Tag Archives: lawsuit

The Empire Strikes Back: Spectra sues FL,GA,AL landowners

Reciting from the standard pipeline playbook, Spectra has started suing landowners. This while doughty rebels defeated 34 aye to 128 nay easements to drill under Georgia rivers, which could put a crimp in the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail fracked methane boondoggle. Can we the people beat the Mickey Mouse fossil fuel empire?

Paul Brinkmann, Orlando Sentinel, 22 March 2016, Sabal Pipeline project files 160 eminent domain lawsuits,

The pipeline company insists that it already has federal and court authority to seize the property under the Natural Gas Act. Sabal claims its project must be under construction by June 21 and in service, by May 1, 2017.

Sabal Trail pipeline

According to maps provided by the utilities, the Sabal pipeline would come through the Four Corners area of northwestern Osceola County, dip south of Walt Disney World property, cross Interstate 4 near Celebration and connect with a hub of pipelines just west of Reunion Resort Golf Course.

The Greenpointe property is one of the biggest Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back: Spectra sues FL,GA,AL landowners

Deny Sabal Trail, said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, and FERC ignored him

Citing the GDOT denial of KMI’s Palmetto Pipeline and numerous specific hazards of Spectra Energy’s proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline (sinkholes in karst limestone and a compressor station next to Albany’s water wells, all for no benefit to Georgia, by a company with a poor safety record), U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02) wrote to FERC (PDF):

I believe that FERC should deny STT’s application for a Certificate of Public Necessity.

And he told FERC to tell Sabal Trail to stop suing his constituents for eminent domain.

A year after Rep. Bishop listened in Albany for two hours to complaints about Sabal Trail, Dougherty County and Albany, Georgia filed followup letters to their resolutions against that pipeline. Neither FERC nor Sabal Trail answered them, so their Representative in the U.S. Congress forwarded their letters with that sharp cover letter. Three weeks later, FERC still hasn’t even filed his letter in their e-comment system, much less responded to it.

Just how lawless is FERC, anyway? Doesn’t a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations give them pause? Continue reading Deny Sabal Trail, said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, and FERC ignored him

Sabal Trail is Bull: see them sue a landowner in Moultrie May 28th 2015

Spectra may bull through pronghorn antelope in Texas, but suing a Georgia Centennial Family Farm provokes some resistance.

PoetsLoveBirds, 14 May 2015, Spectra Energy: Like a Bull in a China Shop,

Spectra Energy is a Fortune 500 company based in Houston, Texas. They say that they are one of North America’s leading natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil infrastructure companies. Their claim to fame — It builds pipelines to ship natural gas. It builds storage facilities to hold natural gas. It distributes natural gas. …

But wait, let’s hear from Spectra Energy. On their spiffy website, sporting Continue reading Sabal Trail is Bull: see them sue a landowner in Moultrie May 28th 2015

Constitution Pipeline files eminent domain lawsuits

Landowners in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida will get sued for eminent domain if we let the Sabal Trail pipeline get approved by FERC like FERC just approved the Constitution pipeline. Tomorrow is the deadline to file a motion to intervene against the Sabal Trail pipeline. That’s not the only thing that needs doing, but you can do it right now.

On 2 December 2014 FERC approved Williams Company’s Constutiontion Pipeline through Pennsylvania and New York, and a compressor station. (Joe Mahoney, Daily Star, 3 December 2014.

Julia Reischel, Watershed Post, 22 December 2014, Constitution Pipeline files 55 eminent domain lawsuits against Catskills landowners,

Since Dec. 12, the Constitution Pipeline has filed formal eminent domain proceedings against 55 landowners along the pipeline’s proposed 124-mile route through Schoharie, Delaware and Chenango counties, federal court records show.

The pipeline, which received conditional approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Dec. 2, has wasted no time Continue reading Constitution Pipeline files eminent domain lawsuits

Voters in birthplace of fracking ban it, Denton, TX sued

If the birthplace of fracking can’t live with it, who can? How about nobody?

Marice Richter, Reuters, 5 November 2014, Texas city bans fracking in its birthplace, court battles loom,

“Denton, Texas is where hydraulic fracturing was invented,” said Bruce Baizel, Earthworks energy program director. “If this place in the heart of the oil and gas industry can’t live with fracking, then who can?”

Fracking was pioneered at the Barnett shale formation where Denton is located. Exxon Mobil’s XTO unit honed its shale expertise in the natural gas-rich Barnett.

And the Barnett Shale is one of the sources of Spectra’s fracked methane that might go through the Sabal Trail pipeline. Continue reading Voters in birthplace of fracking ban it, Denton, TX sued