All posts by John S. Quarterman

Forcing dependence for information on the organization perpetrating this attack is unconscionable –Carol Singletary

FERC, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, Meetings, , , , , ,

FERC filing 20131230-4001 about a comment to FERC apparently at the Clyattville Sabal Trail Open House 16 December 2013. -jsq

Note to:FERC Docket No. PF14-1-000
Note from:John Peconom, Environmental Project Manager
Date:December 27, 2013
Subject:Comments of Mrs. Carol Singletary

The attached comment letter from Mrs. Carol Singletary was received by FERC staff at a Sabal Trail Open House.

December 5, 2013 Docket # PF14-1

Ms. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426

Dear Ms. Bose,

I am requesting an opportunity to challenge with your organization claims made on the December 4″ letter submitted by Sabal Trail Transmission. If their ability to continue forward is based on these claims submitted in this document, I am requesting a moratorium on STT ability to continue to conduct business in pursuit of this objective. We the impact property owners are requesting a meeting as soon as possible to present our concerns to FERC to review what recourse is available to address these concerns.

In the Bi—WeekIy Teleconference notes from December 2nd, it was stated that STT is beginning to exercise statutory rights in all three states where access has not yet been granted. Please provide exactly what are STT statutory rights specifically. How those rights will be enforced and implemented. I am also requesting what rights the property owners have and a detailed description of what and how they can be exercised.

I am requesting that Continue reading Forcing dependence for information on the organization perpetrating this attack is unconscionable –Carol Singletary →

SpectraBusters, Inc. board: all three states along Sabal Trail Pipeline

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, , , , , , , ,

Update 15 February 2014: Now six board members; see Board page.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PDF

Valdosta, January 16, 2014 —

SpectraBusters, Inc. has incorporated in Georgia with board members from all three states on the path of the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission methane pipeline: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

The five SpectraBusters board members include directly affected landowners and members of a wide range of groups affected by the pipeline:

Beth Gordon, President, doesn’t want a 36-inch pipeline through her horse farm in Levy County, Florida, where she practices law with The Gordon Law Firm. She filed a legal protest with the Florida Public Service Commission against the pipeline and spoke against it at the Levy County Commission, noting this pipeline is much bigger than previous pipelines or those that blew up recently in Oklahoma or Texas, plus the company behind this pipeline has a long list of fines for PCB pollution by EPA and for property damage, leaks, and negligence by PHMSA.

Larry Rodgers, Treasurer, Continue reading SpectraBusters, Inc. board: all three states along Sabal Trail Pipeline →

Monstrous pipeline more than one can be compensated for –Dante Acevedo to FERC

Brooks County, Economy, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 15 January 2014:

Dante Acevedo, quitman, GA.

I am a resident of Brooks county in southern Georgia. My property is being intruded upon by Sabal Trail, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy. Since the pipeline is “open-access,” it will encourage industrial development, including natural gas extraction, which will drastically alter the rural character of the community where I have lived for nearly twenty years and my grandmother for nearly 50 years. As no one else can represent my interests in this matter, I am filing this motion to intervene. This is a tremendously dangerous endeavor since it is going through a rural area with many homes and livelihoods. The thought of such a monstrous pipeline with the potential to create massive destruction and death outside ones door is more than one can be compensated for.

Furthermore, this pipeline proposal seems to dismiss Continue reading Monstrous pipeline more than one can be compensated for –Dante Acevedo to FERC →

Appeal to redacted FOIA –Beth Gordon

FERC, Law, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“If Sabal Trail and Spectra energy are not guilty of invasion of privacy, why isn’t the public need to know and educate equally if not more important?”

That’s the gist of Beth Gordon’s appeal of 12 January 2014 to FERC’s redacted landowner list in response to her FOIA request. Here’s more:

It is my opinion that there is no privacy interest in the mere name and mailing address of an individual, particularly where, as here, Sabal Trail and Spectra energy has already used them numerous times to send unsolicited letters, invitations, and demands to survey. If Sabal Trail and Spectra energy are not guilty of invasion of privacy, why isn’t the public need to know and educate equally if not more important? The public right to know who is affected, to become educated, and to understand what is at stake ought not to be left to a private energy corporation that stands to make millions of dollars by getting this project approved with the least amount of resistance from landowners. FERC’S refusal to release these names and mailing addresses ensures that Sabal Trail and Spectra Energy are the only ones with the ability to contact these individuals (which they have done numerous times) and “educate them” as to this particular pipeline project.

In the Act generally, and particularly under Exemption (6), there is a strong presumption in favor of disclosure.” Continue reading Appeal to redacted FOIA –Beth Gordon →

Sloppy FOIA redaction from FERC for Sabal Trail pipeline landowners

FERC, Law, , , , , , , , , , , ,

FERC took a week to not supply what was requested in Beth Gordon’s FOIA, and apparently if you’ve organized your property under an LLC, your LLC name is visible on the redacted list, even if that name includes your personal name. Whose privacy is FERC protecting, anyway, now that all landowners along the proposed pipline path have had their privacy invaded by the pipeline company?

Here’s what Beth Gordon asked for 2 January 2014:

A list of each and every landowner in Florida contacted by Sabal Trail LLC by mail to inform them that they are on, or may be on, the proposed pipeline and/or proposed survey map for this project.

Here’s what FERC sent back 10 January 2014:

A redacted version of the Sabal Trails landowner list that was submitted to FERC of October 4, 2013 in docket number PF-14-1 has been previously released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This document is identified in the FERC e-library as accession number 20131004-5123 (Appendix B). Please find attached part 1 and part 2 of this redacted list. Additional emails will be provided with the remainder of this material. We will also provide a courtesy copy of the public cover letter for this submittal.

Appendix B of 20131004-5123 is marked on FERC’s website as:

You don’t have permission to access this document.
This document (eLibrary accession no. 20131004-5123) is Privileged.
The public may file a FOIA request under 18 C.F.R. 388.108.

Here are the four parts Continue reading Sloppy FOIA redaction from FERC for Sabal Trail pipeline landowners →

Disney backs off fracking

Fracking, , , , , , , , , ,

Andrew Morris posted yesterday for the organization started by Lois Gibbs of Love Canal fame, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), Disney Finally Backs Down from Pro-fracking Collabertation with Oil and Gas Industry,

Radio Disney finally backed down from its pro-fracking school tour this week after a petition on CREDO Mobilize reached its goal of 75,000 signatures calling on Disney to cease its public support of the fracking industry. Pressure on Disney also came from groups like the Sierra Club, which called on its supporters to create mash-ups of Disney movies with oil and gas jargon.

In a statement to the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Disney said: Continue reading Disney backs off fracking →

Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie

Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, , , , , , , , ,

Perhaps in response to a complaint from a local landowner, Sabal Trail has scheduled a makeup “Open House” meeting in Moultrie for 27 January 2014.

Lisa A. Connolly filed with FERC 9 January 2014, Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits its Supplement to Schedule for Open Houses for the Sabal Trail Project under PF14-1.

On November 12, 2013, Sabal Trail submitted the date and location for an additional open house. Sabal Trail hereby submits the date and location for an additional open house that Sabal Trail will hold in Moultrie, Georgia.

Here are the specifics:

Monday, January 27, 2014
Holiday Inn Express
850 Veterans Parkway North
Moultrie, GA 31788
5:00pm to 7:30pm

This could have something to do with local landowner Continue reading Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie →

Landowner gains review against pipeline in Texas Supreme Court

Law, Texas, , , , , , , , , , ,

A huge transnational company has to justify its attempted use of eminent domain to a small farmer in Texas, so says the Texas Supreme Court. Somebody should make Sabal Trail and Spectra Energy try to justify their attempted use of eminent domain in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

Julia Trigg Crawford wrote 8 January 2014 for Tar Sands Blockade, Texas Supreme Court Favors Landowner Over TransCanada in Eminent Domain Case,

The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowner Julia Trigg Crawford, ordering TransCanada to submit information by Feb. 6 as the justices weigh arguments to hear the case regarding eminent domain abuse.

Texas’s highest court delivered a clear victory for pipeline opponents and landowners fighting TransCanada’s overreach on property rights. At the heart of Crawford’s case is the ability of TransCanada, a foreign corporation, to use eminent domain under the state’s “common carrier” clause since their pipeline transports 90% Canadian tar sands and 10% North Dakota oil. There is no on ramp for Texas oil therefore violating the definition of a common carrier under Texas law.

Crawford said she looks forward to her family’s day in court, “As a landowner, property rights are key to my livelihood and family legacy. A foreign corporation pumping foreign oil simply does not qualify as a common carrier under Texas law. TransCanada does not get to write their own rules. I look forward to the Supreme Court hearing our case and our plea to protect the fundamental rights of property owners.”

Here’s the Court’s letter in PDF on the Court’s website. It’s Case Number 13-0886, THE CRAWFORD FAMILY FARM PARTNERSHIP v. TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE PIPELINE, L.P.

That’s an oil pipeline, but the issues are the same Continue reading Landowner gains review against pipeline in Texas Supreme Court →

Methane pipeline rejected in New Jersey

Cape May County, Economy, Environment, FERC, Hazards, Law, New Jersey, Trees, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the same coastal plain that contains the Floridan Aquifer with our drinking water, a commission just rejected a natural gas pipeline that would have gone through a pine fire forest with blueberries and bobcats much like ours. FERC should reject the Sabal Trail pipeline.

Wayne Parry wrote for AP 10 January 2014, Natural gas pipeline for N.J. Pinelands rejected,

Pemberton Township, N.J. — A New Jersey agency tasked with protecting the ecologically fragile Pinelands region narrowly defeated a proposal Friday to run a 22-mile natural gas pipeline through it….

“This is a great victory for the Pinelands and the environment of the region,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Today the commissioners said the Pinelands are not for sale.”

“The Pinelands is host Continue reading Methane pipeline rejected in New Jersey →

Government has to pay eminent domain attorney costs –Brent Simon Law Group

Florida, Law, , , , , ,

Interesting tidbit on the website for Brent Simon Law Group, The Eminent Domain Process, COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS:

WILL I BE REQUIRED TO PAY ANY ATTORNEYS FEES OR COSTS?

Florida Statutes require the government pay reasonable attorney fees and expert costs. Although some attorneys may seek a portion of the money paid for your land or business, BRENT SIMON LAW GROUP is satisfied with the attorneys fee and costs which the Florida Statues require the government to pay based on benefit the firm obtains for the client. The owner pays no attorneys fee nor cost!

Given that landowners say Sabal Trail Transmission is sending eminent domain letters in Florida citing Florida law, with law firms like that there’s no obvious reason for any landowner not to retain an attorney to fight the pipeline.

This is one in a series Continue reading Government has to pay eminent domain attorney costs –Brent Simon Law Group →