Spectra proposes
five compressor stations along its Sabal Trail Transmission
gas pipe:
Alexander in Tallapoosa County, AL,
Albany in Dougherty County, GA,
Hildreth in Suwannee County, FL,
Dunnellon in Marion County, FL,
and
Reunion in Osceola County, FL.
Why should we expect them to be any safer than
the ones in Maine or Pennsylvania?
Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman
“The most terrifying experience”: Spectra blows another compressor station
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
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 ConcernsDear 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
SpectraBusters, Inc. board: all three states along Sabal Trail Pipeline
Update 15 February 2014: Now six board members; see Board page.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Valdosta, January 16, 2014 —
SpectraBusters, Inc. has incorporated in Georgia with board members from all three states on the path of the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission methane pipeline: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
The five SpectraBusters board members include directly affected landowners and members of a wide range of groups affected by the pipeline:
Beth Gordon, President,
doesn’t want a 36-inch pipeline through her horse farm
in Levy County, Florida, where she practices law with The
Gordon Law Firm. She filed
a legal protest with the
Florida Public Service Commission against the pipeline and spoke
against it at the
Levy County Commission, noting this
pipeline is much bigger than previous pipelines or
those that blew up recently in Oklahoma or Texas, plus the company
behind this pipeline has
a long list of fines for PCB
pollution by EPA and for property damage, leaks, and
negligence by PHMSA.
Larry Rodgers, Treasurer, Continue reading SpectraBusters, Inc. board: all three states along Sabal Trail Pipeline
Monstrous pipeline more than one can be compensated for –Dante Acevedo to FERC
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
Appeal to redacted FOIA –Beth Gordon
“If Sabal Trail and Spectra energy are not guilty of invasion of
privacy, why isn’t the public need to know and educate equally if
not more important?”
That’s the gist of Beth Gordon’s appeal of 12 January 2014 to FERC’s redacted landowner list in response to her FOIA request. Here’s more:
It is my opinion that there is no privacy interest in the mere name and mailing address of an individual, particularly where, as here, Sabal Trail and Spectra energy has already used them numerous times to send unsolicited letters, invitations, and demands to survey. If Sabal Trail and Spectra energy are not guilty of invasion of privacy, why isn’t the public need to know and educate equally if not more important? The public right to know who is affected, to become educated, and to understand what is at stake ought not to be left to a private energy corporation that stands to make millions of dollars by getting this project approved with the least amount of resistance from landowners. FERC’S refusal to release these names and mailing addresses ensures that Sabal Trail and Spectra Energy are the only ones with the ability to contact these individuals (which they have done numerous times) and “educate them” as to this particular pipeline project.
In the Act generally, and particularly under Exemption (6), there is a strong presumption in favor of disclosure.” Continue reading Appeal to redacted FOIA –Beth Gordon
Sloppy FOIA redaction from FERC for Sabal Trail pipeline landowners
FERC took a week to not supply what was requested
in Beth Gordon’s FOIA,
and apparently if you’ve organized your property under an LLC,
your LLC name is visible on the redacted list,
even if that name includes your personal name.
Whose privacy is FERC protecting, anyway, now that all landowners
along the proposed pipline path have had their privacy invaded
by the pipeline company?
Here’s what Beth Gordon asked for 2 January 2014:
A list of each and every landowner in Florida contacted by Sabal Trail LLC by mail to inform them that they are on, or may be on, the proposed pipeline and/or proposed survey map for this project.
Here’s what FERC sent back 10 January 2014:
A redacted version of the Sabal Trails landowner list that was submitted to FERC of October 4, 2013 in docket number PF-14-1 has been previously released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This document is identified in the FERC e-library as accession number 20131004-5123 (Appendix B). Please find attached part 1 and part 2 of this redacted list. Additional emails will be provided with the remainder of this material. We will also provide a courtesy copy of the public cover letter for this submittal.
Appendix B of 20131004-5123 is marked on FERC’s website as:
You don’t have permission to access this document.
This document (eLibrary accession no. 20131004-5123) is Privileged.
The public may file a FOIA request under 18 C.F.R. 388.108.
Here are the four parts Continue reading Sloppy FOIA redaction from FERC for Sabal Trail pipeline landowners
Disney backs off fracking
Andrew Morris posted yesterday for the organization started by Lois Gibbs of Love Canal fame, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), Disney Finally Backs Down from Pro-fracking Collabertation with Oil and Gas Industry,
Radio Disney finally backed down from its pro-fracking school tour this week after a petition on CREDO Mobilize reached its goal of 75,000 signatures calling on Disney to cease its public support of the fracking industry. Pressure on Disney also came from groups like the Sierra Club, which called on its supporters to create mash-ups of Disney movies with oil and gas jargon.
In a statement to the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Disney said: Continue reading Disney backs off fracking
Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie
Perhaps in response to a complaint from a local landowner, Sabal Trail has scheduled a makeup “Open House” meeting in Moultrie for 27 January 2014.
Lisa A. Connolly filed with FERC 9 January 2014, Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits its Supplement to Schedule for Open Houses for the Sabal Trail Project under PF14-1.
On November 12, 2013, Sabal Trail submitted the date and location for an additional open house. Sabal Trail hereby submits the date and location for an additional open house that Sabal Trail will hold in Moultrie, Georgia.
Here are the specifics:
Monday, January 27, 2014
Holiday Inn Express
850 Veterans Parkway North
Moultrie, GA 31788
5:00pm to 7:30pm
This could have something to do with local landowner Continue reading Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie
Landowner gains review against pipeline in Texas Supreme Court
A huge transnational company has to justify its attempted use of eminent domain to a small farmer in Texas, so says the Texas Supreme Court. Somebody should make Sabal Trail and Spectra Energy try to justify their attempted use of eminent domain in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
Julia Trigg Crawford wrote 8 January 2014 for Tar Sands Blockade, Texas Supreme Court Favors Landowner Over TransCanada in Eminent Domain Case,
The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowner Julia Trigg Crawford, ordering TransCanada to submit information by Feb. 6 as the justices weigh arguments to hear the case regarding eminent domain abuse.
Texas’s highest court delivered a clear victory for pipeline opponents and landowners fighting TransCanada’s overreach on property rights. At the heart of Crawford’s case is the ability of TransCanada, a foreign corporation, to use eminent domain under the state’s “common carrier” clause since their pipeline transports 90% Canadian tar sands and 10% North Dakota oil. There is no on ramp for Texas oil therefore violating the definition of a common carrier under Texas law.
Crawford said she looks forward to her family’s day in court, “As a landowner, property rights are key to my livelihood and family legacy. A foreign corporation pumping foreign oil simply does not qualify as a common carrier under Texas law. TransCanada does not get to write their own rules. I look forward to the Supreme Court hearing our case and our plea to protect the fundamental rights of property owners.”
Here’s the Court’s letter in PDF on the Court’s website. It’s Case Number 13-0886, THE CRAWFORD FAMILY FARM PARTNERSHIP v. TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE PIPELINE, L.P.
That’s an oil pipeline, but the issues are the same Continue reading Landowner gains review against pipeline in Texas Supreme Court