Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Sabal Trail sues Georgia landowners for federal eminent domain –Atlanta Journal Constitution

May 2, 2016Colquitt County, Dougherty County, Georgia, History, Law, TexasAlbany, Bob Graham, Colquitt County, Columbus, Dougherty County, Florida, Georgia, Greenlaw, History, John S. Quarterman, Law, Moultrie, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sandra Jones, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Steve Caley, Ted Turner, Texas, Westmoreland CountyJohn S. Quarterman

Which Houston, Texas pipeline company has sued Ted Turner, Bob Graham, and dozens of other Georgia landowners, including a Georgia Centennial Farm? That’s right, Spectra Energy, as in the Sabal Trail fracked methane boondoggle.

Dan Chapman, AJC, 1 May 2016, South Georgia pipeline fight turns into battle over eminent domain,

A Texas company wants to condemn private property in Georgia for a pipeline to deliver energy to Florida.

Continue reading →

Two Sabal Trail-feeding pipelines delayed by FERC due to opposition

April 9, 2016FERC, PennsylvaniaAtlantic Sunrise, chutzpah, FERC, GAO, General Accounting Office, investigate, John S. Quarterman, PennEast, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, suspended, Transco, Transcontinental Pipeline Company, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

Williams talked up Atlantic Sunrise to feed Transco and Sabal Trail, and Spectra bought into Penneast. Now both have been delayed many months, shortly after the Georgia legislature resoundingly rejected river-drilling easements for Sabal Trail and Hamilton and Suwannee Counties, Florida and WWALS Watershed Coalition asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to come see the sinkholes, springs, and caverns Sabal Trail didn’t tell FERC about. You can ask Congress to get the GAO to investigate FERC.

Elizabeth Skrapits, Popular Resistance, 2 April 2016, FERC Postpones Decisions On Two Gas Pipeline Projects, Continue reading Two Sabal Trail-feeding pipelines delayed by FERC due to opposition →

Shoestring Energy Justice Network and Dimock families defeat mighty Cabot Oil & Gas in $4.2 million anti-fracking lawsuit win

March 11, 2016Economy, Ethics, Fracking, Hazards, Health, Law, Pennsylvania, SafetyAlex Lotorto, Allison Petryk, Cabot Oil & Gas, Dimock, Economy, Energy Justice Network, Ethics, Fracking, Hazards, Health, John S. Quarterman, Law, Pennsylvania, Safety, SpectraBusters, Susquehanna CountyJohn S. Quarterman

Here’s why Sabal Trail and all the other fossil fuel profiteers avoid jury trials at all costs: when twelve peers of the afflicted decide, the frackers lose. But money isn’t enough. That land and water is permanently poisoned. There’s only one real solution: end fracking, to end all its new pipelines, compressor stations, bomb trains, and LNG export.

Sharon Kelly, Desmog Blog, 10 March 2016, BREAKING: $4.2 Million Jury Verdict Against Cabot Oil & Gas in Dimock, PA Water Contamination Lawsuit,

A Pennsylvania jury handed down a $4.2 million verdict in a lawsuit centering on water contamination from negligent shale gas drilling in Dimock, PA, a tiny town that made international headlines for its flammable and toxic drinking water.

The defendant in the lawsuit, Cabot Oil and Gas Corp., had strenuously denied Continue reading Shoestring Energy Justice Network and Dimock families defeat mighty Cabot Oil & Gas in $4.2 million anti-fracking lawsuit win →

Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Penn. same problems as Sabal Trail

January 18, 2016Alabama, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Law, LNG, PennsylvaniaAlabama, Atlantic Sunrise, Chris Hedges, Cove Point LNG export, Elba Island LNG export, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hillabee Expansion Project, John S. Quarterman, Lancaster Against Pipelines, Lancaster County, LAP, Law, LNG, Mark Clatterbuck, Pennsylvania, SpectraBusters, Thomas Linzey, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

First the good news: a Pennsylvania pipeline protester had all charges dismissed for videoing license plates at a pipeline construction site. All of those plates were from out of state: so much for pipeline company promises of local construction jobs. Much else going on in Pennsylvania sounds very familiar.

Tom Knapp, LancasterOnline, 13 November 2015, Pipeline protester not guilty of disorderly conduct for filming at construction site,

Mark Clatterbuck, a Martic Township resident and professor of religion at Montclair State University in New Jersey, was issued a summons by state police after videotaping out-of-state license plates of subcontractors working at the Williams Gas pipeline project.

The incident occurred Continue reading Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Penn. same problems as Sabal Trail →

No Fracked Gas Florida –Harriet Heywood

January 10, 2016Economy, Florida, Fracking, Pennsylvania, Politics, Safety, Texas, WaterEconomy, Florida, Florida League of Women Voters, Florida Petroleum Council, Fracking, Ft. Myers, Gasland, Harriet Heywood, Jimmie T Smith, John S. Quarterman, Naples, Orlando, Pennsylvania, Politics, Ray Wesley Rodrigues, Safety, Senator Garrett Richter, SpectraBusters, Susquehanna County, Texas, WaterJohn S. Quarterman

Wouldn’t it be convenient for fossil fuel profits if the Sabal Trail pipeline was already in place and they started fracking? Received today as a comment on Strom LNG Processing & Export In The Public Interest? What About Solar & Other Clean Energy Alternatives?; the content is the opinion of the author undersigned below. -jsq

The health of the people and the water of the state of Florida are being auctioned off by a block of elected politicians backed by big oil company lobbyists. And our House representative is one of them.

September 17, the Florida League of Women voters called a town hall in the Orlando area to address public concerns over industry plans to practice hydraulic acid fracturing on our fragile limestone aquifers. Not coincidentally, HB 191, and SB 318, bills that call for preempting Home Rule laws, for the express purpose of greasing the skids for fracking in Florida, were quietly introduced that same day by Rep Ray Wesley Rodrigues, Ft. Myers and Senator Garrett Richter, Naples.

The bill is backed by Continue reading No Fracked Gas Florida –Harriet Heywood →

Spectra was fined for Steckman Ridge compressor blowout

August 21, 2015Bedford County, Compressor, Law, Leak, PennsylvaniaAndra Grover, Andrea Grover, Bedford County, compressor, John S. Quarterman, Law, leak, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Steckman RidgeJohn S. Quarterman

A Spectra compressor station in Pennsylvania blew oil over local crops in 2009, and Pennsylvania fined Spectra $22,000 for that in 2010. Spectra’s Andrea Grover told me in 2013 that everybody there was happy. Mike Benard explained actually that wasn’t the case. Benard later wrote sage words: Spectra Energy: Trust Facts Not Promises. Better to stop Spectra’s Albany compressor station before it has a chance to spew.

Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, Press Release, 31 March 2010, DEP Fines Steckman Ridge $22,000 for Air, Water Quality Violations: Malfunctioning Compressor Discharged Industrial Oil to Surrounding Properties, Continue reading Spectra was fined for Steckman Ridge compressor blowout →

Albany, GA attorney missing the point about ordinance against pipelines

August 5, 2015Dougherty County, Fracking, Georgia, Law, New York, PennsylvaniaAlbany, Dougherty County, Fracking, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Law, New York, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

County attorneys are paid to be cautious. County and city Commissioners are elected to represent the people. Which will Albany and Dougherty County listen to about unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous pipelines like Sabal Trail?

Carlton Fletcher, Albany Herald, 4 August 2014, LOCAL GOVERNMENT 101: Albany’s municipal government based on charter, codes,

Dougherty County officials, who represent residents outside the city limits, say municipalities like Albany have more governmental flexibility in that they are not completely bound by state mandates. But Albany’s city attorney says that is not exactly accurate.

“The state has the authority to preempt any local laws other than zoning,” Nathan Davis says. “If state law ‘moves into an area’ — such as the fireworks law that went into effect in July — municipalities must have a local ordinance that matches the state law.

“There has been in our community a call by some to create an ordinance that would impact the ultimate decision of whether that (Sabal Trail Transmission) pipeline is allowed Continue reading Albany, GA attorney missing the point about ordinance against pipelines →

Fracking and pipeline bans start at the local level

July 15, 2015Fracking, Georgia, Jefferson County, LNG, New York, Pennsylvaniaban, Fracking, Georgia, Jefferson County, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, KMI, LNG, New York, ordinance, Palmetto Pipeline, Pennsylvania, pipeline, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Local ordinances lead to state laws banning fracking and pipelines. And don’t forget Sabal Trail has to get permits from the Georgia Department of Transportation for road crossings and an air quality permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for the Albany compressor station, or no pipeline. There is plenty local, state, and federal elected officials can do to stop this invading fracked methane destruction and hazard. Rev. Ezekiel Holly called on local officials to act. Here are some ways how.

How about a county ordinance rooted in the Comprehensive Plan? A local ordinance was used by Jefferson County, Florida to keep Nestle out of the same Floridan Aquifer. Local ordinances have been used in Pennsylvania to stop pipelines, and upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Local ordinances were used across New York State to ban fracking, and upheld by the state Court of Appeals, until the state government finally took up the cause and banned fracking statewide.

Now New York state residents are saying Continue reading Fracking and pipeline bans start at the local level →

Stopping fracking means stopping pipelines: Yoko Ono et al. in the New York Times

July 10, 2015FERC, Fracking, Hazards, New York, PennsylvaniaCompressor Free Franklin, Constitution Pipeline, FERC, Food and Water Watch, Fracking, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, Josh Fox, New York, New York Times, Obama, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sane Energy Project, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Stop the Pipeline, Yoko OnoJohn S. Quarterman

Gasland posted on facebook a picture of an ad against fracking, pipelines, and LNG export in the New York Times 9 July 2015 by Yoko Ono, Gasland, Food and Water Watch, and many other groups. You can sign onto that letter here.

Everything it says applies as much to Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and the Williams-Spectra-FPL Transco-Sabal Trail-FSC fracked methane pipeline chain as it does to New York and Williams’ “Constitution Pipeline”. Here are a few excerpts:

By now the whole world knows that Fracking is bad for your health! It is bad for communities and it is bad for the climate. That is why I am so glad that New York State and Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking.

But now we are facing the gas industry who are still trying to Frack New York. The fracked gas industry wants to build a pipeline that would cut across New York state like a scar that never heals. It goes by the ridiculous and Orwellian name “The Constitution Pipeline”. How dare they!

We cannot allow another poisonous plan for our beautiful state that we all love.

We must stop fracking, which means we must not transport fracked gas across our state where it is headed for foreign export markets. The danger to our homes, is also Continue reading Stopping fracking means stopping pipelines: Yoko Ono et al. in the New York Times →

A pipeline partner admits LNG export is possible

June 28, 2015FERC, Florida, LNG, Martin County, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West VirginiaEQT Midstream Partners, FERC, Florida, Florida Southeast Connection, Hillabee Expansion Project, India, John S. Quarterman, LNG, Martin County, Mountain Valley Pipeline, NextEra Energy, Pennsylvania, Sabal Trail Transmission, SpectraBusters, T. Boone Pickens, Transco, Virginia, West Virginia, WGL Midstream, Williams CompanyJohn S. Quarterman

FERC had been saying no LNG export, yet the pipeline partners said a year ago in their Open Season: “as well as deliveries to Cove Point LNG”. NextEra, co-owner of Sabal Trail Transmission, is one of the Mountain Valley Pipeline partners. Sabal Trail and FERC have told us Sabal Trail is not for LNG export, yet they never told us about an already-approved LNG export license right where the Sabal Trail pipeline chain goes in Florida.

Duncan Adams, Roanoke Times, 25 June 2015, Mountain Valley Pipeline partner says operation could be used for exports,

A partner in the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline confirmed this week that natural gas transported by the pipeline could be one supply source for liquefied natural gas bound for India.

The news comes after Paul Friedman, a project manager for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, repeatedly — and publicly — dismissed concerns last month from pipeline opponents that natural gas transported through the pipeline would be exported.

WGL Midstream has a Continue reading A pipeline partner admits LNG export is possible →