Tag Archives: PCB

Where are Floridian LNG and FLiNG Energy?

Where is FLiNG Energy and its “partners in Indiantown” that it expects to help it quadruple its LNG capacity in the first quarter of 2016? All along FPL’s pipeline to the sea, and PCBs, too. So convenient for LNG export from the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline!

FLiNG Energy lists its contact address as 15328 SW Warfield Blvd. Indiantown, FL 34956. That’s this unassuming storefront that google maps shows with “Indiantown Realty” on the front: Continue reading Where are Floridian LNG and FLiNG Energy?

Spectra fined $18.6 million + $200 million cleanup for PCBs by Pennsylvania in 1991

That 1989 $15 million fine against Spectra for leaking PCBs at 89 pipeline locations was a record for EPA at that time, but Pennsylvania topped it a few years later.

Russell E. Eshleman Jr. wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer 15 May 1991, Pipeline Firm To Pay $218.6 Million For Pcb Contamination Across Pa.,

Texas Eastern Pipeline Corp. has agreed to pay Pennsylvania $18.6 million in penalties and $200 million in cleanup costs for dumping PCBs at 19 sites across the state, the Casey administration announced yesterday….

Remember, Texas Eastern is part of Spectra Energy now.

Penn. had asked for even more than it got, so it got enough: Continue reading Spectra fined $18.6 million + $200 million cleanup for PCBs by Pennsylvania in 1991

EPA and Spectra knew about PCBs as early as 1985

That was four years before the record 1989 $15 million fine against Spectra (then Texas Eastern Transmission Corp.). What other safety problems does Spectra know that it’s not telling?

Philip Shabecoff wrote for the New York Times 17 March 1987, DATA SHOW E.P.A. DELAYED WARNING ABOUT PCB PERIL

The Environmental Protection Agency knew about PCB contamination at specific sites along the Texas Eastern pipeline as early as the autumn of 1985 but took no immediate action to protect public health at the sites, according to internal agency documents.

Agency officials had said that they were unable to act more quickly to deal with the contamination because they had insufficient information from the company.

In case you’re having trouble following all the name changes, Continue reading EPA and Spectra knew about PCBs as early as 1985

Florida Public Service Commission Grants FP&L’s Motion to Dismiss my Petition- Because the damage is “speculative” and we are not FP&L customers- Really.

The Florida Public Service Commission relied upon their own precedent in Dismissing my Petition protesting the order granting permission for FP&L to go ahead with the SABAL TRAIL pipeline ( which was made by me and four other landowners in Levy and Sumter counties) because they said we do not have standing to bring such a safety-focused protest before them. Even though the pipeline will run through our land and past our bedrooms. Only if we were FP&L customers aggrieved by a high bill, or if we actually had PCB leaks on our properties, could we establish standing. Spectra’s scary record therefore was not of interest to them Their staff attorney pointed out to me on the phone that Spectra was not a Petitioner before their commission, and so they had no cause to consider their record. I plan on sending the Petition and the Order Dismissing to every newspaper I can think of. The Petition was dismissed for the above reasons, even though the Florida Commission (FLPSC) states this on their site’s home page:

The Florida Public Service Commission is committed to making sure that Florida’s consumers receive some of their most essential services — electric, natural gas, telephone, water, and wastewater — in a safe, reasonable, and reliable manner. In doing so, the PSC exercises regulatory authority over utilities in one or more of three key areas: rate base/economic regulation; competitive market oversight; and monitoring of safety….”

Order Granting Motion to Dismiss

Only 50 feet? Sabal Trail in Alexander City, AL

How is that “additional 50 feet of construction lane” temporary after you’ve torn down all the trees, Sabal Trail? And the route you’re showing Alexander City goes through Valdosta, while around here you’re telling us a different route. You told a Lowndes County resident you could also build feeder pipelines, yet the Alexander City story doesn’t mention anything about that. Which of your stories should we believe, Sabal Trail?

Robert Hudson wrote for alexcityOutlook.co 13 November 2013, Citizens hear about proposed gas pipeline,

The proposed corridor is 600 feet wide, but once surveys are done, that area will be decreased to some 50 feet.

“At the end of the day, should our project be approved, that comes down to only being 50 feet,” Grover said. “Then there will also be an additional 50 feet of construction lane that will be temporary so that they can build the pipeline in that easement.”

Let’s go back a month and a few hundred miles south to what Brad McEwen wrote in the Albany Herald 20 October 2013, Continue reading Only 50 feet? Sabal Trail in Alexander City, AL