Seems like everyone wants to build a pipeline these days. I’m sure
almost everyone has heard about the Keystone XL pipeline, and our
Mobile Group has done a good job of publicizing their opposition to
the oil pipeline to be constructed through a major water supply area
for the city of Mobile. But there are several other pipelines being
proposed for Alabama. One of these is the so-called Sabal Trail
Pipeline that would carry natural gas extracted through hydraulic
fracturing from Pennsylvania and Texas through Alabama, Georgia, and
Florida. The new pipeline would begin in Alexander City, where it
would join with the existing Transco pipeline (which extends from
Texas to New Jersey and Pennsylvania), and continue approximately
460 miles through southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia, and Florida,
to supply natural gas to power companies in central Florida.
Additional branches and expansion of the Transco pipeline make the
total project about 650 miles long. This includes the Hillabee
Expansion of the existing Transco pipeline in Alabama, from the
state line in Choctaw County, through Autauga, Chilton, Coosa, and
Tallapoosa Counties. Its purpose is to expand the capacity of the
Transco pipeline by adding approximately 44 miles in eight pipe
segments, or loops, adjacent to the existing pipeline. Several new
pumping stations would also be constructed along these pipelines.
The Alabama Chapter of the Sierra Club has joined with the Georgia
and Florida Sierra Club Chapters to oppose the Sabal Trail Pipeline.
Since the purpose of the Hillabee Expansion project is to supply gas
to the proposed Sabal Trail Pipeline, we also oppose the Hillabee
Expansion project, and consider it undesirable and not needed.
The proposed pipelines would cut a wide swath through pristine lands
with resulting negative impacts on endangered species, critical
wildlife habitat, invaluable wetlands, longleaf pine forests, the
fragile and irreplaceable Floridian Aquifer, streams, rivers, and
springs, and private property rights. If approved, the pipeline
companies would attempt to acquire easements through private
property in the path of the pipeline, and could use condemnation
proceedings through “eminent domain” to force unwilling
landowners to provide easements.
Furthermore, the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations
are also opposed to the hydraulic fracturing process by which
natural gas is extracted for transport in these pipelines. Although
natural gas is promoted as a cheap source of energy, its true cost
is not revealed. It is a fossil fuel that increases global warming,
and has a high environmental cost for production. Hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking”, is a destructive process of
drilling for and fracking of shale deposits that contaminates
drinking water resources in nearby communities, and requires
excessive amounts of water, which has become a precious limiting
resource in many areas. Fracking has also been linked to birth
defects in peer-reviewed studies. Thus the true cost of producing
cheap natural gas is not paid by the drilling companies, but is
passed on to local communities which suffer from degraded
environments, water quality, and property values. And much of the
fracked natural gas is exported to other countries. For these
reasons, many environmental organizations, including the Sierra
Club, have called for a total ban on fracking.
Another concern is that the pipeline companies involved with these
projects have poor records for safety and environmental violations.
Spectra Energy and its related companies have been fined repeatedly
for safety and environmental violations throughout the United States
including one fine of $15,000,000. Williams Partners, Inc., owner of
the Transco pipeline, has a poor record of pipeline safety, and has
had at least 35 reportable accidents since 2006, including the
pipeline rupture and explosion on December 3, 2011, near Linden in
Marengo County, Alabama. Fortunately this explosion, which
devastated 65 acres of forest land, did not occur in a populated
area where loss of life could have been tragic. Williams Partners
and other pipeline companies should focus on upgrading the existing
pipelines for improved safety rather than expanding capacity.
Florida, which will be the sole recipient of the fracked natural gas
to be transported through the Sabal Trail Pipeline, should expand
energy efficiency measures and solar power capacity rather than
increase its dependence on natural gas. And rather than approving
construction of new pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) should be promoting increased use of renewable
sources of energy, such as solar and wind power, and should also
encourage improved energy efficiency measures.
Additional information regarding these pipeline projects may be
obtained at
www.sabaltrailtransmission.com
and
www.ferc.gov.
Robert W. Hastings, Alabama Sierra Club contact for
the joint Alabama, Georgia, and Florida Sierra Club statement
against the pipeline,
and author of
a FERC ecomment against the pipeline,
was elected Chairman of the Alabama Chapter 9 March 2014.