Category Archives: Law

Resolution: Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline –Colquitt County Board of Commissioners

March 13, 2014Agriculture, Colquitt County, Georgia, Law, SafetyAgriculture, Colquitt County, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Law, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

This is the text of the resolution passed by the Colquitt County Board of Commissioners, and here it is in PDF. -jsq

Resolution Number 2014-R-6.

RESOLUTION
COLQUITT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SABAL TRAIL NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

WHEREAS, Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline proposes to construct a natural gas transmission pipeline that will bisect a large portion of Colquitt County, Georgia; and,

WHEREAS, Colquitt County, Georgia is the largest agricultural production county in the State of Georgia with numerous farms and agricultural infrastructure throughout the county and in the proposed path of the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline; and,

WHEREAS, there remains many concerns among area agricultural growers regarding the depth of the pipeline in agricultural areas.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Continue reading Resolution: Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline –Colquitt County Board of Commissioners →

Spectra stands down on drilling core samples at the Santa Fe River, Florida

March 13, 2014FERC, Florida, Gilchrist County, Law, Suwannee County, Watercore samples, eminent domain, FERC, Florida, Gilchrist County, John S. Quarterman, Law, Our Santa Fe River, property rights, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Suwannee CountyJohn S. Quarterman

Mighty Spectra stopped from drilling for now by local opposition in Suwannee and Gilchrist Counties, Florida! Why were they preparing to drill anyway, when they don’t have a permit, and haven’t even started the formal permitting process with FERC to get it? Why have they also been reported going on property without permission this week in Georgia?

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, president of Our Santa Fe River (OSFR), reports:

Sabal has started to stake the ground as to where to put what is called a drilling station. There are plans to put one station in Gilchrist and one in Suwannee. They intend to dig a tunnel under the river bed by directional bore drilling to connect the 2 sites. There have been NO permits issued for any of this; experts have not had time to review all the pertinent information on historical resources, biology, geology, etc… Residents in Gilchrist have not even signed papers allowing them access to their land for surveying purposes and now they are staking for core drilling samples!

Sabal is presently staking Gilchrist Cypress Shores property and plans to drill for core material so that they understand what is under the ground when they plan to bring in the heavy drilling equipment (years from now). Cart before the horse. The FERC has not even decided this is the route. We have important information that shows this is a Springs system and should not be put here and will present at scoping meetings.

Deborah Hogan called me last night to tell me Sabal will “stand down” till they have more information in the Suwannee County side. Sabal believes they are in the clear to do bore hole samples for directional drilling to put a drilling platform that will go under the River and connect to other side.

Sabal has no need to do these core samples now. to find their site location. There has been no approval of this route. The Environmental Impact Study EIS, has not been completed. The scoping meetings have not been done.

OSFR has also contacted Suwannee River Water Management District and Gilchrist County Administrator, Bobby Crosby, to stop the Gilchrist core sampling.

OSFR has called the following people for more info and to get them to stop.

Deborah Hogan, Sabal survey representative, 1-305-433-1700

and

John Peconom, FERC, 1-202-502-6352

Merrillee adds:

Environmental lawyer that represents IREPA, Christopher Byrd, also takes credit for stopping Sabal for the moment.

Maybe people would like to mention this at the Suwannee County Commission meeting 6PM Tuesday 18 March 2014. The FERC Scoping Meetings go to Florida that same day, starting in Lake Wales and heading up to north Florida the following week. And you can file ecomments with FERC at any time.

-jsq

Corporate power comes home –Jim Parker

March 13, 2014Economy, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, SafetyBill Slaughter, citizens, corporation, Economy, Georgia, Government, John S. Quarterman, Law, Lowndes County, Michael G. Noll, property rights, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Letter to the Editor in the Valdosta Daily Times yesterday. -jsq

How is it that one foreign corporation, that has just come into existence to do this project, can have greater power than all of the thousands of citizens affected, and their elected governments?
No, I’m not talking about the Keystone XL pipeline, but he issues are the same. This one wants to run a 36-inch gas pipeline through a number of states and counties, including Lowndes, affecting thousands of landowners. It’s known as Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, and is the unholy offspring of Spectra Energy Corp. and NextEra Energy.
How can one foreign corporation (they’re from out of state), have so much power vis-avis the thousands of landowners and citizens of Lowndes County, that the citizens must give up Continue reading Corporate power comes home –Jim Parker →

Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company Denied by FERC

March 10, 2014Chambers County, FERC, Law, Liberty County, Texascertificate, Chambers County, Colquitt County, CP10-481-000, denial, FERC, Georgia, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, Kevin Bowman, Law, Liberty County, LNG, Moultrie, permit, pipeline, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

This is the denied application Kevin Bowman gave me, and that John Peconom also gave me:

Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, LLC Docket No. CP10-481-000

ORDER DENYING APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE AUTHORIZATIONS
(Issued June 16, 2011)

1. On August 9, 2010, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, LLC (Turtle Bayou) filed an application in Docket No. CP10-481-000 under section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA),¹ requesting a certificate of public convenience and necessity under Part 157, Subpart A, of the Commission’s regulations² authorizing the construction and operation of a salt dome natural gas storage facility and associated pipeline facilities in Chambers and Liberty Counties, Texas. In addition, Turtle Bayou seeks a blanket certificate under Part 157, Subpart F, of the Commission’s regulations to engage in certain eligible construction activities³ and a blanket certificate under Part 284, Subpart G, of the regulations to provide open-access transportation services, including storage service.⁴ Turtle Bayou also requests authority to charge market-based rates for its storage services, and accordingly seeks a waiver of certain filing, accounting, and reporting requirements. As discussed below, the Commission denies Turtle Bayou’s application for the requested certificate authorizations.
¹ 15 U.S.C. § 717f(c) (2006).

² 18 C.F.R. Part 157 (2011).

³ Id.

⁴ 18 C.F.R. Part 284 (2011).

There’s also this: Continue reading Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company Denied by FERC →

Keyspan LNG and Algonquin Pipeline denied by FERC

March 10, 2014FERC, Law, Rhode IslandAlgonquin Gas Transmission, certificate, CP04-223-000, CP04-293-000, CP04-358-000, denial, FERC, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, KeySpan LNG, Law, LNG, permit, pipeline, Providence, Rhode Island, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

This is the denied application that John Peconom gave me:

KeySpan LNG, L.P. and Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC

KeySpan LNG, L.P. Docket Nos. CP04-223-000 and
CP04-293-000

Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC Docket No. CP04-358-000

ORDER DENYING AUTHORIZATION UNDER SECTION 3
AND DISMISSING CERTIFICATE APPLICATION
(Issued July 5, 2005)

In this proceeding, KeySpan LNG, L.P. (KeySpan) requests authority under section³ of the Natural Gas Act to site, construct, and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at its existing LNG storage facility in the City of Providence, Rhode Island.¹ In a related application, Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC (Algonquin) requests authority under section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act to construct and operate 1.44 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline in order to transport natural gas from KeySpan’s proposed terminal to Algonquin’s existing interstate pipeline system.²
In essence, KeySpan is proposing Continue reading Keyspan LNG and Algonquin Pipeline denied by FERC →

Orders Denying Certificates

March 10, 2014Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, Rhode Island, TexasAlgonquin Gas Transmission, certificate, Chambers County, Colquitt County, CP04-223-000, CP04-293-000, CP04-358-000, CP10-481-000, denial, FERC, Georgia, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, Kevin Bowman, KeySpan LNG, Law, Liberty County, LNG, Lowndes County, Moultrie, permit, pipeline, Rhode Island, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Texas, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, ValdostaJohn S. Quarterman

Given months to find them, all FERC could come up with for orders denying certificates was for two liquid natural gas (LNG) facilities. Each did have an associated pipeline request, but neither was for a stand-alone pipeline application. I do thank John Peconom and Kevin Bowman for providing these documents. However, really, is this all there is?

I asked John Peconom of FERC for a list of denied pipeline applications at the Moultrie makeup Sabal Trail Open House 27 January 2014, and again after the Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting 4 March 2014, and each time Peconom said he would get me a list, including the actual orders denying some pipelines. At the Moultrie FERC Scoping Meeting 5 March 2014, I pointed out to the hundred-or-so attendees that I still hadn’t gotten a list.

After the Moultrie meeting, Kevin Bowman of FERC gave me a slip of paper with this written on it:

Turtle Bayou Gas
CP10-481-000
June 2011

See separate post.

Then John Peconom of FERC sent me an email message with these two links in it: Continue reading Orders Denying Certificates →

Authority to Import and Export Gas by U.S. Department of Energy

March 7, 2014FE, FERC, LawDepartment of Energy, export, FE, FERC, Free Trade, import, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Office of Fossil Energy, order, SpectraBusters, TPP, Trans-Pacific PartnershipJohn S. Quarterman

Here’s a new way “entitled” fracking fossil fuel companies have gamed the system for LNG exports, currently to “Free Trade Agreement nations”, which will probably include India and China if the Trans-Pacific Parternship (TPP) gets approved. Even without exports, methane pipelines are to sell the “large amount of natural gas in the U.S.” produced by “the shale revolution”, which is fracking. The Sabal Trail pipeline isn’t about any alleged energy need in Florida. It’s about profits from fracking at the expense of your land.

Department of Energy notice 6 May 2013, Authority to Import and Export Gas: Constellation Energy Commodities Group Inc., et al.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy gives notice that during March 2013, it issued orders granting authority to import and export natural gas and liquefied natural gas and vacating prior authority. These orders are summarized in the attached appendix and may be found on the FE Web site at http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/gasregulation/authorizations/Orders-2012.html. They are also available for inspection and copying in the Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Docket Room 3E-033, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478. The Docket Room is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2013.
John A. Anderson,
Manager, Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Office of Fossil Energy.

That web page includes a list of “DOE/FE Orders Granting Import/Export Authorizations”. The export orders are mostly for export to Canada and Mexico, plus two for “export LNG by vessel” from “the Lake Charles LNG Terminal” and “the proposed Gasfin LNG Export Project in Parish, Louisiana” to “Free Trade Agreement nations.”

Here’s DoE’s list of current NATURAL GAS IMPORT & EXPORT REGULATION – FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (FTA) COUNTRIES AND LNG EXPORTS: Continue reading Authority to Import and Export Gas by U.S. Department of Energy →

A hundred against the Sabal Trail pipeline in Albany

March 6, 2014Dougherty County, FERC, Georgia, LawAlbany, Carol Singletary, Dougherty County, FERC, Georgia, Gloria Gaines, John S. Quarterman, Law, Melvin George, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Spencer LeeJohn S. Quarterman

People who were there tell me a hundred locals were present, many spoke against the pipeline, while not one spoke for it. And the Dougherty County Attorney and a County Commissioner spoke against the pipeline.

Carlton Fletcher wrote for the Albany Herald 2014-03-04, Large crowd takes pipeline concerns to federal officials at Albany meeting,

While others pondered and expounded on the complexities of the proposed 460-mile Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline projected to run through a large portion of south Dougherty County, Melvin George’s take on the controversial project was one of simplicity.

“Here’s the shortest route, the one that makes the most sense: Continue reading A hundred against the Sabal Trail pipeline in Albany →

Colquitt County passes pipeline minimum depth resolution

March 5, 2014Agriculture, Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, LawAgriculture, Colquitt County, depth, FERC, Georgia, Law, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

The Colquitt County Commission demonstrated there are things local governments can do.

Alan Mauldin wrote for the Moultrie Observer 4 March 2014, County urges minimum depth for Sabal Trail pipeline,

As the largest and most diverse agricultural county in Georgia, the prospect of a 100-foot construction zone for a pipeline project raises concerns in Colquitt County.

On Tuesday, Colquitt County Commission put its thoughts on the issue of farmland as it relates to the proposed pipeline into an official statement. In a resolution, commissioners voted to request protection for farm resources, land and water, and equipment.

“The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners adamantly urge that the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline is buried with a minimum of five feet of top cover when traversing agricultural properties to include pasture land, cultivated lands, surface drains, diversions, waterways, open ditches and streams,” the commission said in the document.

Continue reading →

FERC refuses to release RFP for environmental contractor

March 5, 2014Environment, FERC, Lawenvironment, Ethics, FERC, Georgia, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, LAKE, Law, Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Lowndes County, Merjent, Request for Proposals, RFP, Sabal Trail Transmission, South Georgia Regional Library Board, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, transparencyJohn S. Quarterman

FERC is less transparent about a $3 billion project than a local library board was about a $10 million project. Last night in Valdosta FERC again failed to provide the RFP used in selecting the environmental contractor to be used on all three of the proposed connected methane pipelines. I’ve never heard of any other tax-funded agency refusing to release an RFP of which they have a copy. Have you?

FERC Kevin Bowman environmental protection specialist (pictured on the left) said he’d never heard anyone request an RFP before. He should talk to his FERC co-worker John Peconom (pictured on the right), because, as I mentioned when I stood up to talk, Peconom had already refused to release that RFP.

At the make-up Open House in Moultrie I asked John Peconom for: Continue reading FERC refuses to release RFP for environmental contractor →