Sabal Trail is back on the agenda for the Hamilton County, Florida
Commissioners tomorrow evening.
Please go if you’re in the area.
When: 6PM Tuesday
March 15th 2016
Where:
Room 112, Courthouse,
207 Northeast First St.
Jasper, Florida
Here’s the agenda.
-jsq
You can help stop eminent domain easements for Sabal Trail from passing the Georgia statehouse! (PDF handout)
Follow this link for all the Georgia statehouse members in the pipeline path.
Or type in your ZIP code here to find your Georgia House member:
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
If you don’t live in Georgia, you probably know somebody who does, so you can ask them to call their state rep.
There’s a longer writeup here.
Strom can ramp up its LNG export to the Gulf from Crystal River an order of magnitude with its initial units,
and then add more units, all without any further approval by anybody, says this Order from the U.S. DoE Office of Fossil Energy,
which also appears to permit bomb trains shipping LNG anywhere in Florida,
or maybe even other states, with some of the fracked methane probably coming from Sabal Trail if built.
This FE Order was issued 21 October 2014, one month to the day before
Sabal Trail filed in the FERC formal process in
21 November 2014.
Yet not a word was said about Strom or any other LNG export by FERC or Sabal Trail in any of the FERC Scoping Meetings I went to,
as
I pointed out at the one 1 October 2015 in Lake City, Florida.
FE is even more a rubberstamp regulatory-captured lapdog of the fossil fuel industry than is FERC, and Strom is setting up to require no further approvals by them or anybody else: Continue reading Strom Crystal River LNG export approval 2014-10-21
In a letter Sabal Trail sent to multiple Florida county commissions,
the most important point is “We… are on track to place the pipeline in-service by May 1, 2017.”
Important to Spectra Energy, because if they slip that date they could forfeit a $200 million bond and possibly the contract for the project, and they’re having some problems with that, since despite what they imply they do not have all the permits they need.
Then there are those glossed over in passing, such as “with certain conditions” and Continue reading Sabal Trail wants to proceed
Petitions to the New York Governor may have helped him send this message to FERC about Spectra’s AIM pipeline project that would go far too close to the document-forging caught-fire leaked-oil-into-the-Hudson River Indian Point nuclear plant:
Lisa W. Foderaro, New York Times, 28 Feb 2016,
Plan to Expand a Pipeline at Indian Point Raises Concern,
On Monday, the state plans to notify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it will take a hard look at the project in light of a series of problems at the nuclear plant since last May. In addition, the state will ask federal regulators to suspend their approval of the project — effectively halting construction — until the study is completed.
“I am directing Continue reading NY Gov. asks FERC to suspend license for a Spectra pipeline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Live Oak, February 10, 2016 — The date has been set to go see
where Spectra Energy of Houston Texas has been permitted by the
Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) in Washington, DC to drill under
the Suwannee River for its Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline
despite widespread local opposition. The Suwannee Board of County
Commissioners already voted a resolution to move Sabal Trail’s
compressor station. Still mulling stronger action, the SBOCC agreed
at a recent meeting to go with local guides, including WWALS Watershed Coalition board member Chris Mericle, on a hike with the
public to where FERC said construction monitoring was important for
the river and our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer, but Sabal
Trail should be left to self-monitor. The day and time have been
set: 8:15 AM Thursday February 18, 2016.
All interested individuals will meet at: Continue reading Suwannee County Commissioners and public to hike to Sabal Trail Suwannee River Crossing
Now streaming online:
At What Cost? Pipelines, Pollution and Eminent Domain in the Rural South,
by Mark Albertin.
And yes, he’s happy for it to be shown elsewhere; just ask, and you can set up a local viewing like
in Live Oak last night, or the previous premieres along the Georgia coast.
Most of the issues are the same for Spectra Energy’s invading Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline as for Kinder Morgan’s invading Palmetto petroleum products pipeline that is the subject of the movie. Thanks to Push Back the Pipeline for getting this movie made about Kinder Morgan’s proposed petroleum products pipeline from South Carolina across the Georgia coast to Jacksonville, Florida. Special thanks to Eileen, Lori, and Debra and the Woman’s Club of Live Oak for the movie showing last night, to WWALS Watershed Coalition and the Woman’s Club of Live Oak for hosting, and to Our Santa Fe River, and Gulf Restoration Network for helping promote it.
Don’t forget the hike to the Suwannee River Sabal Trail crossing 8:15 AM Thursday 28 February 2016 with Suwannee and Hamilton County Commissioners.
Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas wants to gouge Sabal Trail from Continue reading Movie online: At What Cost? Pipelines, Pollution and Eminent Domain in the Rural South
Property rights, environment, or safety? 14% pipeline company profit is more important! said FERC. But this fight is not over.
Without ever appearing on FERC’s public calendar, and a month in advance of when FERC previously said, FERC yesterday issued certificates for Sabal Trail, the Transco Hillabee Expansion Project, and Florida Southeast Connection.
Trial-style evidentiary hearing?
Nope, FERC believes Sabal Trail.
Consolidation of the three dockets into one?
Nope, everybody should have opposed all three, says FERC.
Environmental justice?
Hey, demographics don’t matter, pipeline siting is
all about engineering and “environmental” issues.
And profit. Don’t forget profit for the pipeline companies.
Solar power?
Nevermind, Continue reading We will accept Sabal Trail’s answers –FERC issues certificates
If I’m not mistaken, this is the same pipeline Spectra Energy pulled out of bidding on back in August 2014, after numerous local resolutions against. Now it’s hit another big snag. And this also affects Southern Company and solar power: in a good way.
Aaron Isherwood and Nicholas Jimenez, Sierra Club, 6 January 2016, Forest Service Rejects Destructive Path for “Atlantic Coast Pipeline”,
A few days ago, the Forest Service rejected a destructive pathway Dominion Energy had proposed for the $5 billion “Atlantic Coast Pipeline” the company wants to build to carry natural gas from fracking in the Marcellus shale field in northern West Virginia to power plants along the coast of Virginia and North Carolina. This is great news for our National Forests, our ground water, and the climate.
Because the pipeline would have cleared a swath through two national forests (the George Washington and Monongahela), Dominion needed sign-off from the Forest Service. After reviewing the route, the Forest Service determined the environmental destruction the pipeline would cause was unacceptable and rejected the proposal in a January 19 letter
Southern Company (NYSE:SO, and parent of Georgia Power) is in the process of buying Continue reading Forest Service rejects path for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
If you’re a Houston fossil fuel company and you can’t get FERC approval fast enough, try FE, or MARAD!
If that doesn’t work, ship it by land through Canada or Mexico!
Local property rights, they laugh at those! Rio Grande, Suwannee River, or Hudson River: just minor obstacles to greed!
If the people are tired of profit being more important than their land, water, air, or safety, it’s time to stop this fossil fuel shell game.