Category Archives: EPA

FL Gov. Scott owned Spectra stock before his appointees backed Sabal Trail pipeline

Environment, EPA, Ethics, FL PSC, Florida, Law, LNG, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rick Scott owned or owned stock in both existing and the proposed new fracked methane pipelines to Florida, according to a reporter, which could explain why when FPL said “frog” Scott’s appointees jumped to approve the Sabal Trail Pipeline. This doesn’t seem right to SpectraBusters president Beth Gordon. Does it seem right to you?

Dan Christensen wrote for the Miami Herald 21 July 2014, Gov. Scott had stake in pipeline firm whose $3 billion venture he and his appointees backed,

“The proposed project will need state regulatory and governmental agencies to understand and support this project,” said the proposal submitted by FPL vice president Sam Forrest.

Gov. Scott understood. In May and June 2013, he signed into law two bills designed to speed up permitting for what came to be known as the Sabal Trail Transmission — a controversial, 474-mile natural gas pipeline that’s to run from Alabama and Georgia to a hub in Central Florida, south of Orlando.

Five months later, Continue reading FL Gov. Scott owned Spectra stock before his appointees backed Sabal Trail pipeline →

Spectra Pipeline into Southern Swamps –Earth First!

EPA, FERC, Florida, , , , , , , , , , ,

Opposition from the south end of the proposed pipeline route, from a group that has been opposing FPL fracked methane power plants since 2008.

Panagioti wrote for Earth First! Newswire 6 April 2014, Spectra Seeks Approval to Send Gas Pipeline into the Southern Swamps,

What would you do if a corporation got permits to build a time bomb on your land?

Rural communities across Alabama, Georgia and Florida are joining the chorus of people asking this all-too-familiar question.

But resistance to proposed fossil fuel pipelines has been growing… almost as frequent as the steady stream of disasters from existing pipelines.

New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, B.C., Ontario…. Each Continue reading Spectra Pipeline into Southern Swamps –Earth First! →

Pipeline EIA insufficient without interstate highway option –EPA

Constitution Pipeline, EPA, FE, FERC, Hazards, Law, New York, Pennsylvania, , , , , , , , , , , ,

If FERC needs to consider an interstate highway route for the Constitution Pipeline through Pennsylvania and New York State, it also needs to consider running down I-75 through Georgia and Florida for the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Just as numerous state and federal agencies insisted on that in New York and Pennsylvania, state agencies in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and the same federal agencies can insist on the same for the Transco -> Sabal Trail -> FSC 100-foot-wide gash to the sea.

Joe Mahoney wrote for The Daily Star 17 April 2014, EPA deems pipeline study ‘insufficient’,

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that a draft report on the environmental impacts of the proposed Constitution Pipeline is “insufficient,” and that a potential option of co-locating the transmission line along Interstate 88 “has Continue reading Pipeline EIA insufficient without interstate highway option –EPA →

What is FERC required to do?

Economy, Environment, EPA, FERC, Law, LNG, LNG, , , , , , , , , , , ,

What is FERC required to do to justifiy a pipeline certificate and eminent domain? John Peconom of FERC told me that federal eminent domain was justified by Florida needing the gas, therefore it was for the good of the United States. Peconom didn’t provide a reference, but FERC’s own documents say FERC is supposed to balance public benefits, which means somebody has to demonstrate those public benefits. Also, one-time payments to landowners may not be enough.

In FERC’s own Natural Gas Environmental Guidelines, GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT PREPARATION, Continue reading What is FERC required to do? →