Tag Archives: Hazards

Ask FERC at the Moultrie Monday makeup Sabal Trail Open House

Colquitt County, Environment, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Trees, , , , , , , , , ,

PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, 24 January 2014 — The gas pipeline company has scheduled another Open House for Monday January 27th, 2014, perhaps because a local landowner complained to FERC about previous Sabal Trail meetings in Moultrie being during big local events. You can ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in person why they should approve that methane pipeline. Protesters against the pipeline will be out front starting about 4:45PM.

When:  5:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Monday, January 27 th 2014

Where: Holiday Inn Express
850 Veterans Parkway North
Moultrie, GA 31788

Why: Spectra Energy, which had compressor station leaks in Maine this month and in Pennsylvania last year, plus multiple fines by Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for corrosion and leaks, and a record Continue reading Ask FERC at the Moultrie Monday makeup Sabal Trail Open House →

A 36-inch pipeline blews up in Alabama

Alabama, Appomattox County, Environment, Explosion, Florida, Hazards, Marengo County, New Jersey, Safety, Trees, Virginia, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The pipeline Sabal Trail wants to connect to, Williams Transco in Alabama, blew up in 2011, flaming a hundred feet up, heard more than 30 miles away, left a crater more than 50 feet wide, destroyed 65 acres of trees, fried five acres of soil into pottery, and launched a 43-foot pipe section as a missile that landed 190 feet away. The cause was never announced. There was no construction going on, so could it be corrosion? Do we want another pipeline like that?

TXsharon wrote for Bluedaze drilling reform 2 January 2012, Pictures: Acres of devastation from Williams gas pipeline explosion in Alabama

Williams did some pigging just before this pipeline rupture but they didn’t receive the pigging results until after the explosion. The word from the locals in Alabama is that Williams is now frantically digging up parts of this same pipeline in several different locations which could indicate the problem is not isolated.Williams does not have a good track record of pipeline safety.

Jason Cannon wrote for Demopolis Times 3 December 2011, No cause known in explosion,

A Transco natural gas pipeline ruptured at approximately 3:07 p.m. Saturday with an explosion that could be heard for more than 30 miles while shooting flames nearly 100 feet in the air for over an hour….

Continue reading A 36-inch pipeline blews up in Alabama →

Pipeline Opposition Mounts –Shale Property Rights

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, , , , , , , , ,

Spectra’s scent precedes it.

On Shale Property Rights 22 January 2014, Pipeline Opposition Mounts, Sabal Trail Pipeline – Spectra Energy’s Proposed Gas Transmission Pipeline Draws Citizen Opposition in 3 States: Georgia, Florida, Alabama
Spectra Energy Builds on its Reputation for Cynical Social Responsibility

Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE), the $5 billion pipeline and underground natural gas storage company, is now in a position where its reputation precedes it. When it holds community meetings to sell a proposed natural gas transmission pipeline, communities show up with pitchforks, figuratively speaking.

Despite airy promises about “stakeholder engagement” and commitment to “transparency and accountability,” word about Spectra Energy’s lack of responsiveness and ongoing problems at existing facilities is spreading to communities across states where it hopes to build more pipelines and compressor facilities.1, 2

For example, the Sabal Trail pipeline is a proposed 474-mile natural gas transmission pipeline Spectra Energy hopes to build through Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Current plans call for 7 large compressor stations along the pipeline route (to ˜push’ the gas through).

This is a joint venture between Spectra Energy and NextEra Energy, Inc. The contractor is Florida Power & Light (the key recipient for the nat gas). For details, see the Sabal Trail Transmission website: http://www.sabaltrailtransmission.com/

It did not take “interstate” property owners long to mobilize. Here is a link to their energetic website: http://spectrabusters.org/ and one for their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/spectrabusters

Lessons from New York

Spectra Energy’s track record leaves a negative brand image across many states and in Canada.3

The article continues with lessons from New York, New Jersey, and some further comments about actions in Georgia and Florida. This, for instance, from Clare Donohue, a founding member of the Sane Energy Project in New York: Continue reading Pipeline Opposition Mounts –Shale Property Rights →

WV polluter files bankruptcy: why should we expect better from Sabal Trail?

Environment, Hazards, Safety, West Virginia, , , , , , , , , , , ,

A shell company lasted only weeks before filing bankruptcy after polluting a West Virginia river and drinking water for 300,000 people. No assets, no insurance, as near as I can tell. Sabal Trail Transmission is a shell company owned by Spectra Energy and NextEra and managed by Spectra: what assets does it have, and what insurance has it offered in case its pipeline corrodes and leaks like Spectra has been fined for or one of its compressor stations leaks like in Pennsylvania or Maine or residents have to evacuate as Spectra’s Susan Waller said would happen in case of a “true emergency”? Who will pay for the local first responders, or property damage, or a polluted aquifer?

Nick Visser wrote for The Huffington Post 17 January 2014, Freedom Industries, Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill, Files For Bankruptcy,

The company behind the massive chemical spill that made tap water unsafe for more than 300,000 West Virginians has filed for bankruptcy, according to documents obtained by The Huffington Post.

According to bankruptcy filings, Freedom Industries, wholly owned by Chemstream Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday. Freedom Industries owns the storage facility responsible for leaking up to 7,500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (a coal-cleaning chemical also known as crude MCHM) into West Virginia’s Elk River.

And Freedom Industries was only formed a few weeks ago. Steven Mufson wrote for the Washington Post (undated), One week after W. Va. toxic spill, new owner of Freedom Industries puts firm in bankruptcy,

It took just one week for Pennsylvania coal mining executive Cliff Forrest, the new owner of Freedom Industries, to discover that one of the six-decade-old storage tanks he had acquired Dec. 31 was leaking a toxic chemical into the Elk River that supplies water to about 300,000 West Virginians….

Forrest, through another firm he owns, paid Continue reading WV polluter files bankruptcy: why should we expect better from Sabal Trail? →

“The most terrifying experience”: Spectra blows another compressor station

Hazards, Hudson County, Leak, Maine, Waldo County, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spectra Energy refuses to say much about a compressor station leak in Maine, much like the one in Pennsylvania in March 2013. Spectra’s Susan Waller did offer that in a real emergency everyone would have been evacuated. Who wants that next to the five compressor stations Spectra proposes along the Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline it wants to gouge through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida?

Abigail Curtis wrote for Bangor Daily News 15 January 2014, ‘The most terrifying experience’: Residents question safety in wake of malfunction at Searsmont natural gas pipeline station,

First came the noise late New Year’s Eve at the Searsmont natural gas pipeline compressor station, so loud that it caused nearby homes to shake and some residents, frightened by the jet-engine-like roar, to pack up their cars and flee for the night.

Then came the questions, as some members of the normally quiet rural community wondered how safe — or dangerous — it is to live so close to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline facility. The station was shut down for Continue reading “The most terrifying experience”: Spectra blows another compressor station →

We can survive without gas, but not without water. –Jane Hatker

Economy, Environment, FERC, Florida, Gilchrist County, Hazards, Health, Safety, , , , , , , ,

FERC filing 20131230-4002 from a landowner in southeast Gilchrist County, Florida. -jsq

Note to:FERC Docket No. PF14-1-000
Note from:John Peconom, Environmental Project Manager
Date:December 30, 2013
Subject:Comments of Ms. Jane Hatker

I received the following comments regarding the Sabal Trail Project on December 26, 2013. Ms. Hatker’s address and phone number have been ommitted.

From: Jane Hatker [mailto:jhatker@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 4:29 PM
To: John.Peconom@ferc.gov
Cc: merrilleeart@aol.com
Subject: Sable Trail Pipeline Concerns

Dear Mr. Peconom,

I met you and we spoke at length at Bell High School on December 5th at the open house regarding the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline route. To refresh your memory, I gave you a Google map showing our small pecan orchard that backed up to property where a 35 foot and quite deep sink hole formed. I also included pictures of the sink hole and proof that this was located no more than 2300 feet from the proposed pipeline route. This entire area is at high risk for rapid sink hole formations and it makes no sense to put a pipeline right through such an area simply to serve the interests of FPL.

At 62, I have lived in Florida for almost all of my adult life and have observed an enormous change in the amount and quality of our water Continue reading We can survive without gas, but not without water. –Jane Hatker →

Monstrous pipeline more than one can be compensated for –Dante Acevedo to FERC

Brooks County, Economy, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 15 January 2014:

Dante Acevedo, quitman, GA.

I am a resident of Brooks county in southern Georgia. My property is being intruded upon by Sabal Trail, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy. Since the pipeline is “open-access,” it will encourage industrial development, including natural gas extraction, which will drastically alter the rural character of the community where I have lived for nearly twenty years and my grandmother for nearly 50 years. As no one else can represent my interests in this matter, I am filing this motion to intervene. This is a tremendously dangerous endeavor since it is going through a rural area with many homes and livelihoods. The thought of such a monstrous pipeline with the potential to create massive destruction and death outside ones door is more than one can be compensated for.

Furthermore, this pipeline proposal seems to dismiss Continue reading Monstrous pipeline more than one can be compensated for –Dante Acevedo to FERC →

Methane pipeline rejected in New Jersey

Cape May County, Economy, Environment, FERC, Hazards, Law, New Jersey, Trees, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the same coastal plain that contains the Floridan Aquifer with our drinking water, a commission just rejected a natural gas pipeline that would have gone through a pine fire forest with blueberries and bobcats much like ours. FERC should reject the Sabal Trail pipeline.

Wayne Parry wrote for AP 10 January 2014, Natural gas pipeline for N.J. Pinelands rejected,

Pemberton Township, N.J. — A New Jersey agency tasked with protecting the ecologically fragile Pinelands region narrowly defeated a proposal Friday to run a 22-mile natural gas pipeline through it….

“This is a great victory for the Pinelands and the environment of the region,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Today the commissioners said the Pinelands are not for sale.”

“The Pinelands is host Continue reading Methane pipeline rejected in New Jersey →

Pipeline subsidence is Force Majeure –Florida Gas Transmission

Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Louisiana, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Force Majeure, or an act of God, in other words “not our fault”, that’s what a methane pipeline company calls the 25-acre sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. The same thing could happen in the soft limestone underlying all of Florida and south Georgia that contains our Floridan Aquifer, the source of our drinking water.

Found in Energy Transfer’s page for Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC under Critical Notices:

Critical Notice
Notice ID: 39957
Notice Type: Force Majeure
Critical: Y
Notice Status Description: Initiate
Reqrd Rsp Desc: No response required
Posting Date/Time: Aug 15 2012 1:57PM
Subject: FORCE MAJEURE, Southern Portion of the Chacahoula Lateral & Napoleonville Interconnect, Assumption P
Notice Effective Date/Time: Aug 15 2012 1:54PM
Notice End Date/Time: Until further notice
Notice Text:

FORCE MAJEURE, Southern Portion of the Chacahoula Lateral & Napoleonville Interconnect, Assumption Parish, Louisiana (Revision #1) Continue reading Pipeline subsidence is Force Majeure –Florida Gas Transmission →

State pipeline safety regulations –NARUC

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, , , , , , , , , ,

Did you know New York does not allow pipeline operators to downgrade any leaks while the federal government does not grade leaks at all? Washington state requires responses within 15 minutes for detection thresholds of 8% leak for full flow and no flow conditions applicable to hazardous liquid operators, while the federal government has only begun early discussions of this? That Kansas requires quality assurance inspection of all outside contractors, while federal regulations require only periodic workshops on quality assurance? Idaho requires NFPA 54 compliance before an operator is permitted to distribute gas, while the federal government does not? Illinois requires a full training program for operators, not just the minimum Operator Qualifications required by the federal government? All this and more from a recent report.

PR from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners 23 September 2013, Updated Compendium Details State Actions on Pipeline Safety, Continue reading State pipeline safety regulations –NARUC →