Tag Archives: Greg Ebel

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 →

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? →

It don’t pass the smell test: FPL’s extra natural gas pipeline –SpectraBusters

October 9, 2014Alabama, EPA, FE, FERC, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, LNGAlabama, British Columbia, Duke Energy, eminent domain, EPA, FE, FERC, Florida, Florida Southeast Connection, FPL, Fracking, FSC, Georgia, Greg Ebel, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, LNG, NextEra Energy, ordinance, Oregon, Paula Gant, permit, public benefit, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Tony Clark, Transco, Washington, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

FPL wants federal eminent domain to gouge a hundred-foot right of way for a yard-wide fracked methane pipeline through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, claiming Florida needs new power. That don’t pass the smell test.
http://spectrabusters.org/2014/09/14/we-grow-increasingly-concerned-dougherty-county-commission-to-ferc/

Nationwide electricity demand continues to decline, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reminded the pipeline-permitting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in April. EPA asked FPL why it couldn’t implement conservation, efficiency, compressed gas storage, or other energy sources. http://spectrabusters.org/2014/04/23/explain-why-the-gas-is-needed-epa-to-ferc/#decreasing-electricity-sales

FPL projected 13% electricity demand increase in its 2014 ten-year plan to the Florida Public Service Commission (FL PSC). A third pipeline would be a 50% increase. Why? http://spectrabusters.org/2014/04/24/fpls-own-projections-dont-support-need-for-a-new-pipeline/

Sabal Trail, the pipeline joint venture of FPL and Spectra Energy of Houston, claims Duke Energy needs Continue reading It don’t pass the smell test: FPL’s extra natural gas pipeline –SpectraBusters →

Sustainable Spectra? Like healthy cigarettes?

July 5, 2014Colquitt County, Economy, Environment, Ethics, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, Lowndes County, Marion County, Solar, TreesAndrea Grover, Brian Fahrenthold, cigarettes, Colquitt County, Dunnellon, Economy, environment, Ethics, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Greg Ebel, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Marion County, methane, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, sustainabile, Tobacco, Trees, Trenton, Valdosta, windJohn S. Quarterman

What company prints its sustainability report on wind-powered paper, yet pipes a greenhouse gas 20 times worse than CO₂? Yep, it’s Spectra Energy, also bragging about how respectful they are to Sabal Trail “stakeholders”. Selling fracked methane through a 36-inch pipe in a hundred-foot gash through forests and wetlands with a thousand-foot explosive radius is like selling cigarettes and claiming you’re for good health. Tobacco companies can’t get away with that any more, and why should fossil fuel companies?

On the very last page of a 16-page report, 2013 Sustainability Highlights Report, Spectra Energy says:

This paper is manufactured using clean, renewable wind-power energy and carbon offsets for additional savings.

That’s the only mention of wind or renewable energy in the document, while solar power is not mentioned even once.

And look at Spectra’s Purpose on page 2: Continue reading Sustainable Spectra? Like healthy cigarettes? →

Spectra CEO Greg Ebel excuses for lack of methane pipeline delivery

March 12, 2014Economy, Florida, Solar, TexasEconomy, export, Florida, FPL, Greg Ebel, John S. Quarterman, LNG, methane, price, Sabal Trail Transmission, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, TexasJohn S. Quarterman

How does Spectra’s northern cold snap excuse for fracked gas apply to Florida, the target for the Sabal Trail, Hillabee, and Florida Southeast Connection methane pipelines? And if Spectra CEO Greg Ebel gets his wish to export gas, which T. Boone Pickens already explained will drive up domestic prices, how will higher gas prices help northern cities? Maybe Spectra’s pipelines aren’t for warming up cold houses; maybe they’re for corporate profit at the expense of landowners, taxpayers, ratepayers, and all those “natural” gas bus riders who will be surprised when their fares go up. Maybe we should stop the Sabal Trail pipeline and see if the fracking house of cards falls apart.

Jonathan Fahey wrote for AP 10 March 2014, Natural gas industry struggles to keep promises,

There’s plenty of natural gas in the ground, everyone seems to agree. But the harsh weather this winter shows there are obstacles to producing it, and more pipelines have to be built.

The bitter temperatures boosted demand for natural gas to heat homes and businesses. But wells in some places literally froze, making it difficult for some drillers to keep gas flowing. And the high demand clogged pipelines, so even when there was enough production, the gas couldn’t get where it needed to go.

Shortages cropped up, and prices in some places soared to record levels. Californians and Texans were asked to reduce their power consumption because utilities were running low on gas to run power plants. Montana State University in Billings had to cancel classes for a day because of a natural gas shortage.

Jim Fuquay amplified that chilly northern point for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram 11 March 2014:

Prices in New England briefly spiked to record levels. Californians were asked to reduce their power consumption because utilities were running low on gas to run power plants.

If the problem is cold weather in the north, why does Spectra want to build a pipeline to sunny Florida?

Curiously, the Star-Telegram omitted this point from the AP story; I’ve emphasized the redacted point: Continue reading Spectra CEO Greg Ebel excuses for lack of methane pipeline delivery →

Spectra CEO expects to export fracked gas

March 9, 2014British Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, TexasBritish Columbia, export, Florida, Greg Ebel, John S. Quarterman, LNG, Louisiana, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, TexasJohn S. Quarterman

We don’t have to guess that Spectra wants to export from the Gulf; Spectra CEO Greg Ebel says so, and Spectra has already started development on an export pipeline in the other place he named at the same time.

Mike Lee wrote for Bloomberg 17 January 2012, Spectra Expects to Be Involved in North American LNG Exports,

Spectra, based in Houston, owns pipelines that carry gas along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and from fields in British Columbia, two areas where export terminals have been proposed, Ebel said in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York today.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG) is exploring multibillion-dollar projects to convert import terminals in Louisiana and Texas to liquefy and export gas. Apache Corp. (APA), EOG Resources Inc. (EOG) and Encana Corp. have proposed a liquefied natural gas export terminal at Kitimat on Canada’s West Coast.

“Our pipelines go right by all those facilities, really,” Ebel said. “You’ll probably see three to six of those get built. I would expect we’ll have some involvement in all of them.”

And, once again, this has nothing to do with any alleged energy need by Florida; it’s all about Continue reading Spectra CEO expects to export fracked gas →

Spectra Energy — Be the Best it Can Be –Mike Benard

December 16, 2013Dougherty County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Pennsylvania, Texas9 December 2013, Andrea Grover, Brian Fahrenthold, compressor, Dougherty County, EPA, Ethics, Georgia, Government, Greg Ebel, Gretchen Quarterman, History, Houston, John S. Quarterman, LAKE, Law, LCC, leak, Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Lowndes County, Lowndes County Commission, Mike Benard, natural gas, Pennsylvania, PHMSA, pipeline, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Steckman Ridge, Texas, transparency, Valdosta, VDT, WALB, Work SessionJohn S. Quarterman

Mike Benard sent this today to Spectra’s Andrea Grover, copied to a long list of news media and local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials and employees. For local background, see Spectra reps unfamiliar with Spectra fines @ LCC 2013-12-09. -jsq

Ms. Grover:

Those of us property owners who are already Spectra Energy “stakeholders” (the company’s term), want Spectra Energy to be the best it can be, consistent with its publicly stated commitment to Stakeholder Engagement, Integrity, Transparency, and Accountability.

Reference link: http://www.spectraenergy.com/Sustainability/Economic/Acting-with-Integrity/

To that end, and regarding your activities as a “Director of Stakeholder Outreach” on behalf of Spectra Energy’s proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, property owners in Georgia report that you are asserting the following at public meetings:

• You assert that property owners at Spectra Energy’s Steckman Ridge compressor facility in Bedford County, PA are “happy” despite ongoing problems there and a consistent lack of response from Spectra Energy to its “stakeholders.”

FACT: I speak for more than a dozen families who live next to or near the problematic compressor facility; and your statement is incorrect and misleading. What facts do you have to support such a disingenuous allegation? A ring of health, water and operational complaints surround this facility that began operations in 2009. Based on unofficial record keeping by neighbors, there have been nearly 60 shutdowns, blowdowns and related incidents at the Steckman Ridge compressor station and underground natural gas storage facility between August 2009 and the present. And there is much more, as you know.

• You assert that uncontrolled releases of methane and other hydrocarbons that happen too frequently at the Steckman Ridge compressor facility are “normal.” Let’s hope not. Your assertion is uninformed and misleading.

FACT: Recall the March 9-10 incident Continue reading Spectra Energy — Be the Best it Can Be –Mike Benard →