Tag Archives: New York

March on FERC against Cove Point LNG exports 2014-07-13

July 20, 2014FERC, Law, LNG, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginiaccan, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Cove Point, DC, FERC, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Politics, Sane Energy Project, SpectraBusters, VirginiaJohn S. Quarterman

Opposition to fracking, pipelines, and LNG export is nationwide and growing. One week ago, activists from Maryland, DC, and Virginia marched on Washington to demand an end to plans for exporting fracked methane from Maryland.

Mike Tidwell wrote for Chesapeake Climate Action Network (ccan) 15 July 2014, ALL ABOUT UNITY: THANK YOU AND ONWARD FROM THE STOP GAS EXPORTS RALLY,

Wow. On Sunday, the heat scorching the streets of DC was palpable. But, even more so, was the passion and power of our movement. THANKS to everyone who turned out to say NO to fracking, NO to gas exports at Cove Point, NO to runaway climate change, and YES to real clean energy solutions.

Click here to check out all the photos on Facebook, and share them to spread the word!

We know the gas industry is all about division — blasting apart the rock beneath our earth, running pipelines through our towns, and further disrupting our fragile climate — now to ship the gas overseas for higher profit.
Continue reading March on FERC against Cove Point LNG exports 2014-07-13 →

WALB in Albany, GA notices New England Spectra pipeline plans

July 3, 2014Dougherty County, FERC, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova ScotiaAlbany, Algonquin, Bill Yardley, Dougherty County, EIA, FERC, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Maine, Maritimes, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New England, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, WALBJohn S. Quarterman

A Spectra is haunting New England and the Canadian Maritimes, as well as the U.S. southeast, seeking every market for its fracked methane pipelines, sliming lands along the way. Local media are starting to pay attention to the big picture, not just the local hauntings, such as Spectra’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission 36-inch 100-foot right of way gash through the southeast. Spectra didn’t say, but those markets could include LNG export from Excelerate Energy’s Northeast Gateway in Massachusetts Bay or the proposed Goldboro LNG export terminal in Nova Scotia. If LNG export happens, the price of “natural” gas in the U.S. and Canada will go up.

WALB TV in Albany, GA ran this PR from Spectra Energy 1 July 2014, Spectra Energy Announces Plans to Further Expand New England Pipeline Systems; Continue reading WALB in Albany, GA notices New England Spectra pipeline plans →

Song: We all know FERC’s a Rubber Stamp Machine!

June 25, 2014Ethics, FERC, Law, New YorkConstitution Pipeline, FERC, John S. Quarterman, New York, rubber stamp, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

We’ve all seen it here in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, and our allies from New York went to FERC in DC to sing it: FERC’s a rubberstamp machine!

Here’s the video:

We all know FERC’s a Rubber Stamp Machine!
Video by NY Friends of Clean Air and Water

We all know FERC’s a Rubber Stamp Machine!
(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
Recorded the 1 May 2014 (day of Minisink trial at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals).
LYRICS:
We’re here at FERC to have our say
So listen closely, don’t walk away
This is your country It’s yours to save Continue reading Song: We all know FERC’s a Rubber Stamp Machine! →

Pipeline EIA insufficient without interstate highway option –EPA

June 16, 2014Constitution Pipeline, EPA, FE, FERC, Hazards, Law, New York, PennsylvaniaConstitution Pipeline, EPA, FERC, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Judy-Ann Mitchell, New York, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Transco, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

If FERC needs to consider an interstate highway route for the Constitution Pipeline through Pennsylvania and New York State, it also needs to consider running down I-75 through Georgia and Florida for the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Just as numerous state and federal agencies insisted on that in New York and Pennsylvania, state agencies in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and the same federal agencies can insist on the same for the Transco -> Sabal Trail -> FSC 100-foot-wide gash to the sea.

Joe Mahoney wrote for The Daily Star 17 April 2014, EPA deems pipeline study ‘insufficient’,

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that a draft report on the environmental impacts of the proposed Constitution Pipeline is “insufficient,” and that a potential option of co-locating the transmission line along Interstate 88 “has Continue reading Pipeline EIA insufficient without interstate highway option –EPA →

FERC hearing packed by activists

May 4, 2014FERC, Florida, Law, LNG, New YorkCheseapeake Climate Action Network, Constitution Pipeline, Cove Point, EPA, export, FERC, Florida, John S. Quarterman, Law, LNG, Minisink, New York, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sane Energy Project, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

FERC’s rubberstamp machine may yet be held accountable by the citizens, and by other government agencies and courts that are taxpayer-funded, not by the industries they regulate like FERC.

Sane Energy Project posted 4 May 2014, Reportback: The Minisink Hearing, or, FERC Gets a Clue,

A court officer was asked if similar hearings were always as crowded. “Never,” he said. This is a trend that’s building. Before Spectra, the average number of interveners on any project was about 19. Now, it’s typical for there to be 300-500 interveners, and for thousands of comments to be filed. Lately, activists are getting under FERC’s skin even more, showing up repeatedly at hearings, Commission meetings, and soon, a rally in front of their offices.

Ted Glick, coordinator for Cheseapeake Climate Action Network, one of the main groups fighting the Cove Point LNG export terminal in Maryland, said, Continue reading FERC hearing packed by activists →

Explain why the gas is needed –EPA to FERC

April 23, 2014Environment, FERC, Florida, Law, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Watercaves, Clean Air Act, CO2, environment, EPA, export, FERC, FGT, Florida, Florida Gas Transmission, Gulf of Mexico, Gulfstream, John S. Quarterman, karst, landfill, Law, limestone, LNG, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Port Dolphin, SpectraBusters, swamp, Tennessee, Texas, Transco, Water, wetlands, WilliamsJohn S. Quarterman

EPA isn’t buying FPL’s need for new power in Florida,

or that methane is better than many alternatives (including that renewable energy sources should be considered together, not separately), or that a pipeline is the best way to get gas (specifically suggesting Port Dolphin instead), or that any of the proposed routes are appropriate, not to mention catching inconsistent numbers of compressor stations and asking to see any non-FPL customers. And EPA asked for GIS data, as well as further information on water withdrawals and water re-emitted into the environment. My favorite is this one:

EPA recommends FERC provide in the EIS readable and comprehensible maps and figures, and clearly describe all potential impacts with the proposed action upon children’s health. For example, maps of schools, day-care facilities, multifamily housing, and hospitals should have different legend colors and be created at scales providing appropriate information, i.e., proximity of sensitive receptors to the navigation and transportation corridors.

FERC shows EPA’s comments as filed 23 April 2014, although they are dated two days earlier. -jsq

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Continue reading Explain why the gas is needed –EPA to FERC →

Methane pipeline safety record questioned –Lauren Ritchie

March 19, 2014Corrosion, Explosion, FERC, Florida, Leak, Maine, Martin County, New York, Osceola County, Safety, WaterAndrea Grover, Bangor, Bay Lake, corrosion, explosion, FERC, Florida, Florida Southeast Connection, Floridan Aquifer, Green Swamp, John S. Quarterman, Lake County, Lauren Ritchie, leak, Maine, Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, Martin County, negligence, New York, Osceola County, PF14-1, PF14-2, Polk County, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, WaterJohn S. Quarterman

A reporter for a major newspaper is calling Spectra on its safety record, and calling Spectra’s responses “not good enough”! After thirty years of Spectra safety promises, that’s putting it mildly. A Maine resident put it this way after the Spectra’s Searsmont compressor blowout: “we were clearly lied to”.

Lauren Ritchie wrote for the Orlando Sentinel today, Safety record of natural-gas pipeline partner raises concerns,

Spectra Energy Corp. along with FPL’s parent, NextEra Energy, would bury the 473-mile Sabal Trail pipeline expected to carry 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to just south of Orlando in Osceola County, where it would connect to another line for eventual delivery to FPL in Martin County.

Spectra’s safety record, however, leaves something to be desired.

Take, for example, the company’s Texas Eastern pipeline, a 9,200-mile Spectra project connecting Texas with the markets in the Northeast.

Between 2006 and 2013, the company had 21 “incidents” along the line, causing Continue reading Methane pipeline safety record questioned –Lauren Ritchie →

Woman identified in last week’s Ewing, NJ gas explosion that destroyed dozens of homes

March 14, 2014Explosion, New Jersey, New York, Safetyexplosion, fatality, John S. Quarterman, negligence, New Jersey, New York, property damage, Safety, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

This week, Harlem, last week, Ewing, NJ, 20 years ago, Edison, NJ: methane explosions that destroyed buildings and killed at least one person, according to investigors or local officials apparently caused by gas company. This is one downside to the fracked “natural” gas industry’s answer to cold weather in the U.S. northeast.

WPVI-TV wrote 6 March 2014, Woman killed in Ewing Twp. explosion identified as Linda Cerritelli,

It all began around 11:45 a.m. when utility company PSE&G got a call from contractor Henkels and McCoy that a worker had damaged a gas line while working on an electrical problem.

Crews were working on it about an hour later when—for reasons that are still not known—the gas line ignited.

At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Bert Steinmann said the gas line was marked out in the area where a contractor was working. Officials don’t know what went wrong.

PSE&G issued a statement saying it would not comment further until the investigation was complete.

Documents show Henkels and McCoy had been fined more than $100,000 by federal safety monitors for problems at two other New Jersey work sites. Continue reading Woman identified in last week’s Ewing, NJ gas explosion that destroyed dozens of homes →

Gas explosion in Harlem

March 12, 2014Explosion, Hazards, Leak, New YorkDurham Woods, Edison, explosion, Harlem, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, leak, Manhattan, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

A huge methane explosion in New York City reminds people of 9/11. And of Spectra’s Durham Woods explosion in Edison, NJ.

Michael J. Feeney, Greg B. Smith, Pete Donohue, Jennifer H. Cunningham, Stephen Rex Brown and Corky Siemaszko for the New York Daily News, today, Underground gas explosion in East Harlem kills 3, injures dozens — up to 10 people feared missing: sources

“It’s a tragedy of the worst kind,’ Mayor de Blasio says Wednesday near Park Ave. and E. 116th St. Up to 10 people were still missing from the two buildings that contained 15 apartments, Absolute Piano and Spanish Christian Church, an NYPD source said. One of the victims was identified by sources as Griselde Camacho, 44, who lived at 1644 Park Ave.”

Nobody knows for sure the cause, but it appears to be gas:

“There was no warning in advance,” said Mayor de Blasio, who added that the cause of the blast that also flattened 1646 Park Ave. appears to be a gas leak.

Ah, maybe there will be a real investigation of this one: Continue reading Gas explosion in Harlem →

Sample no-permission letters

October 30, 2013Constitution Pipeline, FERC, Law, New YorkCabot Oil and Gas, Catskills, deny, John S. Quarterman, Law, New York, permission, rescind, SpectraBusters, Stop the Pipeline, WilliamsJohn S. Quarterman

If Spectra or FPL wants you to sign anything or you have already, you can refuse or rescind permission. Here are sample landowner letters modeled on ones by Stop the Pipeline against the Constitution Pipeline that would run through New York State. These letters could work just as well against the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, or the Florida Southeast Connection in south Florida. (I am not a lawyer; please ask an attorney for legal advice.)

You can send a deny or rescind letter to the same address Sabal Trail (or FSC) used in any letters to you. The address in these sample letters was on letters to Lowndes County from Sabal Trail (and in the preliminary filing with FERC by FSC).

If you deny or rescind permission, please also submit that as a comment to FERC.

No permission to Sabal Trail Transmission

No permission to Florida Southeast Connection

Based on

Continue reading →