Tag Archives: Moultrie

MGAG didn’t contact local governments before agreeing with Sabal Trail

November 25, 2014Colquitt County, Dougherty County, Georgia, LawAlbany, Colquitt County, Dougherty County, Georgia, Hillabee Expansion Project, John S. Quarterman, Law, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, SONAT, Southern Natural Gas, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Transco, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

Looks like Spectra is still making stuff up. Apparently Spectra got one of its usual pipeline distributors to make a deal in Georgia for Sabal Trail without that distributor ever asking its own customers whether they needed the gas. This is very convenient for undercutting opposition to Sabal Trail’s threats of Georgia eminent domain, but not very useful to the named counties or to Sabal Trail’s own credibility.

Remember Sabal Trail’s FERC Filing in Docket CP15-17 said on page 11: Continue reading MGAG didn’t contact local governments before agreeing with Sabal Trail →

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? →

See the FERC rubberstamp machine in action

June 25, 2014Agriculture, Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, Law, LNG, Lowndes County, TreesAgriculture, Colquitt County, eminent domain, export, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Lowndes County, Moultrie, public benefit, Scoping Meetings, SpectraBusters, transparency, Trees, Trenton, ValdostaJohn S. Quarterman

You’ve heard the song, now see the FERC rubberstamp machine in action in videos of Sabal Trail interrogated in Gilchrist County, Florida @ GCC 2014-02-20, of the Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting @ FERC 2014-03-04, and of the Moultrie FERC Scoping Meeting @ FERC 2014-03-05. See FERC refuse to release a tax-paid RFP and tax-paid-staff-reviewed proposals for an environmental contractor, and then see that very same contractor admit that the Sabal Trail pipeline would take twice the acreage to produce as much power as solar PV, while FERC refuses to consider that the pipeline would be far more environmentally damaging, more expensive, and would take much longer.

Nevermind landowners get only a one-time payment from the pipeline company, not rent and FERC has no Continue reading See the FERC rubberstamp machine in action →

Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company Denied by FERC

March 10, 2014Chambers County, FERC, Law, Liberty County, Texascertificate, Chambers County, Colquitt County, CP10-481-000, denial, FERC, Georgia, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, Kevin Bowman, Law, Liberty County, LNG, Moultrie, permit, pipeline, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

This is the denied application Kevin Bowman gave me, and that John Peconom also gave me:

Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, LLC Docket No. CP10-481-000

ORDER DENYING APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE AUTHORIZATIONS
(Issued June 16, 2011)

1. On August 9, 2010, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, LLC (Turtle Bayou) filed an application in Docket No. CP10-481-000 under section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA),¹ requesting a certificate of public convenience and necessity under Part 157, Subpart A, of the Commission’s regulations² authorizing the construction and operation of a salt dome natural gas storage facility and associated pipeline facilities in Chambers and Liberty Counties, Texas. In addition, Turtle Bayou seeks a blanket certificate under Part 157, Subpart F, of the Commission’s regulations to engage in certain eligible construction activities³ and a blanket certificate under Part 284, Subpart G, of the regulations to provide open-access transportation services, including storage service.⁴ Turtle Bayou also requests authority to charge market-based rates for its storage services, and accordingly seeks a waiver of certain filing, accounting, and reporting requirements. As discussed below, the Commission denies Turtle Bayou’s application for the requested certificate authorizations.
¹ 15 U.S.C. § 717f(c) (2006).

² 18 C.F.R. Part 157 (2011).

³ Id.

⁴ 18 C.F.R. Part 284 (2011).

There’s also this: Continue reading Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company Denied by FERC →

Orders Denying Certificates

March 10, 2014Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, Rhode Island, TexasAlgonquin Gas Transmission, certificate, Chambers County, Colquitt County, CP04-223-000, CP04-293-000, CP04-358-000, CP10-481-000, denial, FERC, Georgia, John Peconom, John S. Quarterman, Kevin Bowman, KeySpan LNG, Law, Liberty County, LNG, Lowndes County, Moultrie, permit, pipeline, Rhode Island, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Texas, Turtle Bayou Gas Storage Company, ValdostaJohn S. Quarterman

Given months to find them, all FERC could come up with for orders denying certificates was for two liquid natural gas (LNG) facilities. Each did have an associated pipeline request, but neither was for a stand-alone pipeline application. I do thank John Peconom and Kevin Bowman for providing these documents. However, really, is this all there is?

I asked John Peconom of FERC for a list of denied pipeline applications at the Moultrie makeup Sabal Trail Open House 27 January 2014, and again after the Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting 4 March 2014, and each time Peconom said he would get me a list, including the actual orders denying some pipelines. At the Moultrie FERC Scoping Meeting 5 March 2014, I pointed out to the hundred-or-so attendees that I still hadn’t gotten a list.

After the Moultrie meeting, Kevin Bowman of FERC gave me a slip of paper with this written on it:

Turtle Bayou Gas
CP10-481-000
June 2011

See separate post.

Then John Peconom of FERC sent me an email message with these two links in it: Continue reading Orders Denying Certificates →

Colquitt County passes pipeline minimum depth resolution

March 5, 2014Agriculture, Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, LawAgriculture, Colquitt County, depth, FERC, Georgia, Law, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

The Colquitt County Commission demonstrated there are things local governments can do.

Alan Mauldin wrote for the Moultrie Observer 4 March 2014, County urges minimum depth for Sabal Trail pipeline,

As the largest and most diverse agricultural county in Georgia, the prospect of a 100-foot construction zone for a pipeline project raises concerns in Colquitt County.

On Tuesday, Colquitt County Commission put its thoughts on the issue of farmland as it relates to the proposed pipeline into an official statement. In a resolution, commissioners voted to request protection for farm resources, land and water, and equipment.

“The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners adamantly urge that the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline is buried with a minimum of five feet of top cover when traversing agricultural properties to include pasture land, cultivated lands, surface drains, diversions, waterways, open ditches and streams,” the commission said in the document.

Continue reading →

Take the Pipeline Bull by the Horns: Georgia FERC Scoping Meetings

March 2, 2014Colquitt County, Dougherty County, Economy, Environment, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Lowndes County, MeetingsAlbany, Colquitt County, corrosion, Dougherty County, Economy, environment, explosion, FERC, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Law, leak, Lowndes County, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, ValdostaJohn S. Quarterman

PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, 2 March 2014 — SpectraBusters invites everyone to take the pipeline bull by the horns this week in Albany, Valdosta, or Moultrie, at your only chances in Georgia to testify in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about Spectra Energy’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission fracked methane pipeline. Plus SpectraBusters will hold a panel on the issues afterwards.

FERC Scoping Meetings:
This week’s calendar:
SpectraBusters Panel:
In Conjunction with:

FERC Scoping Meetings:

We hear these FERC Scoping meetings will all have the same format:

5PM Sabal Trail discussion	pipeline representatives will be present.
6PM FERC presentation	about the process.
Then citizens can speak	at the podium one by one and have what they say transcribed by a court recorder for the Commission’s administrative record.

This week’s calendar: Continue reading Take the Pipeline Bull by the Horns: Georgia FERC Scoping Meetings →

Colquitt County attorney gives up too easily

February 28, 2014Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, LawColquitt County, Condit Project, FERC, John S. Quarterman, Law, Lester Castellow, Moultrie, PacifiCorp, Ray Saunders, SpectraBusters, WashingtonJohn S. Quarterman

Too-hasty conclusions about the Sabal Trail pipeline from the Colquitt County attorney at the 10 February 2014 Colquitt County Commission meeting.

Alan Mauldin wrote for the Moultrie Observer 10 February 2014, Sabal Trail: County can have input, but feds are in control,

County officials can’t decide which route a massive gas pipeline takes through the area or prevent its construction, but it can have an impact on safety, Colquitt County officials heard Monday.

Federal law trumps those of the state and county ordinances, so if federal officials grant a permit for a pipeline route there is little to be gained from opposing it, County Attorney Lester Castellow said.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Before Commissioners: Joseph T. Kelliher, Chairman; Nora Mead Brownell, and Suedeen G. Kelly.
PacifiCorp Project No. 2342-018
ORDER ON PETITION FOR DECLARATORY ORDER (Issued May 18, 2006):

9. However, federal preemption does not necessarily mean Continue reading Colquitt County attorney gives up too easily →

Ask FERC at the Moultrie Monday makeup Sabal Trail Open House

January 27, 2014Colquitt County, Environment, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, Law, TreesColquitt County, environment, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Moultrie, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra, SpectraBusters, TreesJohn S. Quarterman

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 →

Sabal Trail is failing to inform the public –Sandra Jones to FERC

December 18, 2013Alabama, Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, GeorgiaAlabama, Christmas parade, Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Moultrie, Open House, Sabal Trail Transmission, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Filed with FERC 26 November 2013:

Sandra Jones, Moultrie, GA.

Sabal Trails has planned the next open house meetings in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida concerning their proposed 36 inch pipeline during the very busy month of December.

In fact, the one planned for Colquitt County is to be held December 12th at 5 pm. This is the same time the traditional Christmas parade is to take place downtown Moultrie.

I am asking FERC to require Sabal Trails to reschedule this meeting and place an ad in the local newspaper to inform the public. Most of the citizens in Colquitt county are not aware of this project. Sabal Trails is failing to neet FERC’s requirements of informing the public of this very dangeruos pipeline.

How to comment with FERC.

-jsq