Category Archives: Pipelines

Mountain Valley Pipeline Final Environmental Impact Statement

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The FERC is now scheduled to release its final environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline on June 23, 2017.

Once the FEIS is released, other agencies will have 90 days to make comments on it.

Once the 90 days has passed the FERC will approve the project.  While technically the FERC is supposed to “make a decision”, the reality is that the FERC has only turned down four projects in it’s 38 year life.

Approval will come on September 21, 2017.

The only thing that could stop approval would be if the FERC still doesn’t have a quorum of commissioners on September 21.

Pipeline Failure: Providence, Rhode Island

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A natural gas pipeline broke in Providence, Rhode Island last night.  Thankfully, no one was hurt.

The break was in a location where a high pressure (200-300 psi) transmission line connected with a “take station” where the pressure is reduced before the gas is distributed to consumers.

While the gas leaked, there was a haze of gas in the area.  If that haze had ignited, the explosion would have been enormous.

Eyewitnesses said the leak sounded like a jet engine.

It’s worth pointing out that the pipelines that will be crossing West Virginia will be operating at about 1400 psi.

And here I was thinking we’d go a month without running across a major incident involving a natural gas pipeline…..

Mountain Valley Pipeline Gets Permit from WV DEP

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The Mountain Valley Pipeline is one step closer to becoming reality.  The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a 401 permit yesterday.  A 401 permit allows the project to affect state waters.  Without the permit, the MVP would not have been able to undertake construction on or near lakes, rivers, and streams.  This allows that.

Quite a few people opposed this permit, noting that the MVP filing for this permit included a lot of paperwork that looked like it had been cut and pasted from other projects.

While I’ve been a fan of getting West Virginia’s gas to market, I also think it needs to be done responsibly, and with a little more consideration for the people whose property is being crossed by the pipeline.  I’m beginning to seriously reconsider my support for the pipelines as I watch them deal with my clients and my community.

Eminent Domain for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

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If you’ve wondered what will happen if you refuse to work with one of the big pipeline companies, here’s the preview.

The Rover Pipeline is just like the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and the Mountaineer Xpress pipeline in that they all have eminent domain rights.

Once they get eminent domain rights, your fight is pretty much over.

The judge hearing the Rover Pipeline cases ruled that the Rover Pipeline gets immediate possession of the route that it wants.

Yep.  You read that right.  Immediate possession.  Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

At this point, the pipeline company is using all the might and power of the federal government to take private property and give it to a private company.  It’s no longer a friendly conversation about where the pipeline should go and how much money it’s worth.

Speaking of which, the judge hasn’t ruled on how much money the landowners will get.  We’ll be watching closely for that news.

More importantly, we’ll be watching to see what kind of changes the judge allows to the company’s standard easement agreement.

Reading the linked article is frustrating.  The landowners are frustrated because the Rover Pipeline didn’t work with them — didn’t address the unique needs of the owners and their properties.  That’s justifiable.  The way these pipeline companies have been operating has been ridiculous.

I understand the importance of moving natural gas from here to there.  I think it’s more important to actually work out agreements with landowners.

FERC Commissioners Being Vetted

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Back in January, the Trump administration demoted Norman Bay from chairman of the FERC to just a normal FERC commissioner.  Mr. Bay promptly (and probably unexpectedly) quit.

The FERC has been unable to operate, as it needs at least three commissioners to make decisions, and Mr. Bay’s resignation left it with just two.

There has been quite a bit of speculation as to how long it would take to get the FERC back up and running.

The Trump administration is not being public about it, but is probably now vetting people for positions in the FERC.  The Washington Examiner has a full write up on it, including who people think the possible nominees are, and what those nominees’ backgrounds are.

The most interesting question, how long it will take to fill the open position, is not answered with anything more than “weeks, even months”.

 

The Case Against Eminent Domain

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The very large pipelines that will be cutting through West Virginia are using federal eminent domain to acquire property from people who don’t want to sell to them.  The only reason the pipelines can use federal eminent domain is because the pipeline is considered to be a “public use”.

This article by David McMahon, a West Virginia attorney and founder of the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, points out why a pipeline shouldn’t be considered a “public use”.  I fully agree with him.  The full article is worth the read, so I won’t summarize it here.

He also points out how West Virginians “are poor because we cede too often and too much to the drillers and pipeline companies”.  Well said, Dave.  Well said.

FERC Won’t Stop the Pipelines, but the States Might

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There are several very big pipelines that are proposed for West Virginia, including the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Mountaineer Xpress, and others.  There’s a lot of debate over whether these pipelines are good, with most of the lines being drawn over environmental/economic arguments.  Basically, if the environment is more important to you, then you oppose the pipelines and if the economy is more important to you then you support the pipelines.

If you oppose the pipelines, then this article in the Register Herald holds a tasty tidbit for your consumption.

Autumn Crowe with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition said that even if the FERC green lights [the pipeline], if West Virginia fails to issue one of the permits, the project comes to a halt.

That’s something I had not realized until now, and I think a lot of other people hadn’t realized, either.

When I first started researching the pipelines it took about two seconds to discover that they would have the power of federal eminent domain.  In other words, once the FERC gave permission for the project to proceed, any property the pipeline wanted to cross automatically and immediately belonged to them.

I didn’t think there was any way to stop that from happening.

FERC, after all, has only turned down a small handful of projects in its 39 years of existence.  One Atlantic Coast Pipeline official I talked to said only four.

However, if you can show that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection shouldn’t issue one of the permits that the pipeline requires, it seems you can actually stop the process.

As I have become more opposed to the pipeline (not on environmental grounds) this gives me and my clients some hope.

Pipeline Explosion in Texas

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About two weeks ago there was a pipeline explosion in Texas.

The pipeline was a 36-inch natural gas line.  The explosion was felt for 60 miles, and could be seen for 175 miles.  Sure, that part of Texas is pretty flat, but that’s still pretty big.

Here’s some video from ABC13.

The pipeline is owned by Kinder-Morgan.  The area was very rural, so no lives or property were threatened by this one.

The FERC is Hamstrung!

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As part of the changing of the guard that always accompanies a new Presidential administration, the FERC’s chairmanship was switched.  The previous chairman was Norman Bay, and the new one is Cherly LaFleur.

Chairmen are also commission members, and remain on the commission both before and after serving as the chairman.

When the change in chairmanship was announced, Mr. Bay decided to resign from the commission.

That wouldn’t usually be a big deal.  However, the FERC has five seats on its commission, and two were already vacant.

Mr. Bay resigning from the FERC left only two voting members.

The commission needs three voting members in order to make decisions.

Therefore, the FERC can no longer approve natural gas pipeline projects, large natural gas company mergers, and liquefaction plant projects.

The speculation is that it will take at least a few months, maybe a year, to get a new member on the commission.

That could seriously slow down the approval process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

New Pipeline Leaks

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This post was supposed to publish at the end of January. For some reason it didn’t.  Better late than never. 

This month there have been two more pipeline leaks.

The first was on January 14.  It spilled 50,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River in Montana.  It has affected drinking water for some locals.

The second was on January 30.  Exact numbers aren’t in yet for it, but 1,400 barrels of oil have been recovered.  The leak was in Blue Ridge, Texas.  It appears a contractor accidentally cut a 30-inch high pressure oil line.

Now, I’m a fan of the pipelines that are being put in here in West Virginia for economic reasons.  I’m a realist, though.  Pipelines deteriorate.  Pipelines get punctured.  Pipelines rupture.  Pipelines explode.  There is a clear risk in living or working close to a pipeline.  While I believe the risk is low, it’s still there.  Anyone who agrees to have a pipeline close to their house or business has to be aware of the risk.  That’s why I publish this data.

Be informed.