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Columbia Gas Building New Gas Feeder Pipe in Cleveland, OH Suburb

Hinckley Township (Medina County), Ohio

We don’t have many details, but we’ll share what we know about a new natural gas pipeline project in Hinckley Township, Ohio (Medina County, a suburb of Cleveland). Columbia Gas of Ohio announced it will build a new (short) main line to replace a pipeline that connects to a current supplier that is going away. Columbia has some 2,400 customers in the area that are at risk of not having natural gas for the 2023-2024 heating season unless action is taken now to replace the supplier that is disappearing.
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Fed Court Rules Columbia has Right to Use OH Gas Storage Field

Medina, Ohio

In a phenomenally complex court case decided last July by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Columbia Gas (TC Energy) won the right to continue storing natural gas in an underground storage field near Medina, Ohio. The landowners, who claim Columbia owes them (more) money for using the land under their property, appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supremes turned it down yesterday, meaning the Sixth Circuit ruling stands.
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More of NEXUS Pipe Goes Online, FERC Approves Compressors

In early October NEXUS Pipeline, a $2.6 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Ohio into Michigan, received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin partial operation (see Yes! NEXUS Pipeline OK’d by FERC to Begin Service). NEXUS is flowing close to 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day out of an eventual 1.5 Bcf/d capacity. Last week NEXUS asked FERC for an OK to start up service at two more compressor stations–one in Medina County, the other Sandusky County. On Friday, FERC said OK.
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NEXUS Seeks FERC OK to Start Up 2 More Compressor Stations

Less than two weeks ago NEXUS Pipeline, a $2.6 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Ohio into Michigan, received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin operation (see Yes! NEXUS Pipeline OK’d by FERC to Begin Service). NEXUS has begun to flow close to 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day out of its eventual 1.5 Bcf/d capacity. NEXUS’ recent startup was a partial startup. NEXUS is now taking the next step. They asked FERC yesterday for an OK to start up service at two more compressor stations–one in Medina County, the other Sandusky County.
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Antis Continue to Fight Inevitable NEXUS Pipe, Change Strategies

Anti fossil fuelers committed to stopping (NOT rerouting) the newly approved NEXUS Pipeline in Ohio continue to pin their hopes on a meritless lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see CORNballs Strike Again, File Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline). However, just in case that doesn’t work (which of course it won’t), members of the Coalition to Reroute NEXUS (or CORN, folks we call CORNballs), have two more strategies up their sleeve which they hope will work. The first is to convince the Ohio EPA to deny a federal stream crossing permit for the project. That tactic worked in Communist New York State, so they hope maybe it will work in Ohio. Second, if all else fails, a couple of CORN members are running for the local town board in the districts where they live (in Media County). No doubt they plan to make mischief at the town board level, perhaps by introducing/passing illegal zoning ordinances to try and slow down or stop NEXUS…
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Landowners in Ohio Vow to Continue Fight Against NEXUS Pipeline

Some holdout landowners in Medina County, OH continue to oppose the coming NEXUS Pipeline, even after their suggested alternative routes (around their county) have been rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A few holdouts are vowing to continue the fight “until all of our resources and options are exhausted,” which may be very soon. Earlier this month FERC issued a positive Final Environmental Impact Statement (see FERC Approves NEXUS Pipeline, Project on Track for 2017). A positive FEIS almost always means it’s over–the project will get approved. Spectra Energy, the builder of NEXUS, expects a final certificate allowing the backhoes and bulldozers to begin sometime in the first quarter of 2017. Until that happens, there are some who will continue to fight…
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OH Company Buys Canadian Pipeline Coating Manufacturer

rpmRPM International Inc. is a manufacturing company based in Medina, OH. It is the owner/maker of such name brands as Rust-Oleum. RPM’s subsidiaries that are leaders in specialty coatings, sealants, building materials and related services across three segments. One of those segments is the oil and gas industry. So it’s no surprise that RPM has just bought out Specialty Polymer Coatings, Inc. (SPC), a Canadian manufacturer of high-performance coatings for the global oil and gas pipeline market. No details of the deal were announced, but we do know that SPC has annual net sales of $26 million. The upshot: another Ohio company will get more deeply involved in the shale oil and gas industry–just one more way oil and gas (and shale) benefits everyone…
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More Frack Ban Ballot Measures Coming to OH in November

voteA few days ago MDN told you about the fruitless efforts by anti-drilling zealots in Youngstown, OH in delivering a petition for a sixth vote on a frack ban measure for the November ballot (see Brain Dead: Youngstown Antis File Petition for 6th Frack Ban Vote). As we’ve pointed out, repeatedly, the Ohio Supreme Court has already ruled such “home rule” measures, if/when they get passed, are unconstitutional (see OH Antis Handed Crushing Defeat in Broadview Hghts Home Rule Case). Makes no difference. There are a number of other brain dead Ohioans in other communities too. Medina, Athens and Meigs counties have all had petitions filed for anti-fracking ballot measures in November, as well as the city of Waterville. There’s still an active petition being floated in Portgage County. Nutters popping up everywhere in the Buckeye State!…
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OH Antis Circulate Petitions for Bans Already Tossed by Courts

The Pennsylvania-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is a radical environmental group backed with Big Green money that exists to fleece local towns into adopting bans on fracking and pipelines. Last year we carried an expose of the group (see PA’s CELDF Unmasked as Troublemakers in Ohio Utica Shale). Much of their community agitating work is done in Ohio. Time after time their so-called “community bill of rights” initiatives are shot down by Ohio courts. The latest instance (and there have been many) was earlier this month when the U.S. 8th District Court of Appeals overturned the CELDF-created bill of rights law passed in the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights (see Mad Moms Hopping Mad Over Court Decision re Broadview Heights, OH). You would think towns would learn that a) these initiatives invariably are challenged and thrown out by the courts, and b) if the initiatives interfere with a local business that sues the town, the CELDF is nowhere to be found (see Anti Group CELDF Won’t Help Grant Twp Pay $1M Judgement). But there’s plenty of insane people–like those circulating petitions in Medina and Portage counties to get a CELDF-backed bill of rights initiative on the local ballot. The very same initiative already shot down by Ohio courts in other locations…
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Intervenor Contagion Catching on with Radical Green Groups in NE

Like a contagion moving through the small-but-dedicated anti-fossil fuel movement in the northeast, the strategy of filing as an “intervenor” in pipeline permitting is catching on. MDN first alerted you to this sleazy tactic being used by THE Delaware Riverkeeper back in October 2015 (see Delaware Riverkeeper Scams FERC in Review of PennEast Pipeline). In short, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has a process known as a motion to intervene. Individuals, towns and organizations with a vested, *legitimate* interest can file to “intervene” in a pipeline project application, which gives them special standing to receive updates from FERC and to ensure their views are fully considered by FERC. THE Delaware Riverkeeper and others began registering everyone–including their own children–as “intervenors” which essentially overloads FERC’s system and greatly slows down the permitting process (ses FERC Confirms “Intervenors” Slowing Down Pipeline Approvals). It is an abuse of the system–but then anti groups are no strangers to violating the rules, or laws. They revel in “catch me if you can” behavior. Intervenor abuse is catching in Massachusetts where radical greens are trying the same tactic to slow down approvals for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. Radical greens in Ohio are also using the tactic to try and slow down approvals for the NEXUS pipeline there. The intervenor contagion has now spread from PA to MA to OH, with no end in sight…
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OH Judge Rules in Favor of NEXUS Survey, Ticks Off the CORNballs

cornballsOn Tuesday a Medina County, OH judge ruled that the NEXUS pipeline does have a right to enter private land to survey it for possible routes for the pipeline. The judge said Ohio laws allow private companies to survey land for eventual appropriation (including eminent domain) as long as the company can prove it is an energy or utility company. The judge said the law is quite clear on that point–plain and simple to understand. The judge’s decision didn’t sit too well with the CORNballs of CORN (Coalition to Reroute Nexus pipeline). We’ve written plenty about CORN and their effort to “reroute” the NEXUS (see our CORN stories here). Although the group states their aim is to reroute the NEXUS away from northern counties in Ohio, what they’re really trying to do is simply stop the pipeline altogether. Every legal and political maneuver they’ve tried has failed. But that doesn’t deter the CORN faithful. They’re baaaack! This time the CORNballs are taking their fight to the state legislature, hoping they can get a law passed favorable to their cause…
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Ohio Supreme Court Keeps Frack Bans Off Ballot in 3 Counties

OH Supreme CourtWe previously told you about anti-fossil fuel groups in three Ohio counties–Athens, Fulton and Medina–who are being used by Big Green groups to attempt an illegal “community bill of rights” routine after the Ohio Supreme Court had already found local communities can’t ban fracking. They tried again and Ohio’s Secretary of State John Husted tossed the ballot measures (see OH Anti-Drilling November Ballot Measures Tossed in 3 Counties). That didn’t sit well with the crazies, who (beyond all common sense) filed an appeal with the (yes) Ohio Supreme Court (see OH Anti Groups File Lawsuit in Supreme Court re Home Rule Ballots). The Ohio Supreme Court handed down a decision yesterday, and it’s no surprise they ruled against the home rule ballot measures and in favor of Sec. Husted’s decision to toss them out. However, it wasn’t a clear-cut victory by any means…
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The CORNy CORN Maze from Ohio Anti-Pipeline Group CORN

cornballsYou really can’t make this stuff up. CORN–the Ohio-based Coalition to Reroute Nexus (as in the NEXUS pipeline)–is holding a CORN maze for a fund-raiser. Could anything be CORNier? Of course, CORN is not really about re-routing the NEXUS pipeline to another area–it’s about stopping it altogether. Antis have a hard time telling the truth. It seems to be a congenital flaw. We’ve previously written about CORN on a number of occasions (see our CORN stories here). We encourage you to skip this particular CORN maze in Medina County–you don’t want to contribute money or moral support to these trouble-making CORNballs…
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OH Anti Groups File Lawsuit in Supreme Court re Home Rule Ballots

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Example: Ohio anti-fossil fuelers repeatedly suing to achieve the right to ban drilling and pipelines in local municipalities. Earlier this year the Ohio Supreme Court struck down so-called home rule laws in the state (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). Anti-drillers, being manipulated by the out-of-state Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) attempted to get the very same measures on the November ballot in three counties, but those efforts were correctly struck down last week by Ohio’s Secretary of State John Husted as a waste of taxpayer time and money, because if they passed, they would be illegal (see OH Anti-Drilling November Ballot Measures Tossed in 3 Counties). What do the anti-drillers do? They file a lawsuit against Husted’s decision–in Ohio Supreme Court. The very same court that previously struck down “home rule” in February of this year. Yes, they ARE insane!…
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OH Anti-Drilling November Ballot Measures Tossed in 3 Counties

Anti-drillers in Ohio are persistent–we’ll grant them that. Local anti-drillers in three Ohio counties–Athens, Fulton and Medina–have been hoodwinked (are being used by) Big Green groups like the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), attempting to get so-called Community Bill of Rights measures on the ballot in those counties. Problem is, the Ohio Supreme Court has already ruled such measures unconstitutional (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). And yet, certain counties with high concentrations of wackos keep trying again and again and again–even though the very same type of measure has already been ruled illegal. What was that definition of insanity promulgated by Albert Einstein? “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That about sums up the latest efforts by Athens, Fulton and Median county anti-drillers. They’ve filed petitions with enough signatures to once again put so-called “home rule” measures on the ballot. But this time officials in those three counties appealed to the Ohio Secretary of State who has ruled, striking down the ballot measures. A small victory for sanity in Ohio…
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NEXUS Pipeline Sues for Survey Access, Wins Most of the Time

An update on a story we brought you one week ago. Last Monday MDN told you that the NEXUS pipeline, primarily a project of Spectra Energy, sued four Medina County, OH landowners who refuse NEXUS surveyors access to their property (see NEXUS Pipeline Sues 4 Medina County Landowners for Survey Access). On Friday, a Medina County Common Pleas judge rejected NEXUS’ request for a restraining order that would allow them access. The case goes to trial on September 24. But lest we leave the wrong impression, judges in just about every other Ohio county where NEXUS has had to sue for survey access have granted NEXUS the restraining orders they were seeking…
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