PRESERVE the Blue Ridge Mountains

NOT SO FAST – Concerns Remain Over ACP & MVP Pipelines

This Article from Rick Webb, Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, December 17, 2016

The following was published in the December 16, 2016  ABRA Update (No. 109). The National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have raised objections to FERC’s permitting timetable for the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines.

In letters to FERC, the agencies state that they must follow their own review process as established by Federal law, and that any timetable is contingent upon receipt of adequate data and analysis. Both agencies raise concerns about delayed or incomplete responses to requests for key information.

The National Forest Service (NFS) has told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it “does not concur with the permitting timetable” for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) that FERC had previously published. The request and associated comments were contained in a November 18 letter to FERC from Clyde Thompson, Forest Supervisor for the Monongahela National Forest, which was not filed in the FERC docket until December 13.

The comments point out that NFS has “its own administrative review process which must occur before the Forest Service makes a decision on the special use permit” that has been requested for the ACP, and that the procedures and associated schedule that NFS must follow are clearly established by Federal law. The comments also point out that the NFS cannot complete its review process until outstanding data and analyses from the ACP have been satisfied.

A similar position has been expressed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the permitting schedule for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). In a November 16 letter to FERC (published in the docket December 5), the BLM said it does “not concur with the permitting timetable” for the MVP. The letter specifically uses language identical to the Forest Service letter in saying: “The draft permitting timetable is incorrect because a schedule is otherwise established by federal law.” Both letters were written by the agencies in response to a November 4 email request from FERC.

This entry was posted in Environmental Review, Regulatory Compliance by Rick Webb. Bookmark the permalink.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Summers County Residents Against MVP

Greetings from Buckhannon, WV:

This is a reminder that the deadline for submitting comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline is November 27th.

You can do this electronically, so please set about figuring out what impact the pipeline will have on:

• water resources in your area/on your land
• cultural interactions
• historical considerations
• health and safety issues
• environmental impacts

Contact information is all on this internet page:

http://www.ferc.gov/contact-us/contact-us.asp

The docket # for the MVP is CP16-10 (CP16-10-000).

Please forward this to anyone you know who may be a landowner on the MVP. Keep in mind that some landowners do not have email and would need to have this information in print, so if you can, print this email and deliver it to them, or alternatively, give me their land address and I will drop it in the mail to them.

This is an urgent matter. Your help is appreciated.  In gratitude,

>>> April Keating for the Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance

See also: www.mountainlakespreservation.org

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Deadline to file as an “Intervenor” for the MVP is November 27!

MVP has filed its formal application today — see: Mountain Valley Formal Application. FERC has also released the new docket number — it is CP16-10-000.

There are two possibilities for filing for intervenor status: file as a group or file as an individual. The Greenbrier River Watershed Association (GRWA) will be intervening on behalf of our members, but  individual intervenors are an important part of the FERC process.

Intervening may inundate your inbox with e-mail, but for those passionately opposed to the pipeline, it is important to be actively engaged in the process. An intervenor has a right to file motions, file testimony, cross examine witnesses, and file briefs in any administrative hearing.

You will still be able to submit your comments if you are not an intervenor. If the purpose of intervening is simply to get copies of documents, that can be accomplished by just subscribing to the appropriate docket. The FIRST step is to be registered with FERC. Go to the FERC website and register with the appropriate docket number: CP16-10-000

You need to have “standing” to file as an Intervenor. It is best to prepare this statement ahead of time. Copy and paste this information when prompted to avoid your session timing out. If you are a landowner impacted by the pipeline route that would give you standing, but not all community members will have standing. “Being a concerned citizen” may not give you standing. Dominion may petition FERC to limit the amount of intervenors so prepare a good argument for why you are applying to be an intervenor.

The attorneys at the Appalachian Mountain Advocates (Appalmad) will be submitting the motion for intervention on behalf of GRWA and several other organizations. The primary benefit of working together is to pool our resources and expertise so that we can collaborate to make the best possible case in front of FERC.

Let’s keep in touch on this important matter.  Contact info:  elise@greenbrier.org

>>> Elise Keaton for the Greenbrier River Watershed Association <<<

See also:  www.Appalmad.org

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Energy Transfer pushing for Rover Pipeline approval

From an Article by Shane Hoover, Canton Times Reporter, November 9, 2015

Energy Transfer urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday to approve the Rover Pipeline project no later than June. The Texas-based company wants to build two 42-inch-diameter pipelines to carry natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shales to customers in the Midwest, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast and Canada.

The proposed route crosses parts of Stark, Carroll, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. Rover would ship 3.25 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. << See the Note below on WV counties affected. >>

The company says summer construction would be safer for workers and the public and cause less damage to farmland and the environment, according to paperwork filed with FERC. Energy Transfer says it’s essential the pipeline start carrying natural gas by January 2017 to meet market demand.

Before the company can build the pipeline, FERC has to determine the project’s environmental impact. FERC staff plan to complete the review by July 29, 2016 and federal agencies would have until October 27, 2016 to finish their own reviews.

Rover staff have been in contact with FERC since June 2014 and formally applied in February 2015 for permission to build the pipeline. The company argues that “two years is a sufficient period of time” to review a project that will ease pipeline bottlenecks on Utica and Marcellus shale gas, and said it would respond promptly to environmental issues as they are raised.

FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said the commission hasn’t decided whether to modify the current review schedule.

Note: The Rover pipeline with its lateral branch lines will likely impact Doddridge, Tyler. Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brook, and Hancock counties in northwestern West Virginia. The FERC Docket Number for the Rover Pipeline Project  is CP15-93-000.

>>> See also an article on the various pipelines of the Energy Transfer – Williams partnership.