Tag Archives: Kinder Morgan

Why Georgia Doesn’t Need the Palmetto Pipeline –Poets Love Birds

May 4, 2015Economy, Environment, FERC, Georgia, WaterAltamaha River, Chattahoochee River, Economy, environment, FERC, Flint River, Florida Aquifer, Georgia, greed, John S. Quarterman, karst, Kinder Morgan, limestone, Ogeechee River, Palmetto Pipeline, Sabal Trail Transmission, Santa Fe River, Satilla River, Savannah River, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, St. Mary's River, Suwannee River, Water, Withlacoochee RiverJohn S. Quarterman

The Suwannee River faces invasion by both Kinder Morgan’s Palmetto petroleum products pipeline and Spectra Energy’s Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Plus the Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Satilla, and St. Mary’s River are threatened by the Palmetto Project, Chattahoochee, Flint, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers are threatened by Sabal Trail, plus most both projects is above the fragile Floridan Aquifer. All for no known local benefit; just to profit corporate greed.

Curtis and Norma Beaird, Poets Love Birds, 30 April 2015, Why Georgia Doesn’t Need the Palmetto Pipeline: Our Filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),

We are writing this article because we are very concerned about the proposed Palmetto Pipeline to be built in the state of Georgia. Kinder Morgan plans to build 360-mile pipeline that will run from Belton, South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Savannah Riverkeeper, 218 miles of the pipeline will be in Georgia and 142 miles of the pipeline will be built in South Carolina. This pipeline would move refined petroleum products, to include denatured fuel ethanol. …
According to Push Back the Pipeline:

In the continental U.S., there are only 42 free-flowing rivers greater than 124 miles in length. Georgia contains five of these rivers, three of which are in the path of the proposed pipeline, Altamaha, Ogeechee, and Satilla Rivers. The Okefenokee Swamp is also the headwaters of the St. Marys and the Suwanee River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.

Georgia also contains most of the free-flowing 205-mile Alapaha River, which fortunately isn’t currently the target of any pipeline. However, Spectra Energy proposes to gouge its Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline under the 115-mile Withlacoochee River in Georgia. And Sabal Trail would cross the Suwannee River in Florida, so the Suwannee is a target of both pipelines: Palmetto in Georgia, and Sabal Trail in Florida.

Here’s Curtis Beaird’s FERC filing, which notes that Kinder Morgan has not proven any need Continue reading Why Georgia Doesn’t Need the Palmetto Pipeline –Poets Love Birds →

528 showed up against Palmetto Pipeline when 150 expected

April 25, 2015GeorgiaBryan County, Burke County, Department of Transportation, DOT, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, Palmetto Project, SpectraBusters, Statesboro, WaynesboroJohn S. Quarterman

No Public Need, Just Pollution and Greed, said the sign that summed up the overwhelming sentiment of the public.

Jeff Whitten, Bryan County News, 24 April 2015, Proposed Palmetto Pipeline draws little support: Dozens speak out against Kinder Morgan at hearing,

Speaker after speaker stood up before a packed room to voice opposition to the pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s application to the Georgia Department of Transportation for a certificate of necessity and convenience.

The DOT said 528 people came to the hearing, and the agency plans to hold another hearing May 7 in Waynesboro. It also would take written comments through May 15.

If granted, the certificate would allow Kinder Morgan to Continue reading 528 showed up against Palmetto Pipeline when 150 expected →

Yes, Palmetto Pipe Line falls under FERC

March 21, 2015FERC, LawFERC, Florida, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, Law, Palmetto Pipeline, Push Back the Pipeline, South Carolina, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

There’s never been any doubt that Kinder Morgan’s Palmetto Project to gouge through South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to Jacksonville is an interstate pipeline and therefore under the jurisdiction of FERC. It does aready have one FERC docket. ~~The only reason it doesn’t have a pre-filing or regular filing FERC docket is it just hasn’t gotten that far in the FERC process yet.~~

Update 2015-03-26: Actually, FERC doesn’t have nearly as much authority over oil pipelines.

FERC’s own docket OR15-13, was Continue reading Yes, Palmetto Pipe Line falls under FERC →

Post a bond if Palmetto Pipeline is not for export –Steve Willis to Kinder Morgan in Savannah

March 14, 2015Chatham County, Duval County, Economy, Florida, Georgia, Law, LNGChatham County, Claudia Collier, demand, Duval County, Economy, Elba Island, Florida, Georgia, Jacksonville, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, Law, LNG, Palmetto Project, prices, Sabal Trail, Savannah, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Steve WillisJohn S. Quarterman

Calling their bluff at their very first “public hearing”, longtime environmental activist Steve Willis told Kinder Morgan that if they didn’t want the public to believe that their pipeline is for export, when it so conveniently runs past KM’s proposed Elba Island LNG export terminal and to Jacksonville where Jaxport is gearing up for LNG export, they should post a $100 million bond. Watch the KM rep’s face as soon as Steve says “export”; sure looks like “OMG, he’s on to us!”

Steve noted there is no local demand for KM’s petroleum products, and exports drive up local prices anyway. You don’t have to believe Steve, you can believe Continue reading Post a bond if Palmetto Pipeline is not for export –Steve Willis to Kinder Morgan in Savannah →

Why accepting a natural gas easement is a bad deal

November 16, 2014Environment, Ethics, FE, FERC, Fracking, Hazards, History, Law, LNG, Solareasement, environment, Ethics, FE, FERC, Fracking, Government, Hazards, History, John S. Quarterman, Jon Wellinghoff, Kinder Morgan, KMI, Law, LNG, LNG export, national security, solar, SONAT, Southern Natural Gas, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Here are a few things you get with a pipeline easement: no right to grow trees on it, limited right to put up fences, and if you do, you have to have gates in them that the pipeline company can put their own lock on. But you do get to continue to pay taxes on land you can no longer fully use; land that now contains a potentially corrosive, leaky, explosive hazard that you can’t tap for your own use. And you do get pipeline company contractors coming through at their convenience to mow or otherwise clear the right of way. Contractors who may be somewhat unclear on where the right of way ends and your trees, for example, start. Without ever having to notify you then or tell you later what happened. And it’s even worse than that: you may get another pipeline, and meanwhile the pipeline company will claim rights over local governments and developments. All while the world has changed and the sun has risen on a better way.

All bets are off if there’s a pipeline break

Continue reading →

Needless risk through unnecessary crossings –SONAT to FERC about Sabal Trail

November 14, 2014Corrosion, Economy, FERC, GeorgiaBerrien County, boring, corrosion, crossings, Economy, FERC, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, risk, soil, SONAT, Southern Natural Gas, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Disturbance of soil, exacerbating corrosion, needless risk through unnecessary crossings, and cutting corners through inappropriate boring methods: when even another pipeline company calls you out for those things, you’ve got a problem, Sabal Trail. And Southern Natural Gas just did that in ecomments to FERC.

SONAT should be worried about this after last week in Berrien County, Georgia:

Each crossing poses a risk during construction of the crossing as well as ongoing risks during operation and maintenance of the pipelines. Since the SNG pipeline must remain in service during construction of the crossings, each time Sabal Trail bores under, or cuts under, the SNG pipeline there is an increased risk that the integrity of the SNG pipeline will be compromised.

A humble county ditch puller broke SONAT’s pipeline on Bradford Road, resulting in Sheriff’s deputies from two counties, a city 911 vehicle, and an ambulance being scrambled, in addition to a fleet of Kinder Morgan vehicles. And me, since this break was only a few miles from my house, and the valve they used to turn off Berrien County is on my property. Neighbors I’ve known all my life were evacuated. One spark and they wouldn’t have had anything to come back to. And this was a 9 or 10-inch pipeline at 800PSI. Sabal Trail wants to run a 36-inch pipeline at twice the pressure, more than 20 times the gas. Why should any of us accept that risk for Sabal Trail’s corner-cutting profit?

You should have seen the face the Kinder Morgan rep on the spot pulled when I mentioned Sabal Trail. Now we can see spelled out what SONAT really thinks about their competitor, including: Continue reading Needless risk through unnecessary crossings –SONAT to FERC about Sabal Trail →

Stop this Pipeline –Columbia Paper not buying the script

September 27, 2014Columbia County, Compressor, Economy, Explosion, FERC, Fracking, Law, Leak, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, SafetyColumbia County, compressor, Constitution Pipeline, Economy, explosion, FERC, FPL, Fracking, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, Law, leak, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Tennesee Gas PipelineJohn S. Quarterman

Update 28 Sep 2014: With details from Bill Huston. The main point remains:

“Supporting the pipeline proposal as it stands amounts to surrendering our future to the petroleum industry.” That about sums it up, both for Kinder Morgan’s ~~Constition Pipeline~~ Northeast Direct project (NED) through Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, and for Spectra and FPL’s Sabal Trail pipeline through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

Parry Teasdale wrote for The Columbia Paper of Ghent, NY 25 September 2014, EDITORIAL: Stop this pipeline,

The proposed pipeline would reportedly run beneath 55 private properties in Columbia County if it’s approved by federal regulators. The property owners would have to grant rights of way to the company. Neither the towns nor the county could intervene.

The editorial doesn’t really buy that last: it laster asks local governments to intervene.

Opponents say that property values along and nearby Continue reading Stop this Pipeline –Columbia Paper not buying the script →

Mass. brakes fracked methane pipeline expansion

August 21, 2014FERC, Massachusetts, UncategorizedKinder MorganJohn S. Quarterman

Luther Turmelle, New Haven Register, 19 August 2014,
Massachusetts puts brakes on support for natural gas line expansion,

Environmentalists are praising a decision by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to temporarily withdraw support for a New England expansion of natural gas transmission lines.

Jon Chesto, Boston Business Journal, 18 August 2014
Gov. Patrick backs away from regional effort to expand natural gas capacity,

The New England governors’ plan to impose a new tax on our electricity market to pay for natural gas pipeline construction was a bold proposal — one that’s never really been tried before — to solve our region’s natural gas constraint issues.

But without Massachusetts involved, it’s almost impossible to pull off.

Kinder Morgan bombarded with over 10,000 questions on pipeline expansion | CTV Vancouver News

July 16, 2014British Columbia, CanadaKinder MorganJohn S. Quarterman

The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, May 28, 2014 4:06PM PDT
VANCOUVER – Kinder Morgan is asking for more time to respond to over 10,000 questions submitted to the National Energy Board about the proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline.

Bill Cosby and wife support opponents of proposed Massachusetts pipeline

July 16, 2014MassachusettsBill Cosby, Camille Cosby, Kinder Morgan, Massachusetts, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, TGPJohn S. Quarterman

AP, 12 July 2014
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/07/12/bill-cosby-and-wife-support-opponents-proposed-massachusetts-pipeline/

This is the same Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) Kinder Morgan
tried to sneak past the public.

http://spectrabusters.org/2014/07/12/kinder-morgan-tries-stealth-pipeline-expansion-in-massachusetts/