Category Archives: FERC

Inadequate insurance and safety plus eminent domain and environmental destruction by Sabal Trail –OSFR

July 22, 2014Alabama, Climate Change, Economy, Environment, Ethics, Explosion, FERC, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, History, Law, Leak, LNG, Noise, PHMSA, Safety, Suwannee County, WaterAlabama, Andrea Grover, eminent domain, environment, Ethics, explosion, export, FERC, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, insurance, leak, LNG, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, OSFR, Our Santa Fe River, PHMSA, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, Suwannee County, transparency, WaterJohn S. Quarterman

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson of Our Santa Fe River sent this letter yesterday to the same newspapers Sabal Trail has been in recently. -jsq

Sabal Trail’s spokesperson distributing large quantities of disinformation

“Safety, public input, federal monitoring, jobs, tax revenue, exceed federal safety requirements, reliability, affordable, clean, thorough review, latest proven technologies:” these are all good little meta tags and nice sounding words and phrases used by Andrea Grover, public relations employee for Sabal Trail, in her recent editorial about that company’s proposed natural gas pipeline which was carried by newspapers in the southeastern United States.

But let us point out a few facts that this editorial fails to mention. There were plenty of public input meetings (we attended seven of these, and we read the minutes from others) and the input was overwhelmingly negative. Issues of concern include Continue reading Inadequate insurance and safety plus eminent domain and environmental destruction by Sabal Trail –OSFR →

Come and Take It: Make the pipeline company have to use eminent domain

July 22, 2014Constitution Pipeline, Economy, Environment, EPA, Ethics, FERC, Georgia, History, Law, Lee County, Liberty CountyBattle of Gonzales, British, Come and Take It, FERC, Fort Morris, Georgia, History, invasion, Johm McIntosh, Law, Lee County, Leonidas, Liberty County, Mexicans, Persians, Sparta, SpectraBusters, ThermopylaeJohn S. Quarterman

Call the pipeline company’s bluff, says one landowner, and and at worst you’ll get a much better offer. At best, if enough people do it, the pipeline will become too expensive and won’t get built. Like the Texians at Gonzales, the Georgians at Fort Morris, and the Spartans at Thermopylae, we can stop an invasion, this time by peaceful means. Come and Take It!

Chip Northrup wrote for No Fracking Way 8 July 2013, COME AND TAKE IT — Why Forcing a Condemnation Is The Best Option,

Here is my laypersons view:
IF I SIGN:
1) I give away my right to sue.
2) I enter into a business deal with unknown future liabilities.
3) I have continuing extra insurance expense.

BY TELLING THEM to TAKE MY LAND: Continue reading Come and Take It: Make the pipeline company have to use eminent domain →

Community Bill of Rights against pipelines

July 20, 2014FERC, Law, PennsylvaniaAtlantic Sunrise Pipeline Project, CELDF, Community Bill of Rights, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, corruption, FERC, FPL, Law, Sane Energy Project, Shale Justice Coalition, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Williams Company, zoningJohn S. Quarterman

Local governments can fight pipelines, even though FERC is funded by the companies it regulates and basically acts as a marketing firm for them, which is why FERC has only denied two pipelines. Pass a community bill of rights. And dare Spectra or FPL or Williams or whoever to challenge it in court.

John Trallo wrote for Sane Energy Project 7 July 2014, FERC and the Regulatory Trap

That is not to say that citizens should not get involved with the FERC regulatory process. You should, to get on record. You just have to also act outside the FERC process on the local municipality level to zone it out, or make it too expensive for the operator.

The ideal way to stop pipelines is by establishing a Community Bill of Rights that essentially “zones out” this kind of activity, or restricts it and establishes safety standards and set-backs in such a way that it is no longer economically worthwhile for an operator to build. The concept of a Community Bill of Rights has been championed by Continue reading Community Bill of Rights against pipelines →

Arrests at anti-fracking FERC sit-in protest

July 20, 2014FERC, Law, LNG, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginiaarrest, ccan, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Cove Point, DC, FERC, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Politics, protest, Sane Energy Project, sit-in, SpectraBusters, VirginiaJohn S. Quarterman

225 years after the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, an activist dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a French gift to the United States, was one of 24 arrested in front of FERC, protesting fracking, pipelines, and LNG export.

Brandon Baker wrote for EcoWatch 14 July 2014, 24 Anti-Fracking Activists Arrested in Washington at First-Ever FERC Sit-In Protest,

Twenty-four anti-fracking activists were arrested Monday morning in Washington D.C. in protest of proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the U.S., according to environmental groups tweeting from the scene.

The protest centered on Cove Point, an export terminal that Continue reading Arrests at anti-fracking FERC sit-in protest →

March on FERC against Cove Point LNG exports 2014-07-13

July 20, 2014FERC, Law, LNG, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginiaccan, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Cove Point, DC, FERC, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Politics, Sane Energy Project, SpectraBusters, VirginiaJohn S. Quarterman

Opposition to fracking, pipelines, and LNG export is nationwide and growing. One week ago, activists from Maryland, DC, and Virginia marched on Washington to demand an end to plans for exporting fracked methane from Maryland.

Mike Tidwell wrote for Chesapeake Climate Action Network (ccan) 15 July 2014, ALL ABOUT UNITY: THANK YOU AND ONWARD FROM THE STOP GAS EXPORTS RALLY,

Wow. On Sunday, the heat scorching the streets of DC was palpable. But, even more so, was the passion and power of our movement. THANKS to everyone who turned out to say NO to fracking, NO to gas exports at Cove Point, NO to runaway climate change, and YES to real clean energy solutions.

Click here to check out all the photos on Facebook, and share them to spread the word!

We know the gas industry is all about division — blasting apart the rock beneath our earth, running pipelines through our towns, and further disrupting our fragile climate — now to ship the gas overseas for higher profit.
Continue reading March on FERC against Cove Point LNG exports 2014-07-13 →

The evitability of Andrea Grover’s fracked methane pipeline

July 14, 2014Colquitt County, Economy, FERC, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Law, LNG, Orange County, Solar, Suwannee CountyAndrea Grover, Colquitt County, Economy, eminent domain, FERC, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Landowner, Law, LNG, open-access, Orange County, permits, Sabal Trail Transmission, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Suwannee County, taxes, trespassJohn S. Quarterman

If they can’t even survey for it, they can’t build it, which may be why Andrea Grover just chanted desperately in three newspapers “the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline is moving forward.” Nevermind almost everyone who has spoken up about it is against it. She didn’t say anything about taking your land for for profit for her company in Houston and for LNG export that would raise U.S. natural gas prices. But one thing she did say is why that can happen with no further permits if this pipeline should go forward.

Almost everybody opposed the pipeline at the “more than 50 open houses and public meetings” Ms. Grover bragged about in the Orlando Sentinel, in the Suwannee Democrat, and in the Moultrie Observer. She didn’t mention that opposition, but you can see it for yourself in these Continue reading The evitability of Andrea Grover’s fracked methane pipeline →

My son was killed in a pipeline explosion –Paul W. McCorkle

July 7, 2014Explosion, FERC, Hazards, PHMSA, Solarexplosion, FERC, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, NTSB, PHMSA, Sabal Trail Transmmission, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

A comment on Other Hazards 30 June 2014:

My son was killed in a pipeline explosion 7-5-10. There are many old lines that are only a few inches in the ground, because of years because of top cover erosion. A shallow covered gas line is more dangerous than an exposed one!!! This was the case of my accident. After the accident, several lines in my immediate area were found to be totally exposed!!! What about the ones that are not covered to the proper depth and are seldom inspected. The federal pipeline administration is a joke. They have no idea how to do their own investigation, the rely on the pipeline companies to tell them what happened or what to do. As it has been said, THE PIPELINE COMPANIES ARE FUNDING TO MUCH MONEY TO THE AGENCIES THAT REGULATE THEM.

Paul W. McCorkle

For those who have not heard about that very unfortunate event, WDRW.com wrote 5 July 2010, Continue reading My son was killed in a pipeline explosion –Paul W. McCorkle →

Elba Island, GA LNG export

July 5, 2014Chatham County, Effingham County, FERC, Georgia, LNGChatham County, Effingham County, El Paso Pipeline Partners, FERC, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, KinderMorgan, LNG, Sabal Trail Transmission, Shell, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

In case you thought LNG export was only for Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Massachusetts, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, the fossil fuel companies want to push fracked methane out through Georgia, too. KinderMorgan’s Elba Island LNG export terminal, with its north-to-south Elba Island Express pipeline project, is already in the formal permitting process at FERC. And it could easily interconnect with Sabal Trail to get its fracked methane.

KinderMorgan’s Elba Liquefaction Project & EEC Modification Project, announced by Shell 28 January 2013, Shell and Kinder Morgan announce plans to export LNG from the United States, by El Paso Pipeline Partners LP, picked up by Alison Sider in the WSJ 19 December 2013, El Paso, Shell Unit Will Expand Elba Island LNG Project: $500 Million Expansion to Export More Gas from Terminal Near Savannah, Ga, and written up by Mary Landers for Savannahnow.com 14 March 2014, LNG export project moves forward,

Plans continue for $1.5 billion-worth of development at Elba Island to allow the liquefied natural gas import facility to reverse its processes and export the fuel. Southern LNG and Elba Liquefaction Co. filed a formal application for the project with federal regulators earlier this week.

The facility currently Continue reading Elba Island, GA LNG export →

WALB in Albany, GA notices New England Spectra pipeline plans

July 3, 2014Dougherty County, FERC, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova ScotiaAlbany, Algonquin, Bill Yardley, Dougherty County, EIA, FERC, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Maine, Maritimes, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New England, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, WALBJohn S. Quarterman

A Spectra is haunting New England and the Canadian Maritimes, as well as the U.S. southeast, seeking every market for its fracked methane pipelines, sliming lands along the way. Local media are starting to pay attention to the big picture, not just the local hauntings, such as Spectra’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission 36-inch 100-foot right of way gash through the southeast. Spectra didn’t say, but those markets could include LNG export from Excelerate Energy’s Northeast Gateway in Massachusetts Bay or the proposed Goldboro LNG export terminal in Nova Scotia. If LNG export happens, the price of “natural” gas in the U.S. and Canada will go up.

WALB TV in Albany, GA ran this PR from Spectra Energy 1 July 2014, Spectra Energy Announces Plans to Further Expand New England Pipeline Systems; Continue reading WALB in Albany, GA notices New England Spectra pipeline plans →

Spectra Pipeline into Southern Swamps –Earth First!

June 30, 2014EPA, FERC, FloridaEarth First!, EPA, FERC, Florida, FPL, Hendry County, John S. Quarterman, Sabal Trail Transmission, Seminole, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, swampJohn S. Quarterman

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! →