More hearings ordered for Sunoco pipeline regards pumping and valve stations

From an Article by Marc Levy, Associated Press (Washington County, PA) October 2, 2014

HARRISBURG – More hearings were ordered on whether to exempt the construction of buildings around pump and valve-control stations from local zoning ordinances along a 300-mile pipeline to ship natural gas liquids from Marcellus Shale wells across southern Pennsylvania.
 
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the hearings to help decide whether the zoning exemptions sought by Sunoco Logistics are crucial to its Mariner East pipeline service. In doing so, the commissioners rejected a July recommendation by two administrative law judges that went against Sunoco Logistics.
 
The two judges had recommended that the commission deny Sunoco Logistics’ request to exempt buildings to shelter 18 pump stations and 17 valve control stations from local zoning ordinances in 31 locations, each in a different municipality, along the planned ethane and propane pipeline.
 
The judges had said the buildings cannot be exempt because the pipeline does not constitute public utility service. But the commissioners said the pipeline already had been certified as a utility service. The propane service is to begin later this year, while the ethane service is to begin next year.
 
Objections had been filed by the Clean Air Council, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, the Concerned Citizens of West Goshen Township and the Mountain Watershed Association.
 
The pipeline is to originate in Houston in Washington County amid the area’s Marcellus Shale drilling fields and end at the company’s distribution facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania’s Delaware County. The ethane and propane would be piped together and separated at the facilities before being distributed to domestic, regional and international markets.
 
Much of the 300-mile pipeline had already existed, previously pumping diesel west to Pittsburgh. About 50 new miles are being added across Washington and Westmoreland counties to Delmont to convert the pipeline and carry natural gas liquids from the booming Marcellus Shale fields east to the revamped Sunoco Logistics facilities. Southpointe-based Range Resources is among the drillers who will ship its products on the pipeline to Delaware.
 
A second phase will add a new, larger 16-inch pipeline to parallel the existing pipeline from Houston, in Washington County, to the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex, as well as a new 15-mile extension from Houston to the Ohio-Pennsylvania line, the commission said.
 
The pipeline construction has produced lawsuits in Washington County Court involving property owners who object to the path. The project also resulted in a large leak last month of boring mud that reached Mingo Creek near Finleyville and prompted the state Department of Environmental Protection to consider fining the company over the problem.

Liquefied Natural Gas Tanker

Draft Addendum to Environmental Review Documents Concerning Exports of Natural Gas from the United States

Statement from US DOE, May 29, 2014

On May 29, 2014, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy announced the availability for public review and comment the Draft Addendum To Environmental Review Documents Concerning Exports Of Natural Gas From The United States (Addendum).

The purpose of the Addendum is to provide additional information to the public regarding the potential environmental impacts of unconventional natural gas exploration and production activities.

DOE has received many comments related to concerns about the potential impacts from increased development of unconventional natural gas resources in the United States, particularly production that involves hydraulic fracturing.  While not required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), DOE has prepared this Addendum in an effort to be responsive to the public and provide the most current information available.  DOE is making this draft Addendum available for public review and comment and will consider comments prior to finalizing this Addendum.

This Addendum is intended to provide information only on the impact areas most often associated with unconventional natural gas production.  The Addendum is not the result of new analysis or research, but rather is based on DOE’s review of existing studies and analyses.

A key resource in preparing the Addendum was the report Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Production (May 29, 2014), prepared by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, a DOE Laboratory.  A link to that report is also included below.

DOE prefers that comments be submitted electronically using the online Comment Submission Form, which can be accessed below.  If you cannot submit comments electronically, the Federal Register Notice provides instructions on how to submit comments by hardcopy.  All comments must be received by DOE no later than 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, July 21, 2014.

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The Real Story Behind Fracking Exports slideshow here.

From the Post Carbon Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity

Indian Corp. Seeks to Secure Import Rights in US, Australia

Petronet, India’s largest importer of liquified natural gas (LNG), is maneuvering to acquire capacity in the proposed LNG terminals in the Unites Sates and Australia, The Economic Times reported. “Five projects (in the US) have applied to US authorities for approval to export gas,” Petronet CEO and Managing Director A K Balyan told reporters here. “We are talking to some of them with an aim to tie up long-term volumes.”

Kinder Morgan Merges with El Paso

A few days ago, Kinder Morgan (KM) announced its plans to acquire El Paso Corporation. In the words of Peter Gardett, “The deal announcement is rife with precedent-setting statistics; the new Kinder Morgan will include the largest natural gas pipeline system in the US, the largest independent transporter of petroleum products and the largest independent terminal owner and operator in the country.” The deal also makes KM the fourth largest energy company in the US. Kinder said the company expects domestic US natural gas supply and demand to grow “at attractive rates for years to come.” The company will be expanding its role as part of a growing network of pipeline and storage assets bringing domestic natural gas from new fields to power plants and, potentially, even export terminals.

Seeking Energy Independence

Hey, what happened to domestic energy independence?  Wasn’t that part of the selling pitch to prod hesitant mineral rights owners into a lease contract?  Yes, it was.  And the move to export does not negate the fact that our need to import natural gas has been reduced dramatically. According to a last week’s update from the US Energy Information Administration,
“As domestic supply has grown, the need for imports has been reduced substantially. Since 2009, several terminals have begun to re-export LNG cargoes, and, more recently, explore the option to add liquefaction capacity to export domestically produced natural gas. Earlier this month, Dominion Resources asked permission from the U.S. Department of Energy to export domestically produced natural gas from its Cove Point facility in Maryland.”

When will we see natural gas fueled cars and handy natural gas service stations?  The West Virginia legislature voted to incentivize (that means, in this case,  giving industry a tax break at the expense of West Virginia taxpayers) the development of natural gas fuel stations in Senate Bill 465. According to this map, there are 2 compressed natural gas fueling stations in WV, but they don’t sell to the public.