where it will connect with two major interstate transmission Pipelines–the Tennessee Gas Pipeline and the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline. We have an important milestone to report on the Constitution. Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal agency in charge of approving these kinds of pipeline projects, issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project (the Executive Summary is embedded below).

    In brief, the draft EIS, which is now open for public comment until April, says that the project as proposed does pose some threats to the environment, but that those threats can be reduced to “less than significant levels” if Williams, the builder of the pipeline, makes certain changes and takes certain precautions. FERC also said there’s no better alternative to meeting the energy needs for hundreds of thousands of people–that the Constitution is the best option out there for delivering more natural gas to the northeast in a timely manner. To do nothing is not an option, according to FERC, and there are no other pipelines that can do what the Constitution will do. This EIS was FERC essentially blessing this project–with certain conditions attached…
    Read More “FERC: Constitution Pipeline Should Make Changes to Lessen Impacts”

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    JLCNY Prepares to File Lawsuit Against Gov. Cuomo Tomorrow

    The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, a 70,000-member strong confederation of landowners who want to move forward with shale drilling, is slated to file an Article 78 lawsuit tomorrow against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens, and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah. As MDN previously explained, an Article 78 essentially forces recalcitrant (and perhaps inept) elected officials to perform their sworn duties (see JLCNY Lawsuit Imminent – But Not the One You Thought).

    The JLCNY is being given an assist with their lawsuit by the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Just two weeks ago the JLCNY put out the call to raise another $18,000 for legal expenses, and by golly, they got it…
    Read More “JLCNY Prepares to File Lawsuit Against Gov. Cuomo Tomorrow”

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    Q-Poll Shows NYers Think Cuomo is Foot-Dragging on Fracking Issue

    foot draggingThe latest statewide Quinnipiac University poll of New York residents finds a majority of NYers believe Cuomo is indecisive–that is, he’s intentionally dragging his feet on making a decision about whether or not to allow shale drilling in the state. A smaller percent still buy his line about “carefully evaluating” the situation. Translation: There are 32% of us living in NY (who don’t smoke pot) who know that nearly 6 years is long enough for a decision to be made. We can see through the transparently pathetic attempt at stalling for political purposes. Some 23% think Andy’s jest bein’ xtra careful (that’s the hippie greenies). Then there’s the 42% who don’t have an opinion either way–yet. Our best hope is to swing those people to the truth side of the debate.

    Here’s the latest Q-poll results on the topic of shale drilling in NY:
    Read More “Q-Poll Shows NYers Think Cuomo is Foot-Dragging on Fracking Issue”

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    NY Senate Bill Forces Cuomo DEC to Authorize New Propane Storage

    MDN has long chronicled the struggle for Inergy (now a part of Crestwood Midstream) to turn a depleted salt cavern along Seneca Lake, NY into a critically important underground propane storage facility–the only such new facility planned for the northeast. We’ve also told you about nutty protesters, like so-called “distinguished scholar in residence” at Ithaca College, Sandra Steingraber, who was arrested for blocking the entrance to the facility last year (see NY Protesters Arrested for Blocking NatGas Storage Facility). We even told you which businesses you should consider boycotting for their agitation against the facility (see Inergy: Boycott NY Businesses that Support ‘Gas Free Seneca’). One of the businesses in the list stands out: Pompous Ass Winery, run by…well, you can imagine.

    As MDN noted not long ago, the delay in allowing Inergy/Crestwood to begin using the facility to store propane is partially to blame for why northeasterners are now paying propane rates out the nose (see Northeast Propane Shortage – Andrew Cuomo Partially to Blame). Enough dithering by Can’t-Make-a-Decision Cuomo. NY State Senate Energy Committee Chairman George Maziarz, R-Lockport, has introduced a bill that requires the recalcitrant state Dept. of Environmental Conservation to get off the pot and permit the facility…
    Read More “NY Senate Bill Forces Cuomo DEC to Authorize New Propane Storage”

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    FERC Invokes Emergency Power to Force Propane Shipments on TEPPCO

    first time everLast Friday, for the first time ever, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency charged with approving transmission pipelines for oil and gas across the country, invoked its its emergency authority under the Interstate Commerce Act and directed Enterprise Products Partners to prioritize propane shipments on one of its pipelines that runs from the Gulf Coast to the northeast and Midwest (see map below). The Enterprise TEPPCO (TE Products Pipelines Company) pipeline handles various refined products, including gasoline and natural gas liquids like propane. The order directs Enterprise to prioritize propane shipments beginning yesterday or today and continuing for a week. Last Friday Enterprise told shippers it would inject 150,000 barrels of propane into its pipeline on yesterday (Monday) and 350,000 barrels on Thursday. Enterprise later said they are willing to continue prioritized propane shipments until Feb. 21.

    All of this is in response to a developing crisis. More than 20 states have declared a state of emergency due to propane shortages. In some Midwestern states, residents and farms are in danger of running out of propane. Does that justify the federal government stepping in? Did FERC also direct Enterprise to reverse the flow of the newly minted ATEX ethane pipeline that runs from the northeast to the Gulf Coast so it too can carry propane?…
    Read More “FERC Invokes Emergency Power to Force Propane Shipments on TEPPCO”

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    New SRBC Research Finds Marcellus Drilling Safe for Water

    This is fascinating–at least for those of us with an interest in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) which monitors and controls water withdrawals from creeks and rivers that empty into the mighty Susquehanna River (which eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay), has long been a model of how to properly manage the areas under their control when it comes to shale drilling. The SRBC stands in stark contrast to the dysfunctional Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) which is hamstrung by New York City influence–apparently beholden to self righteous and self important liberal fat cats like Gov. Can’t-Make-a-Decision Cuomo and Mayor Ban-All-Fracking Bill de Blasio.

    While the DRBC dithers, along with Cuomo, on whether or not to allow drilling, the SRBC forges ahead and does real science–out in the field–to ensure the water resources under their management are not being adversely impacted by Marcellus drilling. The SRBC launched a state-of-the-art Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network in 2010 to track water quality throughout the SRBC region. They’ve just issued a second, comprehensive report on their findings thus far (embedded below). And what are those findings? Marcellus Shale drilling is not/has not adversely affected water quality anywhere in the SRBC region. Huh. Who would of imagined that? Science yet again proves that shale drilling is safe for water supplies…
    Read More “New SRBC Research Finds Marcellus Drilling Safe for Water”

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    CSSD’s Andrew Place Talks About 3-Leg Approaches & Firehoses

    Eckert Seamans, the Pittsburgh, PA energy law firm that employs the former PA Sec. of Environmental Protection (and pot smoking proponent running for governor) John Hanger, hosted a morning breakfast meeting last Friday in Southpointe to discuss “responsible shale development.” Er, has it been *irresponsible* thus far? At any rate, three speakers were on the agenda for the breakfast conclave, one of whom was EQT’s Andrew Place–the interim and outgoing director of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, or CSSD (see Center for Sustainable Shale Comes Roaring Back (to Life)).

    According to Place, the CSSD takes a “three-leg approach” to the shale drilling issue. And although the public has heard virtually nothing from the CSSD since it’s founding until a few weeks ago when it came roaring back, Place said it’s been a nonstop “firehose” of activity over at CSSD HQ. From the breakfast meeting (that curiously didn’t include Hanger on the speaker’s dias), here’s more on Andrew Place’s comments:
    Read More “CSSD’s Andrew Place Talks About 3-Leg Approaches & Firehoses”

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    NPGA Asks FERC to Reverse Flow of ATEX Pipeline & Pump Propane

    There is a serious, some would say “dangerous” shortage of propane in the northeast, for a number of reasons. The ongoing, brutally cold winter is partially to blame (oh global warming, where are thou? we need thee now!). In what appears to MDN to be a case of sour grapes, the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), representing some 3,200 propane companies, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to force the brand new Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) pipeline to quite pumping ethane from the Utica/Marcellus to Gulf Coast and instead reverse the flow and pump propane from the Gulf to the northeast citing the propane shortage as the reason.

    Well, it is an emergency, right? Why do we say sour grapes? Because part of the newly online ATEX was an existing pipeline that used to flow south to north and carry (you guessed it)–propane. The NPGA and its members opposed losing that capacity and challenged Enterprise Product Partners, the builder of the ATEX, in court. They lost. So it appears they’re using the current “crisis,” which is partially brought on by high demand from the cold and partially lack of storage capacity, which is the fault of NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as an excuse to get the pipeline turned around, at least for a period of time…
    Read More “NPGA Asks FERC to Reverse Flow of ATEX Pipeline & Pump Propane”

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    PA Dems, DRBC Squeal over Proposed Cut to DRBC Budget

    The Delaware River Basin Commission suckling pig is about to have less slop in the trough to gorge itself on, thanks to wise oversight by PA Gov. Tom Corbett. The DRBC, for those who don’t know, is an interstate quasi-governmental agency made up of the states that are in the Delaware River Basin, including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey (where HQ for the DRBC is located) and Delaware. The governors for each of those states plus a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers make up the voting board of the DRBC.

    For years PA has borne the brunt of the funding for the DRBC–disproportionately–lavishing the DRBC staff with buckets of cash with which they supposedly do their jobs. PA has had enough. Time for the other states that profess to love the DRBC so much to pull their own weight, so Corbett has decreased the amount of money PA will contribute to the trough. And that has the pigs squealing, including Corbetts potential Democrat opponents for the governor’s chair and (not surprisingly) DRBC staffers who have gone apoplectic with dire warnings…
    Read More “PA Dems, DRBC Squeal over Proposed Cut to DRBC Budget”

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    3 Cheers for Groups Standing Up to Obama “Climate Change” Agenda

    When Barack Obama can’t convince his political opponents (or the American people) that his skewed views on an issue are the correct views for the country, he does what any good fascist does–he simply starts writing executive orders, bypassing the U.S. Constitution that grants lawmaking powers solely to Congress. He simply seizes power for himself. Dictators the world over have done the same thing for millennia. It’s still relatively new here in the U.S. where citizens used to have (gasp) individual freedom from oppression by their government. It seems that’s something in our past.

    MDN is not the only lone outpost to recognize the dangerous road we’re now on, and not the only lone outpost to recognize that for all of his platitudes about natural gas and “all of the above,” Obama’s talk is just that–cheap talk. He doesn’t mean it because his actions (via the EPA and other agencies that frequently overstep their bounds) contradict his words. Actions always speak louder than words. A small glimmer of hope has appeared. A number of business organizations–76 in all, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Gas Association–have banded together to oppose Obama’s planned power grab on the faux issue of “climate change.” They recognize they and their members are in the crosshairs of this administration and they’re not going down without a fight…
    Read More “3 Cheers for Groups Standing Up to Obama “Climate Change” Agenda”

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    Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste

    There are a number of problems to be addressed and resolved when it comes to shale drilling–issues like truck traffic, noise, lights at night and yes, wastewater and drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling). MDN has never shied away from discussing those issues–we need to discuss them openly and honestly for that’s the only way we solve them. Simply saying those issues are unsolvable and therefore drilling should never happen is an unreasonable and intellectually dishonest position, yet that’s what many anti-drillers do. Case in point: a single anti-driller’s objection to Washington County, OH company Envirotank Clean’s request to handle and blend semi-liquid drill cuttings that have low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity to make it safe for disposal at certified landfills ready to take it.

    Envirotank wants a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to begin accepting what is called TENORM, or technologically-enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material. In a self-defeating argument a single, solitary anti-driller who will no doubt recruit more to her side, says any amount of radioactive material is unsafe. We hate to tell her, but she may want to stay away from the local hospital where there’s lots of radioactive material–material that often sets off radiation alarms at landfills. Should hospitals ban cancer treatments because it produces TENORM material? According to her logic, yes…
    Read More “Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste”

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    Spectra Energy Files Formal Request with FERC for OPEN Pipeline

    When it comes to building a new natural gas pipeline, it’s a loooooong process to get the route planned and approved. Once that’s done, depending on how long the pipeline is, it takes a fair bit of time to actually build it. We started telling you about a proposed new pipeline project from Spectra Energy back in December of 2011 called the Ohio Pipeline Energy Network, or OPEN (see Chesapeake Investing in New 70-Mile Ohio Pipeline). We brought you an update on this interesting project last August (see Spectra’s OH Pipeline Project Advances, Sept 20 Deadline w/FERC).

    OPEN is an interesting project because it will build 76 miles of new pipeline that connects to the Texas Eastern Pipeline, and then reverses the flow on the Texas Eastern to carry Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from eastern Ohio to the Gulf Coast. The Texas Eastern will become a bi-directional pipeline, sometimes bringing gas north from the Gulf, other times sending it to the south to the Gulf. The new news about the OPEN project is this: Spectra Energy made their full, official filing with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) last week seeking FERC’s blessing to go ahead build it starting the new pipeline in December of this year. Here’s the story as reported by Reuters:
    Read More “Spectra Energy Files Formal Request with FERC for OPEN Pipeline”

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    Pass Me a Joint – Pot Smoking Coming to NY, But Not Fracking

    New York State Health Commission Nirav Shah apparently has no problem rushing his “research” and decision that New York State is ready for pot smoking–but dang, there’s just no telling how long it will take to figure out if fracking is OK for New York. That’s what he told New York lawmakers yesterday during budget hearing testimony.

    Whip out a joint–for “medical purposes” (wink wink nod nod)–and that’s hunky-dory with Shah. Lower everyone’s energy costs, create thousands of new jobs, take some of that nasty carbon out of the environment, and stick some coin in farmers’ pockets? Nah–a bridge too far for Nirav Shah (i.e. Andrew Cuomo). We wonder what they’ve been smoking…
    Read More “Pass Me a Joint – Pot Smoking Coming to NY, But Not Fracking”

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    CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away

    The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is concerned that fracking waste–both wastewater and drill cuttings–may end up coming to the state. So DEEP has asked CT legislators to consider a bill that will reclassify fracking waste as hazardous waste–even though the federal government itself doesn’t consider fracking waste “hazardous.” Apparently the DEEPers are afraid that those wily shale drillers will sneak across the border and contaminate the pristine wilds of CT, so they want to put severe restrictions on frack waste hauling with the aim of just keeping it away.

    Here’s the DEEPer story:
    Read More “CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away”

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    League of Liberal Democrat Women Voters Targets Fracking in WNY

    Recently the Portland Town Board in western NY held a special meeting to learn more about fracking. So who did they have present? Who did they find to present the facts on both sides of this contentious issue? That’s right, the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters. You know–that “non-partisan” organization? (Excuse us as we now pick ourselves up off the floor from laughing so hard.)

    The LO[LD]WV is, of course, extremely partisan, extremely liberal and extremely anti-drilling–so it’s no wonder the town board members in Portland (located near Buffalo), got an honest-to-goodness real western NY snow job…
    Read More “League of Liberal Democrat Women Voters Targets Fracking in WNY”

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    JLCNY Lawsuit Imminent – But Not the One You Thought

    court gavelLike all things legal–and like all things NY–this story is a tad complex, so please bear with us. If you have an interest in whether, and when, NY begins shale fracking, this is an important story. For some time MDN has told you about the lawsuit that has been prepared and waiting (for funds) to move forward by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY). Their lawsuit was to focus on “takings,” the legal concept that New York State has denied landowners the sovereign right to use their own property as they see fit–to lease it for shale drilling–and by doing so the state owes them just compensation for “taking” away that value (see our story from last April: JLCNY Provides Extensive Update on NY “Takings” Lawsuit).

    The JLCNY has changed legal strategies–that is the big news. Instead of pursuing the “takings” lawsuit at this point, which is a long, expensive legal process, the JLCNY has instead decided to change their legal focus to an Article 78 lawsuit. Sound familiar? Recently Norse Energy hired Albany attorney Tom West to file an Article 78 on behalf of their now bankrupt company (see Norse Energy Sues Gov. Cuomo to Force Release of Fracking Regs). By adding the voice of 70,000 landowners to a second Article 78 lawsuit, which is a legal way of forcing Gov. Cuomo, DEC Com. Martens and Health Com. Shah to perform their sworn duties, the JLCNY believes this new legal strategy will offer a more effective, quicker resolution to the long-standing moratorium (now in place over 5 1/2 years). We have a copy of the “demand” letter by the JLCNY to Martens, a press announcement and a fundraising appeal from the JLCNY below…
    Read More “JLCNY Lawsuit Imminent – But Not the One You Thought”