Many its members have already gotten flattened by the FERC rubberstamp process. They’ve been protesting outside and inside FERC meetings. They’ve gotten arrested and a judge acquitted one of them because FERC violated the First Amendment. Now Beyond Extreme Energy is escalating to a water-only fast outside FERC until Pope Francis arrives.
FERC is 100% funded by the industries it “regulates”, but apparently there’s at least one independent judge left, and FERC loses for persecuting the public it’s supposed to represent.
BXE, 30 August 2015, Judge Faults FERC, Acquits Beyond Extreme Energy Activist,
A member of Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) who was arrested inside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission building in May and charged with illegal entry was declared not guilty last week (Aug. 20) in a bench trial before Judge John F. McCabe Jr. in D.C. Superior Court.
In acquitting Laura Gubisch, Continue reading FERC loses: Judge acquits Beyond Extreme activist
A Spectra compressor station in Pennsylvania blew oil over local crops in 2009,
and Pennsylvania fined Spectra $22,000 for that in 2010.
Spectra’s Andrea Grover told me in 2013 that everybody there was happy.
Mike Benard explained
actually that wasn’t the case.
Benard later wrote sage words:
Spectra Energy: Trust Facts Not Promises.
Better to stop Spectra’s Albany compressor station before it has a chance to spew.
Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, Press Release, 31 March 2010, DEP Fines Steckman Ridge $22,000 for Air, Water Quality Violations: Malfunctioning Compressor Discharged Industrial Oil to Surrounding Properties, Continue reading Spectra was fined for Steckman Ridge compressor blowout
County attorneys are paid to be cautious. County and city Commissioners are elected to represent the people. Which will Albany and Dougherty County listen to about unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous pipelines like Sabal Trail?
Carlton Fletcher, Albany Herald, 4 August 2014, LOCAL GOVERNMENT 101: Albany’s municipal government based on charter, codes,
Dougherty County officials, who represent residents outside the city limits, say municipalities like Albany have more governmental flexibility in that they are not completely bound by state mandates. But Albany’s city attorney says that is not exactly accurate.
“The state has the authority to preempt any local laws other than zoning,” Nathan Davis says. “If state law ‘moves into an area’ — such as the fireworks law that went into effect in July — municipalities must have a local ordinance that matches the state law.
“There has been in our community a call by some to create an ordinance that would impact the ultimate decision of whether that (Sabal Trail Transmission) pipeline is allowed Continue reading Albany, GA attorney missing the point about ordinance against pipelines
Florida’s Governor Rick Scott owns Williams Co. and other pipeline company stock, and that’s an issue with FL-DEP’s intent to issue a permit for Sabal Trail, says the reporter who broke the Rick Scott conflict story a year ago.
Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog, 4 August 2015, Gov. Scott’s pipeline investment gets a boost from Florida environmental regulators,
The Board of Trustees of Florida’s Internal Improvement Trust Fund owns the submerged lands, according to DEP’s notice. The board is comprised of the governor and Cabinet — Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and state chief financial officer Jeff Atwater.
There’s much more in the story, including that WWALS Watershed Coalition intends to file a protest with FL-DEP by this Friday, August 7th. WWALS confirms that, and adds: Continue reading FL Gov. Scott Sabal Trail permit conflict of interest –FloridaBulldog
Kinder Morgan opposition has escalated to
New Hampshire’s entire Congressional delegation
demanding in polite bureaucrateze for
the Department of Energy’s Inspector General to make FERC shape up.
It will take more than that, but it’s a start.
KMI’s New England Direct (NED) pipeline
is still in FERC pre-filing.
It’s time for more Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Congress members to follow Sanford Bishop (GA-02) in calling for FERC to deny Sabal Trail a permit. Dougherty County and Albany, Georgia are organizing opposition from local through state to federal. You can comment to GA-EPD about Sabal Trail’s air quality permit for their proposed Albany compressor station. And remember to ecomment to FERC and petition Georgia Governor Deal.
PDF of the New Hampshire letter, and text below. Continue reading Make FERC follow its own rules and listen to people –New Hampshire Congressional delegation to DoE Inspector General
An air quality permit for the proposed Albany compressor station is one of many local and state permits FERC requires Sabal Trail to get. This is a big one, because no compressor station, no pipeline.
Roger Marietta remarks:
You can email Georgia EPD prior to August 8th GA EPD: eric.cornwell@gadnr.org re: application # 23350 (Air Quality Permit Application) focus on methane and other toxic gases leaking and being blown off during pressure releases and unburnt gases and CO2 from the continuously running compressor station power turbines. Ask for a public hearing as well.
Recommend you send more than one comment and focus on a different issue each time.
Copy spectrabusters@gmail.com on your ecomment to GA-EPD and we’ll probably blog it.
And don’t forget to call GA Governor Deal and sign the petition to him.
Do it now, or you may hear that compressor sound in your sleep.
-jsq
Atlanta has heard about Sabal Trail, Palmetto Project, and several other proposed pipeline projects three times now from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It’s time to act.
Greg Bluestein, AJC, Pipeline project fuels anger in Georgia,
Their proposal comes as pipeline projects — and controversy surrounding them — pop up across Georgia. A 157-mile Sabal Trail Pipeline that would cross nine southwest Georgia counties has sparked outrage in Albany and Valdosta. And Atlanta Gas Light wants to begin pumping gas from Coweta County
to Dalton by 2017.
But Kinder Morgan’s proposal has struck a throbbing nerve, in part because of the length of the proposed pipeline — the 320-mile route stretches by Augusta, Savannah and Jacksonville — and in part because of the threat of eminent domain hanging over the landowners.
“Where do we draw the line? There are no reset buttons,” Troy Davis, a local landowner, said at one of the town hall meetings that Kinder Morgan called to calm fears about the project. “It will be a Kroger, a CVS, a Burger King that comes to this community and says, ‘Hey, we have a necessity for this.’ ”
That’s why the real solution is for the Georgia legislature to revoke eminent domain for private companies. But the legislature doesn’t meet until January, and we need to stop these pipelines before then.
About Kinder Morgan trespassing 1.7 miles into land owned by Billy Morris, who also owns the newspapers in Augusta and Savannah: Continue reading Third Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Sabal Trail and Palmetto Project
The state representative for Albany wrote to FERC today:
“It is difficult to
persuade anyone to settle in a community where billions of cubic feet
on methane gas are being released annually.”
Other elected and appointed officials can do the same.
And you can still
ecomment to FERC and ask Governor Deal to oppose Sabal Trail like he opposes the Palmetto pipeline.
You and your elected and appointed officials can write like Winfred Dukes did:
The proposed Sabal pipeline will have a devastating economic impact on our community. It will cause a decline in property values. It will halt the investment the city and others have made in that area. It will impact the health of our citizens. Do not allow Sabal to profit at the expense of thousands of people in our region.
Filed with FERC as Accession Number: 20150721-5028, “Comment of Winfred J. Dukes under CP15-17.” Continue reading Do not allow Sabal to profit at the expense of thousands of people in our region –Winfred J. Dukes, GA House District 154
This is See also the Dougherty County Commission letter referenced in the
WFXL news story.
Remember, you can still
ecomment to FERC and
ask Governor Deal to oppose Sabal Trail
like he opposes the Palmetto pipeline.
Filed with FERC 21 July 2015 as
Accession Number: 20150721-5039,
“Comment of City of Albany responding to Sabal Trail’s letter dated July 16, 2015 under CP15-17.”
City of Albany
POST OFFICE BOX 447
Albany, Georgia
31702-0447DOROTHY B. HUBBARD
MAYOR Continue reading Extend the Sabal Trail comment period for up to 90 days –Albany, GA to FERC