Tag Archives: property values

Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail?

Alabama, Colquitt County, Compressor, Corrosion, Dougherty County, Economy, Environment, Explosion, Florida, Georgia, Hazard, Hazards, History, Leak, Safety, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why should we accept any risk from a pipeline company that has repeatedly claimed not to be familiar with the public record of its long list of corrosion, leaks, and explosions? A pipeline company that has claimed land values wouldn’t be affected? That it’s “hard to believe” its own law firm sent threats of eminent domain to landowners, despite copies of those letters being sent to newspapers and FERC? That Georgia counties need its gas, after those same counties had already passed resolutions wanting Sabal Trail’s pipeline out of their county and state? A pipeline company that claims the Sunshine State needs its gas when its own figures show half the acreage could produce just as much solar power? Why should anybody in Albama, Georgia, or Florida accept any risk from that company from Houston, Texas?

Sabal Trail claimed theirs is a safe company and leaks and explosions seldom happen, until confronted on-camera with a list of incidents. Continue reading Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail? →

An unnecessary threat by an unsafe company –Ted Turner’s Nonami Plantation to FERC about Sabal Trail

Compressor, Dougherty County, FERC, Georgia, Law, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

And checkered pipeline company safety records, says Nonami:

I’ve added a few links and illustrations, but Nonami’s filing is so thorough it would take a long time to link to all the evidence.

Filed with FERC 13 November 2014, Comment filed on behalf of Nonami Oglethorpe, LLC by Davis, Pickren, Seydel & Sneed, LLP under PF14-1. Continue reading An unnecessary threat by an unsafe company –Ted Turner’s Nonami Plantation to FERC about Sabal Trail →

Pipelines, property values, and insurance

Economy, Environment, Law, , , , , , , , ,

What happens to your property values or homeowners insurance a pipeline company takes your land to gouge a path for its fracked methane or oil? It affects the property values not just of your land, but of your neighbors’, and yours and their property insurance. It also opens the pipeline company and associated businesses to civil lawsuits. And FERC’s assertion that federal law supersedes state and local laws for eminent domain does nothing to stop such lawsuits; many such lawsuits are winning lately. Not even the federal government is immune from pipeline lawsuits.

Stop the Pipeline has a good article, mostly about land near fracking wells: LOSS OF PROPERTY VALUES, DIFFICULTY GETTING MORTGAGES AND HOME INSURANCE,

“Another illustration is the gentleman who has had 63 acres for sale now for several years. He purchased the property as an investment, and now has three pipelines and an above ground valve. He can not give this property away. As he reaches retirement age his retirement has been stolen from him. This is no different than Enron or any other scandal, only it has been made legal thievery. There are two other pieces of property that have been for sale for several years, one of which is a large parcel of about 70 acres and the other is about 10 acres.”

The insurance industry has been studying this issue for years, and wants to steer clear of it. Continue reading Pipelines, property values, and insurance →

Proposal will devalue property to be virtually worthless –James Ryder to FERC

Brooks County, Compressor, Economy, Environment, FERC, Georgia, , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 14 February 2014. His #2 is basically the same question Susan Waller didn’t even want to hear: if the Sabal Trail pipeline won’t damage property values, why doesn’t Spectra buy up all the affected property and resell it later at a profit? -jsq

James Ryder, Tallahassee, FL.

We own a plot of land on Spain Lane in Brooks Co GA. My issue is that no matter what is logical, SPECTER, seems to be very narrow minded and due to eminent domain they do not seem to under stand that there proposal will devalue the already encumbered property (Sonat gas line and an electric easement) to the point that the property will be virtually worthless. The Solutions below are reasonable and should be considered.

Emailed to Dan Miller Spectra.

I have had a the opportunity to look over your recent proposal on the pipeline route. It looks a bit chaotic. Although it solve one problem, it creates several others. Your recent problem now runs pipe helter schelter all over the remaining property. I have attached a map and a description of a proposal that I think would solve all of our problems.

Solution 1: From the point of intersection of the SONAT gas pipe line Continue reading Proposal will devalue property to be virtually worthless –James Ryder to FERC →

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.

Economy, Florida, Hazards, Levy County, Safety, , , , ,

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