All posts by John S. Quarterman

Pipeline subsidence is Force Majeure –Florida Gas Transmission

Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Louisiana, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Force Majeure, or an act of God, in other words “not our fault”, that’s what a methane pipeline company calls the 25-acre sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. The same thing could happen in the soft limestone underlying all of Florida and south Georgia that contains our Floridan Aquifer, the source of our drinking water.

Found in Energy Transfer’s page for Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC under Critical Notices:

Critical Notice
Notice ID: 39957
Notice Type: Force Majeure
Critical: Y
Notice Status Description: Initiate
Reqrd Rsp Desc: No response required
Posting Date/Time: Aug 15 2012 1:57PM
Subject: FORCE MAJEURE, Southern Portion of the Chacahoula Lateral & Napoleonville Interconnect, Assumption P
Notice Effective Date/Time: Aug 15 2012 1:54PM
Notice End Date/Time: Until further notice
Notice Text:

FORCE MAJEURE, Southern Portion of the Chacahoula Lateral & Napoleonville Interconnect, Assumption Parish, Louisiana (Revision #1) Continue reading Pipeline subsidence is Force Majeure –Florida Gas Transmission →

Stop this rape of the “stakeholders” homes, farms, and lands –Sandra Y Jones to FERC

Economy, FERC, Florida, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 31 December 2013:

Sandra Y Jones, Moultrie, GA.

Sabal Trails Transmission LLC is attempting to install another 36 inch natural gas pipeline which will deliver 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida based on a need for more fuel to run a new power plant.

They state this gas line will produce enough power for 4 million homes. They state their Gulfstream line, which they own with Williams Company, delivers 1.26 billion Bcf/day to Florida and that is enough to produce electricity for 4.5 million homes. Florida Gas Transmission sends nearly 3 billion Bcf/day. This line produces enough energy to power 13.5 million homes. This amount of natural gas would collectively produce enough power for twenty-two million homes according to Spectra’s information.

The total population for Florida is 19.32 million and 2.58 persons live in each household. According to the US Census 2012 repost, there are 9,031,051 households in the entire state. Also of interest is that presently only 60% of the power produced in Florida is produced by natural gas.

There is no need for this new pipeline. Sabal Trails is misrepresenting the truth. In a state where there are only 9,031,051 households why Continue reading Stop this rape of the “stakeholders” homes, farms, and lands –Sandra Y Jones to FERC →

State pipeline safety regulations –NARUC

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

Did you know New York does not allow pipeline operators to downgrade any leaks while the federal government does not grade leaks at all? Washington state requires responses within 15 minutes for detection thresholds of 8% leak for full flow and no flow conditions applicable to hazardous liquid operators, while the federal government has only begun early discussions of this? That Kansas requires quality assurance inspection of all outside contractors, while federal regulations require only periodic workshops on quality assurance? Idaho requires NFPA 54 compliance before an operator is permitted to distribute gas, while the federal government does not? Illinois requires a full training program for operators, not just the minimum Operator Qualifications required by the federal government? All this and more from a recent report.

PR from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners 23 September 2013, Updated Compendium Details State Actions on Pipeline Safety, Continue reading State pipeline safety regulations –NARUC →

Local governments can restrict pipelines –Penn. Supreme Court

Alabama, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, Pennsylvania, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Alabama, Georgia, and Florida probably don’t even have a restrictive law like the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just struck down, so local governments in the states along the proposed Sabal Trail, Florida Southeast Connection, and Transco Hillabee Expansion Project pipelines apparently can pass restrictions on pipelines. As can state legislatures.

Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy wrote for Associated Press 20 December 2013, Pa. Gas Drilling Decision Leaves Future Uncertain,

The energy industry and policy makers in Pennsylvania, the heart of the nation’s gas drilling boom, are thinking about their next moves after the state’s highest court threw out significant portions of a law that limited the power of cities and counties to regulate the industry.

The state Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Thursday to strike down portions of a 2012 law that had been crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett and his industry-friendly allies in the Legislature.

The article talks about corporate “need”: Continue reading Local governments can restrict pipelines –Penn. Supreme Court →

Spectra wants to be closer to the community in new Valdosta office

Colquitt County, Georgia, Lowndes County, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The community likes to visit that building, with signs and chants.

Winnie Anne Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday, Sabal Trail Transmission Opens Office in Valdosta,

Valdosta—Agents representing three counties affected by the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline will occupy the new office on North Patterson Street.

The Valdosta office is not the first office on the pipeline’s route. Susan Waller, with spectra energy says there are multiple offices in communities that are hosting the pipeline project.

“Having a local office for Sabal Trail really gives us the opportunity to be closer to the community. The residents and the different land owners that are affected by this, in the study corridor, I think it gives them an opportunity to get to know our representatives, and I do believe it improves and enhances our relationship with the community”, says Waller.

And the community still has many unanswered questions.

The community visited that building at 2010 North Patterson Street, also home of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), to protest a proposed biomass plant in 2011 and a proposed private prison in 2012. Both times, the protesters won.

-jsq

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and LNG exports

Alabama, Economy, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hamilton County, Jackson County, Levy County, Madison County, Madison County, Marion County, Renaissance Project, Texas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The same U.S. House subcommittee that wants to export liquid natural gas is pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The two subcommittee members are from Alabama and Florida represent counties in the paths of two Spectra methane pipelines.

Ted Poe (R TX-02) of Houston, Chairman of the SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NONPROLIFERATION, AND TRADE of the COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES spelled out the connection to natural gas in the panel discussion for the hearing on The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Outlook and Opportunities,

Hopefully, we will change that and become an exporter, especially of natural gas.

This meshes with his remark hearing on natural gas exports:

The Department of Energy has not approved an application to export to a country we don’t have a Free Trade Agreement with in 2 years.

Presumably he meant FERC, which bills itself as an independent agency. The point remains the same: Chairman Poe wants more free trade agreements for more LNG exports. In his opening statement to the TPP hearing he spelled out that he considers the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be a free trade agreement: Continue reading The Trans-Pacific Partnership and LNG exports →

The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas –Ichetucknee Alliance to FERC

Economy, FERC, Florida, Hazards, Safety, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 17 December 2013 and on the Ichetucknee Alliance facebook group:

Lucinda F Merritt, Fort White, FL.

The Ichetucknee Alliance (http://ichetuckneealliance.org) opposes placement of any new natural gas pipelines under, over or through the 5.5-mile long Ichetucknee River, including the area of Ichetucknee Springs State Park, the area of Columbia County that is included in the historic riverbed (the Ichetucknee Trace), and any part of the Ichetucknee Springshed.

The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas for the following reasons.

The river and springs, including Ichetucknee Springs State Park, are Continue reading The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas –Ichetucknee Alliance to FERC →

Ichetucknee River Estates Landowners Association against the Sabal Trail pipeline

Economy, Florida, Suwannee County, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spectra’s Sabal Trail pipeline wants to cross either the Ichetucknee River or the Santa Fe River in Florida, and a landowners association where those two rivers meet doesn’t want that.

Morgan Watkins wrote for Gainesville.com 24 October 2013, Contracts for natural gas pipeline through Florida get initial OK,

Ichetucknee River Estates in Branford is one of the neighborhoods through which the pipeline is slated to run. Darryl Marshall, a neighborhood resident, is helping circulate a petition that opposes routing the pipeline through the residential community. The petition has around 25 signatures and he expects to have 70 or 80 by early November.

Marshall, a retired police officer, is worried about the impact on local wildlife as well as on the community as a whole.

“When I retired, I wanted to go Continue reading Ichetucknee River Estates Landowners Association against the Sabal Trail pipeline →

Florida and Georgia members of FERC’s House Subcommittee

FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cathy Castor (FL-14) and John Barrow (GA-12) are on the oversight committee for FERC that had all the FERC Commissioners testify 5 December 2013: the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Shouldn’t they be interested in hearing about the Sabal Trail pipeline? Each time someone files a comment with FERC, the filer could also send it to that subcommittee or their member of it, or their own member of Congress or Senators.

Unlike the other subcommittee that held a hearing pushing LNG exports, the Subcommittee on Energy and Power has the appropriate jurisdiction:

Jurisdiction:

National energy policy; fossil energy; renewable energy; nuclear energy; nuclear facilities; the Department of Energy; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; synthetic and alternative fuels; energy conservation; energy information; utility issues; interstate energy compacts; energy generation, marketing, reliability, transmission, siting, exploration, production, efficiency, cybersecurity, and ratemaking for all generated power; pipelines; the Clean Air Act and air emissions; all laws, programs, and government activities affecting energy matters, including all aspects of the above-referenced jurisdiction related to the Department of Homeland Security.

Not only fossil energy, also renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Not only utility issues, but also interstate energy compacts. Not only pipelines, but also the Clean Air Act and air emissions.

Here’s the subcommittee membership: Continue reading Florida and Georgia members of FERC’s House Subcommittee →

Spectra still leaving questions unanswered

Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Lowndes County, Madison County, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s how Spectra’s VP of Stakeholder Outreach Susan Waller actually implements her assertion quoted in the Valdosta Daily Times Tuesday.

“I want stakeholders to talk to us. They have to ask the questions so we can answer them,” Waller said. “Keep talking. Don’t shut down.”

When I asked the FERC representatives at the Madison County meeting how to get Spectra to answer questions, they said file comments with FERC.

-jsq