Category Archives: Alabama

Sabal Trail solar and wind misinformation

Alabama, Economy, Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Solar, Trees, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A few weeks ago John Peconom of FERC referred me to Sabal Trail’s comments on solar power; something about all the area you’d have to clear to provide as much energy as that 36-inch pipeline. OK, I’ve looked, and it’s the same kind of disinformation Georgia Power used to spout about you’d need to clear an area the size of Atlanta to power Atlanta with solar power. Nevermind you already have an area that size: it’s called Atlanta! Rooftops, parking lots, streets, etc.: plenty of room. And Sabal Trail’s disinformation completely ignores that solar power (and wind) are growing far faster than methane energy production. If this is FERC’s justification for eminent domain to get fracked gas to Florida, it’s a very flimsy justification indeed. We shouldn’t expect anything more from a company that would profit by that eminent domain. But we should expect more from a tax-funded federal agency that is supposed to represent we the people.

Bear in mind that all new U.S. electric generation in September 2012 came from wind and solar. In October 2013 72.1% of all new U.S. capacity came from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), using data from FERC itself. And FERC doesn’t even count the million solar rooftops that are going in.

In 10.3.3 Non-Gas Energy Alternatives in its Draft Resource Report 10: Alternatives (RR10), Sabal Trail correctly dismisses dirty and expensive coal, oil, and nuclear, and even hydro as major energy sources for flat Florida. However, what’s in there about wind and solar is just plain bogus. Continue reading Sabal Trail solar and wind misinformation →

FERC Notice of Intent for Environmental Impact Statement and Scoping Meetings

Alabama, Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Includes a list of Scoping Meetings in March 2014 (see SpectraBusters calendar), for all three pipelines: Transco Hillabee Expansion, Sabal Trail Transmission, and Florida Southeast Connection. On FERC’s website including PDF and Word used to produce the HTML below. -jsq

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC Docket Nos. PF14-1-000

Florida Southeast Connection, LLC PF14-2-000

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC PF14-6-000

NOTICE OF INTENT TO PREPARE AN

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE PLANNED

SOUTHEAST MARKET PIPELINES PROJECT,

REQUEST FOR COMMENTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES,

AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS


(February 18, 2014)

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) that discusses the environmental impacts of the planned Southeast Market Pipelines (SMP) Project. The SMP Project is comprised of three separate, but connected, natural gas transmission pipeline projects: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC’s (Sabal Trail’s) Sabal Trail Project in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida; Florida Southeast Connection, LLC’s (FSC’s) Florida Southeast Connection Project (FSC Project) in Florida; and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC’s (Transco’s) Hillabee Expansion Project in Alabama. The environmental impacts of all three projects will be considered in one EIS, which will be used by the Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether the SMP Project is in the public convenience and necessity.


This notice, which is being sent to Continue reading FERC Notice of Intent for Environmental Impact Statement and Scoping Meetings →

Judge lets pipeline company intervene in lawsuit

Alabama, Hazards, Health, Jackson County MS, Law, Leak, Mississippi, Mobile County, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stop the Sabal Trail pipeline early before it gets harder. Making a bad bet shouldn’t guarantee winning by legal judgment at the expense of landowners, methane pollution, and delayed solar deployment.

Gabriel Tynes wrote for Lagniappe yesterday, Pipeline company intervenes in lawsuit against Corps,

A federal judge has allowed pipeline company Plains Southcap to intervene in a lawsuit between Mobile Baykeeper and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, citing a rule of civil procedure permitting non-parties to step in to protect interests “that may be impaired by the disposition of the suit,” particularly those which existing parties “cannot adequately protect.”

Maybe the court should “adequately protect” the local watershed and drinking water supply from this kind of spill or worse: Continue reading Judge lets pipeline company intervene in lawsuit →

Watch Osceola County Commission live at 1:30 PM today

Alabama, Colquitt County, Economy, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, Health, Lee County, Lowndes County, Osceola County, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you can’t get to Kissimmee today, you can watch it live on the Osceola County Commission’s website. And if you can’t get to that one, the pipelines are coming up at four other county commission meetings in Georgia and Florida from today through next week.

In addition to local landowner Monica Martin, she says the local Thai temple will also speak, Wat Florida Dhammaram, Theravāda Buddhist Temple.

And that’s not all:

Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines, because of water, safety, health, fracking, property values, and other issues, and even county commissions in all three directly affected states (Lee County, Alabama started way back in May 2014) are having to respond to citizen concerns about unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and property-taking methane pipelines. Let’s go straight to solar and wind power!

-jsq

Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines

Alabama, Economy, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Health, Martin County, Orange County, Osceola County, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FPL and Spectra could lose, because many organizations and individuals don’t want dirty methane pipelines when we can go straight to conservation, efficiency, and solar and wind power.

Kevin Spear wrote for the Orlando Sentinel 19 January 2014 Pipeline to bring natural gas to state,

Florida Power & Light Co. is on the cusp of getting the pipeline it has long wanted to carry natural gas from elsewhere in the nation to Central and South Florida to run the utility’s power plants.

But the proposed $3.6 billion project, which FPL hopes to start using in 2017, has drawn mixed responses from even groups that are usually allies.

Among them, Audubon Florida lauds natural gas as cleaner than coal when burned by power plants, while Sierra Club Florida opposes the line as likely to ensure that the state becomes further addicted to the fuel at the expense of developing solar power.

Other negative reactions include:

  • Contention by many environmentalists that the use of natural gas on the whole — from drilling to consuming — is as damaging to the environment as the use of coal.
  • Concerns that the route of the proposed pipeline is potentially harmful to Florida wetlands and aquifers.
  • Criticism from some environmental groups that Continue reading Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines →

Dates and locations have not changed –Sabal Trail Transmission

Alabama, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Meetings, , , , , , , ,

Sabal Trail did all that was strictly required by FERC, so quit your whining, basically. The only new information is the list of newspapers STT used for advertising. People didn’t quit complaining, so later STT added a makeup meeting in Moultrie.

Filed with FERC 2 December 2013, Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits its Response to Comments Seeking Open House Meeting Information for the Sabal Trail Project under Docket No. PF14-1.

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC 2701 N. Rocky Point Drive, Suit 1050 Tampa, FL

December 2, 2013

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

Re: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC
Sabal Trail Project, Docket No. PF14-1-000
Response to Comments Seeking Open House Meeting Information

Dear Ms. Bose: Continue reading Dates and locations have not changed –Sabal Trail Transmission →

FERC: regulatory agency or marketing firm for pipeline companies?

Alabama, Colquitt County, Economy, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Marion County, Osceola County, Solar, Tallapoosa County, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Its name is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but lately it’s been sounding more like a marketing firm for pipeline companies. You can help fix that.

Bill Thompson wrote for Ocala.com 11 December 2013 about a meeting in Dunnellon, Florida, At open house, Sabal Trail presents plans for natural gas pipeline,

About 50 people attended an open house meeting held by Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, the energy firm that will construct the roughly 465-mile line for two of America’s biggest energy companies. The line will go through Alachua and Marion counties, among others….

John Peconom, project manager for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will have final approval over the pipeline, described Sabal Trails efforts at this point as “shaking the bushes.”

The company, he said, is attempting to identify — and mitigate, if necessary — as many issues as possible before filing its application with the government, which should come in about a year.

Peconom told me in Moultrie, GA 27 January 2014 that that last was FERC’s role. I wonder why Continue reading FERC: regulatory agency or marketing firm for pipeline companies? →

A 36-inch pipeline blews up in Alabama

Alabama, Appomattox County, Environment, Explosion, Florida, Hazards, Marengo County, New Jersey, Safety, Trees, Virginia, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The pipeline Sabal Trail wants to connect to, Williams Transco in Alabama, blew up in 2011, flaming a hundred feet up, heard more than 30 miles away, left a crater more than 50 feet wide, destroyed 65 acres of trees, fried five acres of soil into pottery, and launched a 43-foot pipe section as a missile that landed 190 feet away. The cause was never announced. There was no construction going on, so could it be corrosion? Do we want another pipeline like that?

TXsharon wrote for Bluedaze drilling reform 2 January 2012, Pictures: Acres of devastation from Williams gas pipeline explosion in Alabama

Williams did some pigging just before this pipeline rupture but they didn’t receive the pigging results until after the explosion. The word from the locals in Alabama is that Williams is now frantically digging up parts of this same pipeline in several different locations which could indicate the problem is not isolated.Williams does not have a good track record of pipeline safety.

Jason Cannon wrote for Demopolis Times 3 December 2011, No cause known in explosion,

A Transco natural gas pipeline ruptured at approximately 3:07 p.m. Saturday with an explosion that could be heard for more than 30 miles while shooting flames nearly 100 feet in the air for over an hour….

Continue reading A 36-inch pipeline blews up in Alabama →

Pipeline Opposition Mounts –Shale Property Rights

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

Spectra’s scent precedes it.

On Shale Property Rights 22 January 2014, Pipeline Opposition Mounts, Sabal Trail Pipeline – Spectra Energy’s Proposed Gas Transmission Pipeline Draws Citizen Opposition in 3 States: Georgia, Florida, Alabama
Spectra Energy Builds on its Reputation for Cynical Social Responsibility

Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE), the $5 billion pipeline and underground natural gas storage company, is now in a position where its reputation precedes it. When it holds community meetings to sell a proposed natural gas transmission pipeline, communities show up with pitchforks, figuratively speaking.

Despite airy promises about “stakeholder engagement” and commitment to “transparency and accountability,” word about Spectra Energy’s lack of responsiveness and ongoing problems at existing facilities is spreading to communities across states where it hopes to build more pipelines and compressor facilities.1, 2

For example, the Sabal Trail pipeline is a proposed 474-mile natural gas transmission pipeline Spectra Energy hopes to build through Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Current plans call for 7 large compressor stations along the pipeline route (to ˜push’ the gas through).

This is a joint venture between Spectra Energy and NextEra Energy, Inc. The contractor is Florida Power & Light (the key recipient for the nat gas). For details, see the Sabal Trail Transmission website: http://www.sabaltrailtransmission.com/

It did not take “interstate” property owners long to mobilize. Here is a link to their energetic website: http://spectrabusters.org/ and one for their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/spectrabusters

Lessons from New York

Spectra Energy’s track record leaves a negative brand image across many states and in Canada.3

The article continues with lessons from New York, New Jersey, and some further comments about actions in Georgia and Florida. This, for instance, from Clare Donohue, a founding member of the Sane Energy Project in New York: Continue reading Pipeline Opposition Mounts –Shale Property Rights →

Five compressor stations proposed by Sabal Trail and Spectra

Alabama, Dougherty County, Florida, Georgia, Marion County, Osceola County, Suwannee County, Tallapoosa County, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spectra proposes five compressor stations along its Sabal Trail Transmission gas pipe: Alexander in Tallapoosa County, AL, Albany in Dougherty County, GA, Hildreth in Suwannee County, FL, Dunnellon in Marion County, FL, and Reunion in Osceola County, FL. Why should we expect them to be any safer than the ones in Maine or Pennsylvania?

Alexander

Alexander City Compressor Station in Tallapoosa County, Alabama Continue reading Five compressor stations proposed by Sabal Trail and Spectra →