Category Archives: Leak

Spectra’s Canadian negligence and Fort Nelson leak and flare

July 15, 2015British Columbia, LeakAitken Creek, British Columbia, Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, John S. Quarterman, leak, National Energy Board, NEB, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

If Spectra was so negligent the Canadian FERC equivalent had to threaten to shut down a natural gas plant to get cooperation about leaks and flares caused by negligence, and still fined Spectra, why should we believe Spectra’s claims of silence or safety for its invading Albany, Georgia Sabal Trail compressor station?

Canada’s National Energy Board fined Spectra Energy Transmission $88,000 on 22 January 2015 for numerous incidents of negligence, failing to comply with national and internal safety procedures, and

The company failed to take reasonable care to ensure safety hazards had been properly identified.

Get this:

However, despite previous findings of similar non-compliances at other facilities (Aitken Creek Gas Plant and Fort Nelson North Processing Facility), the company failed to take preventative action in advance of the NEB inspection at the Dawson Creek location.

Spectra didn’t even bother to clean up its act when it knew inspectors were coming.

Speaking of Fort Nelson, Continue reading Spectra’s Canadian negligence and Fort Nelson leak and flare →

Natural gas pipeline carried oil which leaked: owned by a Spectra company

July 14, 2015FERC, Leak, TexasBritish Columbia, corrosion, DCP Midstream, Duke Energy, Ector County, FERC, Greg Ebel, Gregory L. Ebel, John S. Quarterman, leak, National Energy Board, NEB, oil, SpectraBusters, Texas, West OdessaJohn S. Quarterman

You don’t know when a natural gas pipeline might be carrying oil. You do know pipelines corrode and leak, and this one did. It’s owned by DCP Midstream, but guess who is a director there and which company owns half of it!

Odessa American, 14 April 2015, Crews begin oil spill cleanup in West Odessa,

Crews with DCP Midstream and the Ector County Environmental Office are assessing an oil spill that took place Tuesday afternoon in West Odessa.

Environmental office officials said they were called to Moss Avenue and West Third Street about oil coming from the ground.

The low-pressure pipeline, according to Scott McMeans, supervisor at DCP Midstream, was a natural gas line that leaked due to corrosion causing oil to flow out.

McMeans said that sometimes Continue reading Natural gas pipeline carried oil which leaked: owned by a Spectra company →

Silent protest against Sabal Trail in Albany, GA

July 12, 2015Compressor, Dougherty County, Explosion, FERC, Georgia, LeakAndrea Grover, Chad Warbington, compressor, Darrel Ealum, Dinorah Hall, Dougherty County, Ewell Lyle, explosion, FERC, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, leak, Maine, Roger Marietta, Searsmont, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Albany and Dougherty County are more opposed than ever to the invader from Houston.

Carlton Fletcher, Albany Herald, 11 July 2015, Silent protest focuses on pipeline issues: Citizens gather to oppose natural gas pipeline, compressor station,

Even as a group of around 50 anti-pipeline activists gathered Saturday for a “silent protest” near the proposed site of a compressor station that would be part of the 460-mile Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline, an assumed candidate for Continue reading Silent protest against Sabal Trail in Albany, GA →

Likely loss of drilling fluid in limestone under rivers –FL DEP to FERC

April 2, 2015Alachua County, Brooks County, Columbia County, Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hamilton County, Hazards, Leak, Lowndes County, Suwannee County, Waterbedrock, cave, drilling, fluid, HDD, horizontal direcitgonal drilling, John S. Quarterman, karst, LiDAR, limestone, Santa Fe River, sinkhole, SpectraBusters, Suwannee River, Withlacoochee RiverJohn S. Quarterman

Apparently the Florida Department of Environmental Protection complained to FERC that any drilling under our blackwater rivers would leak contaminants into the karst limestone that contains our drinking water Floridan Aquifer:

Update 2015-04-03: Additions now that FERC eLibrary is working, including third point below.

Sabal Trail underestimated karst features—additional, more recent data available from agencies including LiDAR, potentiometric surface maps, and cave maps.
Highest agency concern is associated with likely loss of drilling fluid associated with HDDs in limestone bedrock including at the Suwannee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee rivers.
Drilling fluid loss would have an environmental impact; risk and magnitude of impact on groundwater, wells and springs should be based on updated, site-specific information.

Filed with FERC 1 April 2015 as Continue reading Likely loss of drilling fluid in limestone under rivers –FL DEP to FERC →

Laura Dailey spoke for SpectraBusters at clean water rally in Tallahassee

February 20, 2015Economy, Explosion, Florida, Hazards, Leak, LNG, Solar, WaterEconomy, explosion, Florida, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Laura Dailey, leak, Leon County, LNG, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Our Santa Fe River, Sabal Trail Transmission, Santa Fe River, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Thomas Edison, WaterJohn S. Quarterman

Floridian’s Clean Water Declaration Campaign, facebook, 18 February 2015,

Laura Dailey of SpectraBusters brought a strong message in favor of solar energy and against the pipeline that’s proposed to cross the springs heartland.

More about Laura Dailey, Director of Community Outreach & Speaker’s Bureau. And a few more of her notes for that speech:

Throughout history, the smart investor has bet his money on the future. Today, colleges and universities, even major corporations are divesting from fossil fuels. Why? Because fossil fuels are the new DINOSAURS, and we already know how that story ends! Even Duke Energy, just last week committed $225 million to the development of Solar energy. Think of the water that can be saved!

Since 2006, the cost of solar panels Continue reading Laura Dailey spoke for SpectraBusters at clean water rally in Tallahassee →

Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail?

February 5, 2015Alabama, Colquitt County, Compressor, Corrosion, Dougherty County, Economy, Environment, Explosion, Florida, Georgia, Hazard, Hazards, History, Leak, SafetyAndrea Grover, Brian Fahrenthold, corrosion, credibility, eminent domain, explosion, Hazards, History, insurance, John S. Quarterman, leak, property values, public record, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Susan WallerJohn S. Quarterman

Why should we accept any risk from a pipeline company that has repeatedly claimed not to be familiar with the public record of its long list of corrosion, leaks, and explosions? A pipeline company that has claimed land values wouldn’t be affected? That it’s “hard to believe” its own law firm sent threats of eminent domain to landowners, despite copies of those letters being sent to newspapers and FERC? That Georgia counties need its gas, after those same counties had already passed resolutions wanting Sabal Trail’s pipeline out of their county and state? A pipeline company that claims the Sunshine State needs its gas when its own figures show half the acreage could produce just as much solar power? Why should anybody in Albama, Georgia, or Florida accept any risk from that company from Houston, Texas?

Sabal Trail claimed theirs is a safe company and leaks and explosions seldom happen, until confronted on-camera with a list of incidents. Continue reading Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail? →

NTSB tells PHMSA to fix its horrible pipeline safety methods

January 30, 2015California, Corrosion, Explosion, Florida, Hazards, Kentucky, Leak, New Jersey, PHMSA, SafetyAmerican Gas Association, California, corrosion, explosion, Federal Geographic Data Committee, Florida, Hazards, Interstate National Gas Association of America, John S. Quarterman, Kentucky, leak, National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives, New Jersey, NTSB, PHMSA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Safety, SpectraBusters, US Department of TransportationJohn S. Quarterman

Tired of reporting on explosions unprevented by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). just issued a damning set of recommendations to PHMSA, plus to an alphabet soup of other organizations to ride herd on PHMSA to try to get some improvement. How about instead we stop building new pipelines and get on with solar power?

NTSB said its motivation was three recent explosions it reported: the 2009 Palm City, Florida flying pipeline that almost hit a high school, the 2010 San Bruno, California PG&E Pipeline Rupture and Fire, and the 2012 Sissonville, West Virginia I-75 house destruction, about which NTSB said:

These three accidents resulted in 8 fatalities, over 50 injuries, and 41 homes destroyed with many more damaged.

And NTSB reporting on PHMSA’s failures goes back way farther than that, Continue reading NTSB tells PHMSA to fix its horrible pipeline safety methods →

Oil pipeline leak into Yellowstone River, upstream from Little Missouri National Park, Williston, and Bismark

January 19, 2015Leak, Montana, North Dakota, WaterBismark, Bridger Pipeline, Glendive, John S. Quarterman, Lake Sakakawea, leak, Little Missouri National Grassland, Makoshika State Park, Missouri River, Montana, North Dakota, SpectraBusters, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Williston, Yellowstone RiverJohn S. Quarterman

The oil may never reach Bismark because it will pollute Lake Sakakawea on the Missouri River first. Or it could go all the way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and join BP’s oil. Pipelines leak. Let’s stop building more of them. Solar power is faster, cheaper, and far safer.

Jessica Summers, Bloomberg news, 18 January 2015, Oil Spills Into Yellowstone River After Montana Crude Pipe Leak,

Oil pumped in the Bakken leaked from a pipeline into the Yellowstone River near Glendive in Montana on Saturday.
Continue reading Oil pipeline leak into Yellowstone River, upstream from Little Missouri National Park, Williston, and Bismark →

Spectra stock cut to hold; can CEO Greg Ebel explain 5 Feb 2015?

January 17, 2015British Columbia, Economy, Environment, EPA, Florida, Law, Leak, LNGBritish Columbia, Economy, environment, EPA, Greg Ebel, Hold, John S. Quarterman, Law, leak, LNG, methane, Sabal Trail, Sabal Trail Transmission, SEC, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, stock, Tudor PickeringJohn S. Quarterman

Maybe fossil fuel pipelines aren’t such a lucrative business after all? Funny how this Spectra downgrade comes right after the big announcement about EPA proposed methane rules. Can Spectra Energy CEO Greg Ebel explain this away to investors three weeks from now? How about OPEC driving the price of gas down and energy deals among U.S., China, and Russia tanking the U.S. LNG export market? Ebel’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.

Faye Duncan wrote for Dakota Financial News 16 January 2015, Spectra Energy Corp. Cut to “Hold” at Tudor Pickering, Continue reading Spectra stock cut to hold; can CEO Greg Ebel explain 5 Feb 2015? →

Obama to move to cut methane emissions

January 14, 2015Compressor, EPA, Law, LeakBarack Obama, compressor, emissions, EPA, FPL, Government, John S. Quarterman, Law, leak, methane, Sabal Trail Transmissions, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Transco, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

EPA regulations are not just for coal anymore, emphasizing that fracked methane pipelines are not the answer: how about we go straight to sun and wind power? Today we’ll see how serious president Obama is about methane emissions. Meanwhile, there’s already an opportunity to comment on an EPA methane rule proposed in December.

Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, 13 January 2015, Barack Obama moves to cut methane emissions by almost half: Environmental Protection Agency will cut oil and gas industry methane emissions as president seeks to bolster climate legacy,

The new methane rules “ which will be formally unveiled on Wednesday—are the last big chance for Obama to fight climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to cut methane emissions by up to 45% from 2012 levels by 2025, White House officials told campaigners during a briefing call.

But it was not clear whether the new rules would apply to existing oil and gas installations, in addition to future sources of carbon pollution, which could Continue reading Obama to move to cut methane emissions →