Kathy Chandler protests MVP in 2017

From an Article by Laurence Hammack, Roanoke Times, May 16, 2021

When a company building the Mountain Valley Pipeline first selected a route, cutting directly through James and Kathy Chandler’s “slice of heaven” atop Bent Mountain, it offered them $89,343.

A jury on Friday ordered Mountain Valley to pay the Chandlers $430,000. After hearing four days of testimony, the jury settled on the figure as “just compensation” for an 8.6-acre easement the company took in 2018, using its power of eminent domain to force a sale when the owners resisted.

Currently under construction, the 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline bisects the Chandlers’ 111-acre property, passing about 500 feet from their custom-built home.

“There’s a huge gap that cuts through the heart of their land, 125 feet wide and half a mile long,” Stephen Clarke, the Chandlers’ attorney, said during the first trial to decide just compensation for the owners of one of nearly 300 parcels condemned by Mountain Valley.

The Chandlers testified about how they had long searched for the perfect place to build their dream home. In 1997, they found a remote spot on Bent Mountain, with forests and pastures along Mill Creek, that became their “slice of heaven,” James Chandler testified.

When plans for the pipeline were announced in 2014, the Chandlers knew their land would be forever changed. Even after it is buried, the pipeline will occupy a cleared right of way through a forest that Kathy Chandler once called her yard. “The pipe will always be there,” James Chandler told the jury. “It will always be a visual reminder. Nothing will be normal.”

After Mountain Valley decided to build a pipeline that will pass through the New River and Roanoke valleys on a 303-mile path from northern West Virginia to Pittsylvania County, the joint venture of five energy companies began to buy the land it needed. About 85% of the landowners struck voluntary agreements, the company has said.

In October 2017 — about two weeks after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found there was a public need for the natural gas that will be pumped through the pipeline at high pressure — Mountain Valley sued the owners of about 300 parcels in Virginia who had refused to sell.

Under the Natural Gas Act, the company was allowed to use the power of eminent domain, which originally was used by governmental agencies for public projects such as highways or schools.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon granted Mountain Valley immediate possession of the land, allowing it to begin cutting trees in early 2018 while the property owners waited to be paid.

Since then, most of the cases have been settled, either through voluntary agreements or after a judge’s ruling on evidentiary issues forced a resolution. About a dozen cases remain pending.

Mountain Valley often makes lowball offers while using its eminent domain authority as leverage over landowners, according to Mark Jarrell of Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights, an anti-pipeline coalition. Jarrell, who is from West Virginia, owns land that has been taken by Mountain Valley.

“Regardless of how great or small a verdict may be, the forced easement is a loss, a gut punch for landowners — like being taken to the gallows,” Jarrell said in a statement following the trial. “This is a no win, they’ve lost their privacy, peace of mind, their sense of safety and security, and they have a potential 42-inch pipe bomb in their back yard.”

The Chandlers’ trial featured a mostly empty courtroom, rearranged to accommodate for pandemic social distancing, and the numbers-laden testimony of appraisers to determine a fair-market value of their loss.

Joseph Thompson, a Roanoke appraiser hired by Mountain Valley, put the value of the land and home at about $1 million. The pipeline would diminish that by 15%, he told the jury, arriving at a just compensation amount of nearly $170,000, which included temporary easements.

Virginia Beach appraiser Dennis Gruelle offered a much different picture when called by the Chandlers. By Gruelle’s calculations, the property was worth about $1.6 million, which was reduced 40% by the pipeline’s presence.

That meant Mountain Valley owed the Chandlers $665,391, Clarke argued. After deliberating for a little more than an hour, the jury returned with a verdict of $430,000 — roughly in the middle of the two requests.

The jury was not told how much Mountain Valley had offered to pay for the land, or the outcome of any negotiations. After the trial, Clarke said the $89,343 offer from Mountain Valley was made before the eminent domain suit was filed in 2017.

Although Mountain Valley’s right to take private land for its own profit was not a question for the jury, pipeline opponents hope trials like the Chandlers’ will draw more attention to the subject.

“Our constitutional girders rest upon private property ownership,” Jarrell said. He urged legislators to make changes to a law that allows property to be “literally stripped and quartered at the whim of a private gas company.”

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See also: DEQ denies MVP Southgate water quality permit — again, Lisa Sorg, Progressive Pulse, April 29, 2021

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has again denied a key water quality permit for the proposed MVP Southgate natural gas pipeline, dealing another setback to the controversial project that would run through Rockingham and Alamance counties.

DEQ originally denied the water quality permit application last August. At the time Division of Water Resources Director Danny Smith wrote that because of “uncertainty surrounding the completion of the MVP Mainline project … work on the Southgate extension could lead to unnecessary water quality impacts and disturbance of the environment in North Carolina.”

MVP appealed the DEQ’s denial to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. But last month, appeals court judges determined that DEQ’s decision to deny the permit was consistent with state and federal law. The agency also adequately explained its concerns about the viability of Southgate in the context of the delayed mainline project. But where DEQ erred, the court said, is that it failed to fully explain why it chose to deny the permit outright rather than granting a conditional one, contingent on the successful construction of the main line.

Today’s denial corrects that error and explains the agency’s reasoning, DEQ said.

ACP 42 inch coated steel pipe being barged north on the Monongahela River at Pt. Marion, Pennsylvania on 11/12/20

From an Article by Emily Brown, (Lynchburg) News & Advance, November 9, 2020

LYNCHBURG — A federal agency has put the canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline on the clock, asking officials to file specific plans by the end of 2020 for disposition of the defunct project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week asked ACP to file a plan within 60 days on intentions for the project’s facilities and the areas for which the pipeline was set.

“In order for us to determine if additional Commission authorizations are required … we will need more detail …,” FERC’s request states.

The interstate natural gas pipeline received federal approval from FERC in 2017. In early July, facing a number of court challenges to other regulatory requirements, ACP officials canceled the project.

Nelson County was one of several localities that would have been crossed in Virginia; the project had been set to cut through 27 miles in the county. The 600-mile project was planned to cross West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

Specifically, FERC asked ACP to provide a schedule — including initiation and completion dates — for disposition and restoration. FERC’s request also asks for a description of restoration activities on disturbed rights of way, as well as updates on ACP’s consultation with landowners on preferences for restoration.

Information on landowners’ preferences should include, as applicable, hopes for how to restore disturbed areas or whether to remove felled trees, FERC added.

“In the coming months, we will respond to FERC’s request and provide detailed plans for closing out the entire 600-mile project. This will include plans for disturbed areas of the right of way, installed pipe, storage yards and compressor and metering stations,” said Aaron Ruby, spokesperson for ACP partner Dominion Energy.

“Our goal is to close out the project as efficiently as possible and with minimal environmental disturbance. We will work with each landowner whose property has been disturbed to develop a plan for the right of way on their property.”

Most pre-construction activity in Nelson County took place near Wintergreen. Now near the resort, a path where trees were cut down stands as a reminder of the project that never came to be.

But that area of disturbed land, where the trees still lay, is beginning to heal, according to Wintergreen Property Owners Association Executive Director Jay Roberts. Roberts said the organization hopes trees are left there so regrowth happens naturally out of that material; bulldozing over the path that already was cleared and is beginning to heal would do more damage, he previously told the Nelson County Times.

In addition to formally filing a strategy with FERC that will deal with such issues and executing those plans, ACP officials also are working to tie up other loose ends on the canceled project.

Landowners like Wintergreen Property Owners Association signed easement agreements — sometimes resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in revenue — for use of their property for the project. Many of those agreements — most of which grant ACP perpetual rights to the land for a natural gas pipeline — remain in effect despite the project’s cancellation.

Determining what happens with those easement agreements also is on the “to-do” list for ACP as it winds down the project.

“We will also evaluate each easement agreement on a case-by-case basis in consultation with each landowner,” Ruby said.

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These two sat in trees to block tree cutting for pipeline

From an Article by Laurence Hammack, Roanoke County News, November 15, 2018

Theresa “Red” Terry, 62, and Theresa Minor Terry, 31, had a “good faith” belief that they could protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline by occupying two tree stands in its path, Roanoke County General District Court Judge Scott Geddes ruled.

“Stepping into the shoes of the defendants … the court has serious doubts that the Terrys intended to commit a criminal offense by their actions,” Geddes said before dismissing charges of trespassing, obstruction of justice and interfering with the property rights of the pipeline company.

Both women had faced potential jail time in a case that came to symbolize the fight against the largest natural gas pipeline ever to be built in Southwest Virginia.

Supporters rallied around a fiery, red-headed mother of three who gave up the comforts of home for a wooden tree stand, which served as a platform for her sharply worded missives against Mountain Valley.
The tree-sit drew national publicity and inspired “Stand with Red” posters and T-shirts.

Although the trees they defended were eventually cut down and construction of the pipeline continues, the Terrys claimed a moral victory as they left the Roanoke County courthouse Thursday afternoon.

“This is a very big win,” said Minor Terry, generally the more mild-mannered of the two.

“I was hoping it would go this way,” Red Terry said, “but I’ve been hoping a lot of things that didn’t go my way.”

This spring, the Terrys decided to take a stand after years of worrying about Mountain Valley’s plan to build a pipeline on pristine mountain land that has been in their family for seven generations.

They constructed two wooden platforms in trees that stood in a construction easement Mountain Valley had obtained through the controversial use of eminent domain, which allows the taking of private land for a public use.

Not only did the project violate the property rights of those in its path, the Terrys maintained, it also posed an environmental danger along its entire 303-mile route from northern West Virginia through the New River and Roanoke valleys.

As timbering crews moved closer, the Terrys stocked the tree stands with sleeping bags, camping supplies and enough food and water to last for weeks.

But the aerial blockades were to be used only as a last resort, according to earlier court testimony, because the Terrys were under the impression that tree-cutting for the pipeline would have to stop by March 31 to meet federal wildlife protections, as Mountain Valley had indicated in court proceedings.

That was the basis of their “good faith” defense presented by attorney Tom Bondurant.

If the Terrys had a sincere – although perhaps mistaken – belief that they had a right to be on their land to prevent improper actions by Mountain Valley, that would be enough to negate any criminal intent, Bondurant had argued. “The truth won out today,” he said after the hearing.

After learning that the company was moving ahead with tree-cutting, Red Terry climbed into her tree stand on April 2. Minor Terry took her position in a tree on a different part of their land the next day. Both women came down on May 5, after a federal judge ruled they would be held in contempt of court and fined $1,000 a day each if they continued their stands.

The Terrys were part of a resistance that included nearly a dozen tree-sits and other aerial blockades of the pipeline. More than 20 people have been charged with what Mountain Valley says are illegal efforts to stop a project that has received all of its required state and federal permits. So far, the results in court have been mixed.

One day before the Terrys appeared in court Thursday, a federal judge imposed a two-day jail sentence for a man who spent weeks in a tree stand on Peters Mountain in West Virginia, next to where the pipeline will cross under the Appalachian Trail in the Jefferson National Forest.
Michael J. Sloan of Woodbridge pleaded guilty to a charge of violating a closure order for the national forest, according to court records.

TYLER COUNTY, WV: 36 inch Sherwood lateral of ET-Rover Pipeline (Bill Hughes)

From an Article by Duncan Adams, Roanoke (VA) Times, September 28, 2017

The two joint ventures planning to route 42-inch diameter natural gas pipelines through forests and fields long to hear the whining roar and chatter of chainsaws felling trees.

Both the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline hope to start clearing trees in mid-November from construction rights-of-way for the buried pipelines. There is an urgency to get started: The projects plan to suspend felling trees after March 31 to comply with federal conservation guidelines tied to potential impacts to the Indiana bat, a federally endangered species, and the northern long-eared bat, a threatened species.

Restricting tree clearing to the period from mid-November to the end of March also protects some species of migratory birds that nest during other months of the year.

Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, said that the project’s timeline, and the project itself, could suer if tree clearing activities don’t get underway during this period, which could mean waiting until mid-November 2018 to re up chainsaws and other tree-felling equipment.

“It’s important that we do all the tree clearing and grading this season,” Ruby said. “It’s an important window and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Each project plans to clear all vegetation from a temporary construction right-of-way that would be 125 feet wide in most terrain. The permanently treeless rights-of-way would be 50 feet in most places.

Both pipelines are interstate projects and thus require approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In a letter to FERC dated Sept. 7, top executives for three of the companies involved in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline asked FERC’s commissioners to issue an order in September to approve the project “so that initial construction activities and tree clearing can begin in November and conclude in early 2018 as described in the final [environmental impact statement].”

Ruby said that if Atlantic Coast isn’t able to clear trees during the prescribed period this fall and winter, the project could miss its intended in-service target of late 2019. He said contractual obligations to begin supplying natural gas could be affected, as could contracts with construction companies lined up to build the pipeline. Five of six shippers of natural gas on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are affiliates of partners in the joint venture.

Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the mid-November to late March window provides a time for tree clearing with less risk to the Indiana and Northern long-eared bats.

“Those are the times when we would expect the bats to be in hibernation,” Hibbard said. “They would not be roosting in trees.”

Mountain Valley Pipeline’s biological assessment reports that the company also would suspend tree clearing operations from June 1 through July 31 to prevent killing young bats not yet capable of flight. Hibbard said northern long-eared and Indiana bats leave hibernation areas in the summer for wooded areas.

“The females roost under the loose bark of dead or dying trees, where they give birth and raise their young,” she said. “Indiana bat females tend to roost in groups in maternity colonies, whereas northern long-eared bats roost in colonies or singly. Pups are nursed by the mother, who leaves the roost tree only to forage for food. The young stay with the maternity colony throughout their rst summer.”

Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley, said the company will begin clearing trees as soon as it receives the necessary authorizations.

“These activities could begin as early as November 2017, in which case the majority of clearing is expected to be complete by March 31, 2018,” Cox said in an email.

The 303-mile, $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline would begin in Wetzel County, West Virginia, and end at the Transco pipeline in Pittsylvania County. The 600-mile, $5.1 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline would begin in Harrison County, West Virginia, travel southeast through Virginia and proceed south to Robeson County, North Carolina. Each would transport natural gas at high pressure.

The deeply controversial projects have received support from Gov. Terry McAulie, business groups and some legislators. But they also have stirred erce opposition because of concerns about impacts to the environment, property values and property rights. If FERC approves the pipelines — an outcome expected by most observers based on FERC’s history of approving similar projects — the joint ventures will have access to eminent domain to acquire easements across private property.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has said limited tree clearing does not require its authorization.

In an email, Ann Regn, a DEQ spokeswoman, reported, “Whether it’s MVP or ACP, hand clearing with chain saws and limited mechanical cutting depending on the type of equipment to be used is not considered land disturbing activity. Removal of cut trees, grubbing, clearing and grading activities is considered land disturbing activities and requires approved [erosion and sediment control plans].”

Many observers had anticipated that FERC would act last week to grant a certicate of public convenience and necessity to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The commission on Sept. 20 held its rst public meeting since the departure of former chairman Norman Bay in February. The commission regained a quorum in August after the U.S. Senate conrmed Neil Chatterjee, who became acting chairman, and Robert Powelson. Both men were nominated by President Donald Trump, and they joined Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur.

After the Sept. 20 meeting, however, an industry news site, Utility Dive, quoted Chatterjee saying he’d prefer to wait for the full Senate’s conrmation of two remaining FERC nominees, Richard Glick and Kevin McIntyre, before tackling the most contentious issues facing the agency. Chatterjee did not say whether he considers the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast projects to be among those contentious issues. Tamara Young-Allen, a FERC spokeswoman, said Chatterjee was quoted accurately. Opponents of both pipelines have said delays ultimately could help halt one or both projects.

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See also: www.BoldAlliance.org
Contact: Carolyn Reilly
Pipeline Fighter, Appalachia Region
Bold Alliance, (540) 488-4358
Carolyn@BoldAlliance.org

Maple Syrup Farm under Imminent Threat

Standoff Imminent as Penna. Family Opposes Pipeline Tree Cutting Thru Maple Syrup Operation

Press Release from Cathy Holleran & Megan Holleran, North Harford Maple Syrup Farm, New Milford, PA

New Milford, PA — Constitution Pipeline Company received federal permission to cut trees Friday afternoon on properties in Susquehanna County, including those obtained by eminent domain condemnation and through a commercial maple syrup operation.

A partial Notice to Proceed with non-mechanized tree cutting was issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday afternoon for the Pennsylvania portion of the Constitution Pipeline. Tree cutting is imminent and can begin any time during daylight hours today through March 31, the deadline set by FERC.

The Constitution Pipeline is a project of Williams Pipeline Companies and Cabot Oil & Gas to be used to transport shale gas obtained through the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. The right of way would be at least 100-ft wide, with additional intermittent 50 foot wide workspaces and access roads.

One New Milford family, led by Catherine Holleran and her daughter, Megan Holleran, have opposed eminent domain condemnation of an access road, an additional workspace, and more than 1,670 linear feet of their own property, which is used for maple syrup production by their family business, North Harford Maple.

Megan Holleran said, “This is our land and family business. The pipeline has been years in permitting and we just staged our equipment to set up for this year’s syrup production. If they cut the trees now, they would destroy our equipment and that’s criminal. That’s property destruction. We asked them to speak with our attorney before cutting and that hasn’t happened yet. I’m ready to stop them by standing in the right of way if they try.”

In February 2015, federal judge Malachy Mannion in Scranton ordered that the Holleran property and several others in Susquehanna County be condemned using eminent domain for the private use of Constitution Pipeline Company. No construction activities proceeded after that, as state and federal agencies extended their reviews of archaeology, impacts on endangered species, and wetlands.

In a cease and desist letter served on the company by the Holleran family on Friday, Catherine Holleran wrote, “We assert our Fourth Amendment rights, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, that we must receive compensation before eminent domain condemnation. As compensation hearings have yet to be held, we find any action to develop our property to be unconstitutional. We hope that your client will proceed with good faith negotiations with our counsel prior to any tree cutting, especially given their affinity for the name ‘Constitution Pipeline’.”

North Harford Maple Farm Location: 2131 Three Lakes Road, New Milford, PA.

Coordinates: 41.8272387, -75.7585062

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Photo above by the Scranton Times Tribune, from the Article titled: “Property owners brace for Constitution pipeline eminent domain.”  You can buy the photo here.

There is Deceit in Leasing as Practiced Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow?

Essay by S. Tom Bond, Retired Chemistry Professor and Resident Farmer, Lewis County, WV

We are learning that our society, at the top and now working down, goes on the old principle of “anything I can get away with.” Standards of ethics and behavior, which applied a generation or two previously, are largely forgotten. There has always been a crust of this at the top and a lager at the bottom of the social scale which practiced this ethic, but the middle is more and more crowded by them. One must be more self-protective.

Nowhere is this more conspicuous than in mineral leasing, both in what is written in the contract and how lease taking is done. The first John D. Rockefeller was quite religious, but his brand of Christianity didn’t have much, if any, sense of fairness. It involved a sort of social darwinism. He said, “The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest.” Born the son of a con artist, his Standard Oil gained control over 90% of the U. S. oil business.

Standard Oil was broken up by the federal government as a trust (illegal monopoly). Five year later it was reorganized as a holding company (which owned the fragments of the previous Standard Oil) and had to be broken up again. Some of the worst features go back to that time and his company. One in particular is the habit of leasing not only the drilling target layer but also “all oil and gas” as long as any of either is produced on the leased property.

As a friend once described it to me, from “heaven high to hell deep.” Such leases, taken originally as much as 100 or more years ago still hold today, although the land ownership and the company ownership have changed and the original owners are beyond memory – only names on paper in the courthouse.

Then the idea of separating estates came into existence so the children of the original owners of the lands could receive the “royalty” from oil and gas extracted, but the surface was sold to someone else. The royalty was pure gravy and usually was divided among the original owner’s children, and they divided it when giving to the next generation, which causes several kinds of headaches, both for mineral owners and for producing companies.

If a lease runs out, mineral ownership is still divided. And all mineral owners must be looked up if it is to be leased again. Royalty checks get smaller each generation when divided this way, and have gotten difficult to handle. Record keeping and taxation are a headache for the state.

The situation on my farm is instructive. It was leased in 1934 by my predecessor’s predecessor, a highflying physician in Buckhannon. He was an absentee landlord who had gone broke, but whose father in law, one of the wealthy Bennett family in Lewis county, bought it back at the courthouse steps. I called his daughter, who was the spokesman for the ones who inherited it. She could not even figure out which of the farms her father owned that I was talking about!

This rentier (as the economists call it) mentality cares no more about what happens to the land or community than the blind investor who only cares about increase on his investment. There is a single value in their system of thinking. They will sign about anything the company puts in front of them to keep that easy money coming. Bad for the future, for the environment, for the community and bad for the present surface owner.

Friends and I thought about this situation many years ago and decided it might be a good thing anyway. If it hadn’t, northern West Virginia might have become like much of the southern part of it. There the land has few areas suitable for farming, so coal companies bought it all, and today there are many large company-owned land holdings, and in places the ordinary citizen can’t even find a place to have a residence.

Another long-standing complaint is leases that include other features than oil and gas extraction, particularly for pipeline rights of way. They need to be able to drive along the pipeline, but the description of their need is sufficient so if they need to put in a pump station later, they have a road to it along the right of way. They sometimes call for waterlines, telephone, telegraph and electricity lines!

The lease man is at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder. If you want something outside the company plan, such as to go around a spring, he has to go back to his boss, and he to his boss who knows how far. Time consuming at best, this is more like a screening your request has to go through. Minor changes in a lease can be made, though. Write it on the contract and the lessor and the leaseman must initial it. Beware of the lease man who claims to make a verbal agreement; if it is not written on the contract, they will just laugh at you later when you try to get what you were promised.

One of the big complaints now is what is called “pooling” A company will decide on a drilling plan that includes several tracts. Laws proposed by the industry would allow it to take the rest after getting a minimum of 80%. This is effectively the same as eminent domain used for private gain. If the supply of drillable land was running out, there might be some public good, but leased land is abundant at this time. If it has to be condemned should the driller be allowed to put the well on the condemned land for his convenience, too?

There are endless horror stories about how the leases are executed. Pipelines are laid at a bad time of the year, spoiling hay harvest, or finished up in the fall too late for ground cover to be established before the winter rain. Fences are not replaced, animals are killed. I know of one case where they broke the pelvis of a nursing cow, which, of course could not be sold or utilized and had to be shot and buried. The calf had to be sold immediately, rather than as a weanling. You hear about roads not rocked because the work was done in warm, dry weather is a common complaint. Wells drilled so close to schools the noise and odor is strong. Children are apt to be more vulnerable to toxic substances, too.

Lessors do it once in a lifetime, leasemen do it several times a day. Lawyers are constantly looking to get more for the company. People engaging with a drilling company need to talk to other people who they know are knowledgeable, and if they can find one that is not biased for the companies, consult a lawyer. It’s tricky business, and risky from top to bottom!

See also the recent article on the XTO landman who defrauded West Virginians.

Let's protect our homes, farms, schools, etc.

Upshur County and the Large Diameter InterState Gas Pipelines

Dear Friends: Nice report on WDTV, Channel 5 News

On the last day of my travels in WV, I made a presentation to the Upshur County Commission in Buckhannon,WV requesting a resolution from the Commissioners to FERC asking for a PEIS in WV. Dominion packed the room with their supporters and a debate ensued over several issues including global warming, the need for pipelines and gas, property rights and environmental damage. The TV station is located in Harrison County, WV which is a stronghold for the gas industry. Tensions were high at the end.

The Commissioners were very gracious and asked many questions. Overall, it was a good day for pipeline opponents.

See the video below:

http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view&section=5-News&item=Groups-Clash-in-Upshur-County-One-Asks-For-Pipeline-Impact-Statement-27453

Tensions were very high Thursday at the Upshur County Commission meeting. Some environmental groups want an environmental impact statement done for our state’s proposed pipelines. They battled back and forth with Dominion Transmission representatives on what the impacts may be and if more pipelines are actually needed.

The thing that brought the claws out in the first place is there are actually no federal guidelines that control where a pipeline can be built. It’s left up to our local governments. Even when research and data were brought up at the meeting from pipeline supporters and those opposing, no one could agree and it didn’t get any simpler.

The Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance suggests the Upshur County Commission form a committee to produce the required Hazard Mitigation Plan so that Dominion Transmission could move the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s route to a more advisable location before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues a permit.

The 550-mile pipeline would go from Harrison County to Virginia and North Carolina through some public areas, such as less than half a mile from Buckhannon-Upshur High School. The Preservation Alliance says the pipeline is the largest and highest-pressure pipeline ever attempted in these three states.

We have seven pipelines in our state and each side argues whether or not they’re needed. Dominion representatives say they increase the quality of life in modern society and we’re responsible for being as energy independent as possible. While the Preservation Alliance Chair agrees we should be energy independent, she says we can do that through renewable energy and that pipelines decrease our quality of life.

However, the director of Dominion’s Pipeline Integrity and Records says they’re following the requirements and reviewing the consequences.

“When I talk about the operations and maintenance requirements, there are corridors which we are required to study. And we have to evaluate who lives in that corridor, what type of structures are there, and what the consequences of a failure could be. And that really dictates how we operate, maintain, design, and construct the pipeline,” said Shawn Miller, the Director of Pipeline Integrity and Records at Dominion Transmission.

But a Pipelines Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club is concerned about things like accidental explosions, water and air quality, and our communities.

“I’m really concerned about the people here in the state, in West Virginia and Virginia, who don’t want these pipelines. And they have spent their lives building their properties up and now they have to give up their properties, their dreams, their hopes, their families are affected. It’s a big deal,” said Kirk Bowers, the Pipelines Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club’s Virginia Chapter.

Stay with 5 News to see what the Commission decides to do and what’s next for the possible Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Previous story involving these parties at an Upshur County Commission meeting:
Groups Clash on Proposed Pipeline Near Upshur County School

Kirk A Bowers, Virginia Chapter, Sierra Club
Pipelines Program Manager, 106 George Rogers Road
Charlottesville, VA 22911
Home (434) 296 8673, Cell (434) 249 1439

Sunoco pipelines in PA

The planned Mariner East 2 trans-Pennsylvania pipeline is running into resistance from landowners

From an Article by Jon Hurdle, NPR StateImpact PA, August 12, 2015

As Sunoco Logistics steps up efforts to create a pathway for its Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline across southern Pennsylvania, some landowners are resisting the company’s moves to build the pipeline across their properties.

Residents in at least eight counties are rejecting the company’s offers of cash compensation as too low or unacceptable at any level, and say they will go to court to challenge any assertion of eminent domain that the company makes in an attempt to force its way across private land.

Landowners contacted by StateImpact Pennsylvania accuse Sunoco of making low-ball compensation offers; proposing to locate the $2.5 billion pipeline in places where it could endanger water sources or buildings in the event of a leak or explosion, and of failing to state its plans clearly. Some who have rejected cash compensation have been served with documents that initiate an eminent domain action in court.

The confrontations may represent just the beginning of a process that will pit local communities against energy companies that are sharply expanding Pennsylvania’s pipeline infrastructure in order to ship the abundant resources of the Marcellus Shale to domestic and international markets.

The state could see as many as 30,000 additional miles of new pipeline built in the next 20 years, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley said at the first meeting of a statewide task force on pipelines in July.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia-based Sunoco said it is committed to dealing “fairly” with landowners along the 350-mile route from Ohio and West Virginia to Marcus Hook, a suburban Philadelphia town on the Delaware River. The company argues that it has the authority as a “public utility corporation” – a status that is disputed by opponents – to seize people’s land under eminent domain but will only do so as a last resort.

“We recognize the enormous responsibility that comes with eminent domain authority and use that authority only as a last resort when negotiations with landowners have failed,” said Jeff Shields, a spokesman for the company.

For example, Shields said Sunoco has initiated action against Ellen Gerhart, a landowner in Huntingdon County, after she rejected the company’s offer of $14,000 for building two 24-inch pipelines on three of her 27 acres.

“The Gerharts were recently notified of our intention to file for condemnation in Huntingdon County under eminent domain authority,” Shields said.

Gerhart, 60, a former special education teacher, told StateImpact that she’s concerned about the pipeline’s safety and the risk of the natural gas liquids leaking into a pond on her property.

She said she considered seeking more compensation but decided she doesn’t want the pipeline on her property under any circumstances. “I’m totally against this pipeline going in,” she said. “I’m even more concerned now because we are unable to get any kind of straight answer out of the company on where it will run.”

In nearby Cumberland County, landowner John Perry said Sunoco initially offered him $14,000 for his permission to build two pipelines beneath a 75-foot-wide strip of his land in Upper Frankford Township.

He rejected that offer, and a later one of $43,000, saying neither came close to representing the value of the land he would lose through construction of the pipeline, which is expected to begin operation at the end of 2016.

Perry, 81, estimated that his land is worth about $10,000 an acre and that the pipeline would take between 30 and 40 acres. Even if the land had a fair market value of $5,000 an acre, a 40-acre parcel would be worth $200,000, far higher than the $43,000 that the company called its final offer, he said.

Perry, who has lived on his 200-acre property for 40 years, said he told the company he would accept compensation of $250,000. He said Sunoco hasn’t said anything yet about taking the land through eminent domain but he fears that it will eventually get its way, if only because of political support for the project.

“There is too much political horsepower behind this pipeline for us to get any sympathy from our political people,” he said. “So we accept the fact that probably eventually we are going to have to live with the pipeline.”

He rejected the company’s first offer on the grounds that it would significantly reduce his area of usable land, while cutting the value of what was left. Perry has an existing eight-inch Sunoco pipeline on his property which is now part of the parallel Mariner 1 system, and he spent part of the 1990s negotiating the maintenance terms for the older line.

“You’re not only taking 75 feet but you are planning to run a much larger pipeline through my property which will impact the value of the property,” he said.

Iris Marie Bloom of Protecting Our Waters at a protest in Philadelphia against the Mariner East pipeline which would transport natural gas liquids over 300 miles across Pennsylvania.

In mid-June, Sunoco made its final offer, telling Perry that if he didn’t accept it within 10 days, the company would begin “condemnation” proceedings that would lead to an assertion of eminent domain in court.

Perry said he has heard nothing from the company since then, and has hired attorney Michael Faherty, who is representing several property owners in the battle against Sunoco’s Mariner East 2. “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Perry said.

Bryant Minnich, a building contractor who owns 133 acres in Newville, Cumberland County, said Sunoco initially agreed to pay him $10,400 as compensation for cutting down trees to maintain access to the Mariner East 1 pipeline under an agreement dating back to the 1930s.

Minnich, 50, said he only received the payment after a delay of several months when Sunoco wanted access to his land to survey it for the new Mariner East 2 pipeline. He said he initially denied the company permission to enter because the company had not made the payment.

“I said: ‘You owe me damages that you’ve not even responded to, so you can just stay off my property permanently’”, he said. “Within three weeks, because they need something, I finally get my check for the damages.”

The company then presented its plans for the Mariner East 2 work on Minnich’s property, a project that involved cutting a 50-foot swath plus the creation of a work area and a parking lot.

In return, Sunoco offered $18,000, a sum Minnich rejected, saying he might consider a “six-figure” settlement but would prefer that the company stay away altogether. He also dismissed a subsequent offer for $35,600 on the grounds that it would not compensate for the loss of land, where he and his family have lived for 22 years, or for the aesthetic value of his pond, which would be impaired by the construction work.

Within the last three weeks, Minnich said he has received another letter from Sunoco, saying it plans to clear land for Mariner East 2 by pursuing the terms of the original 1930s agreement — which did not place restrictions on the amount of land the pipeline operator can clear – and providing compensation of just $1,100. The company appears to be ignoring a 2002 amendment to the agreement that sets a limit of 40 feet, Minnich said.

Minnich is also represented by Faherty, who has told Sunoco that it must comply with the terms of the amended agreement, Minnich said. “If they come in and try to take more, then we will end up in a court case against them,” Minnich said.

Faherty, who also represents Gerhart and other Mariner East 2 opponents, said Sunoco has begun eminent domain proceedings against about 10 landowners in the last two weeks.

Those property owners live between the West Virginia border and Lebanon County and the company appears to be working its way east along the proposed pipeline route, Faherty said. He predicted that resistant landowners in Chester and Delaware counties will be the company’s next target.

He argued that Sunoco has no right to assert eminent domain because, since the pipeline extends into Ohio and West Virginia, it is an interstate entity and is therefore regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and not by Pennsylvania authorities.

If Mariner 2 was planned to operate only in Pennsylvania, as Mariner 1 does, it would be subject to eminent domain but it is outside the state’s jurisdiction because of its interstate status, he said. The two pipelines jointly make up the Mariner East project.

Faherty said his argument was upheld by a York County judge in 2014 and that he, Faherty, will make it again in a Washington County case that is scheduled for trial in October. “The argument has already been decided so Sunoco should not get a second bite of the apple,” he said.

Opponents of Mariner East 2 include the Clean Air Council, an environmental group whose senior litigation attorney, Alex Bomstein, said the project has sparked more opposition than most pipeline plans. He argued that Sunoco has antagonized public opinion by making different arguments to the PUC, FERC and local zoning boards, depending on its needs at different times.

“It gives different answers to different agencies,” Bomstein said. “People are encountering this type of dishonesty at different levels.” He estimated that Sunoco has begun eminent domain proceedings against about 20 landowners so far.

Shields of Sunoco reasserted the company’s right to assert eminent domain based on its status as a public utility company regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. “If we file for condemnation, we are proceeding under eminent domain authority, which we consider a last resort,” he said.

Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, a spokesman for the PUC, said the regulator first confirmed Sunoco’s status as a public utility corporation in 2002 and did so again in 2014.

Shields would not say how many cases of eminent domain the company is pursuing, how much compensation it has paid, or how many landowners have agreed to Sunoco’s plans.

He declined to confirm the compensation figures reported by Gerhart, Perry and Minnich but said the company’s plan on the Perry property involves a 10-foot extension of an existing 40-foot right of way, while the proposed easement on the Minnich property parallels a right of way for the existing Mariner 1 line.

Sunoco Mariner East 1 & 2

See also:  www.Marcellus-Shale.us

See also the August 18th  protest entitled: “Hands Across Our Land”

Stonewall (so-called) "Gathering" 36 inch Pipeline

WV Property Owners are Standing Their Ground

From an Article by Michael Barrick, Appalachian Chronicle, July 14, 2015

Local farmers battle with companies building Stonewall Gas Gathering Pipeline over crop damage; WV DEP issues Notice of Violation to company for violations nearby, continues investigation of incident impacting farm

Photo: Stonewall Gathering Pipeline construction as seen from a hilltop in Doddridge County, W.Va.

Big Isaac, WV – Justin McClain is a farmer. At 35, it is all he has ever done in this small Doddridge County community since before he was a teenager. It is also all he plans to ever do. However, recent damage he says was caused to his crops by the company building the Stonewall Gas Gathering pipeline has him questioning if he will be able to keep his farm going. It also has him and his father, Robert, concerned about the farm’s future if the larger and longer Mountain Valley Pipeline is approved, and has left them both with a bitter taste about the industry as they have tried to get the companies building the 55-mile Stonewall Pipeline Project to compensate them for the loss of Justin’s spring hay crop.

To date, the companies have not admitted responsibility for the damages to his crops. Indeed, they’ve insisted that the McClain’s sign a Release and Waiver that states that the companies are not responsible. In fact, the McClains were given a different version of the Release and Waiver than an attorney in Charleston received – and approved – on their behalf. The two men have also had several conversations on their property with several different corporate representatives, the last ones being told by the elder McClain to leave. “They called Justin a liar. That was enough for me. I told those boys to leave, that they were trespassing.” Justin added, “They took that paper, put it in front of our faces and told us we had to sign it. It was like they were trying to jam it down our throats.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Tallman, an environmental inspector with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has acknowledged he has inspected the damage done to the McClain’s crops and the area upstream where the pipeline construction is occurring. While Tallman said that no Notice of Violation (NOV) has yet been issued to the company building the pipeline – Stonewall Gas Gathering, LLC (SGG) – he added, “We’re still evaluating it.” (However, a NOV has been issued to SGG on the project. Details are below). He spoke with the McClains on July 7. If a NOV is to be issued, it would generally be done within about two business weeks of his investigation. Tallman emphasized, though, that the McClains were not the only people who had contacted WVDEP. “This particular complaint came from many different directions,” he said.

The dispute between the McClains and SGG began after a heavy rain on the evening of June 20th. Just about 2,000 feet upstream from the McClain farm, Precision Pipeline, a subcontractor for SGG, was preparing to lay a 36” pipeline on a steep hillside directly above Meathouse Fork, near Isaac Creek. Meathouse Fork is a tributary of Middle Island Creek, the longest creek in the United States. It empties into the Ohio River near St. Mary’s, W.Va., after meandering for about 77 miles north and then southwest from Doddridge County.

Photo: Meathouse Fork on June 22, 2015 — Note the heavy sediment in the stream.

Following the rain, a hayfield that would produce approximately 500 bales of hay for Justin’s cattle was flooded. When the waters receded, the McClains found the hay to be unusable. “It’s full of mud,” said Justin. “You can’t use it like that. It’s bad for the cows. It hurts them when they try to eat it, and it is bad for their intestines. It can kill them.” He continued, “It is also bad for the equipment. It clogs it up. And, if you’re the one harvesting it, you get covered with dust. So it is unusable.”

Equally frustrating to the McClains is the treatment they’ve received from the employees of the various companies involved in the project. Robert recalled, “We went up a week before this happened. We talked to a guy from Wisconsin and told him we were concerned about the threat to the valley from runoff.” Robert said the man told him, “If it comes down that valley, if anything happens, we’ll stand good for it. Now go on and don’t worry about it.”

Then the rains came on June 20th, damaging the hay field. Justin explained, “There is just no way to get that mud off that hay. Two or three of them came down. Said they understood and would replace the hay.”

Yet, they’re still waiting. Robert said that after the first visits by company officials, they were being told a different story. “They called back and said they wouldn’t buy the hay. It was an act of God, that it could happen anywhere. He said they had rain gauges all along the line and that it had rained three-and-a-half inches in 15 minutes. I told him we were out there and it could not possibly have rained that much in that amount of time.” It was then, he said, that he began to not trust them. Robert, who has lived on the land since the late 1940s, added, “That would have been the most rain we have ever seen in this valley.”

Conflicting Release and Waiver documents
The most recent exchange, after several visits over three weeks by various company officials, included two versions of the same Release and Waiver. The attorney in Charleston that the McClains contacted received a faxed version with a cover sheet without a letterhead. The attorney told the McClains they could sign it, as it was more to their liking than an earlier version because it was limited to the 2015 June hay crop. However, it also reads, “It is understood and agreed by the Owner (the McClains) and SGG that this settlement is a compromise of disputed claims, and payment by SGG is not an admission of liability, and that SGG expressly denies any liability.” The previous version required the McClains to abandon all rights to future claims, denied them the right to talk to any third parties about the matter, and threatened them with an injunction if they violated any of those stipulations.

“I wasn’t going to sign that,” said Robert. “I told them, this is a free country. I’ll talk to who I want. If I want to tell my neighbors up and down the valley, I will.”

That is when the company presented the second document. However, while the attorney was receiving his copy, company representatives presented the McClains with a different version. Justin said, “They kept calling over here wanting to know if the attorney had seen it yet. Once we did get it, they sent someone over right away. But that was a different document than the one they sent the attorney. I asked them what they were trying to pull. The man told me it was a mistake, that he had grabbed the wrong document at the office.” It still contained the provisions that the McClains could make no future claims against the company, and required them to not talk to third parties.

The pipeline construction passes within 100 feet of this home. None of the three documents contained company letterhead.

Justin recalled, “I told them I’d be a fool to sign that. I told them I just couldn’t trust them. That’s when they called me a liar and put that paper right in front of us and told us we had to sign it. They were following dad around the property demanding that he sign it.” He continued, “I told them I didn’t want money. I just wanted them to get some hay and deliver it. I don’t know why they won’t make it right. It would be so simple.”

Robert added, “That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with. They do not care about the land or water. I don’t think anyone in West Virginia can do anything because they own the politicians. Who’s going to go behind them to fix their destruction?”

Justin added, “All they care about is money. They don’t care about people or land.” Yet, Justin concluded, “Dad has always told me, ‘Stand your ground.’ That’s what we’re going to do.” Robert simply nodded his head in agreement.

Notice of Violation
While the investigation by the WVDEP continues regarding the complaints about the event that impacted the McClain’s farm, SGG was issued a Notice of Violation by WVDEP on June 16th for violations about two miles north of that community. The streams impacted there are Buffalo Calf Fork and Buckeye Creek. Buckeye Creek joins with Meathouse Fork to form Middle Island Creek, so both are tributaries of the nation’s longest creek, with a watershed of more than 550 square miles.

According to Tallman’s report, sediment and erosion control requirements for stream crossings, perimeter controls, and access roads were found to be unsatisfactory. He wrote, “The stream crossing and perimeter controls in Buffalo Calf Fork were observed to be in noncompliance. …” He continued, “Access roads, or stabilized construction entrances to project areas, were observed to lack the required seventy (70) feet of stone as required by the project and E&S plans.”

Water quality was also impacted according to the report. “Sediment associated with pipeline construction was observed to have left the project site through a compromised section of super silt fence and entered into Buffalo Calf Fork, resulting in Conditions Not Allowable in State Waters.”

Tallman included five warnings for SGG at the end of his report:
1. It is to operate systems and facilities “ … to achieve compliance with the permit.”
2. Entrance signs are to be posted at the project’s site entrance.
3. “Each side shall have a stone access entrance and exit and parking areas to reduce the tracking of sediment onto public or private roads.”
4. “No sediment-laden water shall be allowed to leave the site without going through an appropriate best management practice.”
5. Ensure compliance with the project’s General Permit, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, and Groundwater Protection Plan.

The NOV number is W-NW-JGT-061615-001. Attempts to reach SGG officials for comment were unsuccessful.

About the Stonewall Pipeline Project
Stonewall Gas Gathering, LLC was incorporated in Delaware on June 4, 2014. According to a spokesperson with the Delaware Secretary of State’s office, principals of companies need not be listed. SGG is a subsidiary of Momentum (officially M3Midstream). Momentum is based in Texas and Colorado. The Stonewall Gathering line is part of Momentum’s Appalachian Gathering System (AGS).

The Stonewall Gathering pipeline will connect to the AGS in Harrison County and terminate in Braxton County, where it will connect to the Columbia pipeline.

The company laying the pipeline is Wisconsin-based Precision Pipeline, LLC. Calls to Precision regarding the McClain’s concerns were not returned, but according to the company’s website, “The required qualifications of today’s pipeline contractor are much different. Today’s contractor must not only be cost efficient, but must do so while making a significant priority of the project’s safety needs and the needs of the landowner and the environment. Because of these fundamental changes within the industry, contractors have changed the way they operate by re-training their management, estimators, superintendents, and general workforce. Over the past 20 years, existing contractors have been forced to make this transition to remain on the bid lists of their prospective clients.

“Precision Pipeline is the first pipeline contractor uniquely designed to successfully and efficiently work within today’s more stringent pipeline construction parameters. When considering pipeline contractors to bid on your next pipeline project, remember Precision Pipeline. Our business is built around your needs and the needs of today’s pipeline client. We have the experience and expertise to safely complete any project while maintaining total environmental compliance with minimal impact to landowners. Precision Pipeline is not a new contractor; we are the next generation pipeline contractor.”

SGG secured a loan of $350 million to fund operations, including the Stonewall Gathering pipeline. The loan is due in 2022. Moody’s Investors Service reports, about the pipeline project, “The proceeds of the term loan will be used to fund a portion of the $460 million construction cost. While the term loan is non-recourse, Stonewall benefits from long term, minimum volume commitments from Antero Resources Corporation (Antero, Ba3 stable) and Mountaineer Keystone (unrated) for roughly 83% of the start-up capacity of 1.4 Bcf per day. Stuart Miller, Moody’s Vice President, said, “Stonewall’s (rating) reflects the project risks associated with constructing a gathering and transportation system on a non-turn-key basis, its small scale and weak business profile, the counterparty risk of its major customers, and the lack of revenue and cash flow until the first quarter of 2016.”

WVDEP Oversight
Unlike the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley interstate pipelines, the Stonewall Gathering pipeline is not subject to federal oversight because it is entirely within the state’s boundaries. According to Tallman with WVDEP, intrastate pipelines were exempted from federal oversite by Congress in 2005. In response, said Kelley Gillenwater, the WVDEP communications director, the WVDEP recommended to the legislature that the agency be allowed some oversight. The result was legislation that took effect in June 2013 that does allow the WVDEP some oversight of projects, but she added, “It is limited to stormwater construction permits.”

According to Gillenwater, WVDEP has oversight of the project because, “This would be a non-residential construction project that disturbs more than three acres, which requires a Construction Stormwater Permit and a Site Registration Application.” She noted that the application bundles the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and Groundwater Protection Plan.

The permit for the plan was issued on January 29, 2015. The permit number is WVR310402 under General Permit number WV0116815.

Asked if notices were issued for public comment or if comments were made, she answered, “Site Registration Applications require public comment if they exceed 100 acres. As this project does, it should have gone to public comment.” She said that the legal add was advertised in the West Union Herald Record from December 16, 2014 through January 15, 2015. She said that no comments were received.

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Urgent Note from Greenbrier River Watershed Association — Comment Period for Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline National Forest Alternative 5 Extended to July 20. Comment by email to address comments-eastern-monongahela-marlinton@fs.fed.us or fax to 304-637-0582. We believe Alternative 5 is no better than the other alternatives. It will cross the mainstem of the Greenbrier River below Cass and Deer Creek and affect the Elk River trout fishery, as well as Sharp’s cave. Plus, there have been no public meetings concerning this alternative specifically. Do you agree that this is wrong!

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Williams' Transco Pipeline Plans

Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Price Tag Is $2.1 Billion

Williams Energy pipeline will service 7 million homes from NYC to Georgia

From an Article by Casey Junkins, Wheeling Intelligencer, April 14, 2015

Wheeling, WV – Williams Energy plans to service 7 million homes from New York City to Georgia with about 1.7 billion cubic feet of Marcellus Shale natural gas daily via its $2.1 billion Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project.

If the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) grants approval, the Atlantic Sunrise will join several other pipeline projects designed to ship the natural gas drawn from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio to metropolitan markets.

“Atlantic Sunrise is a vital piece of North American energy infrastructure needed to transport low-cost, abundant supplies of natural gas from the Marcellus producing region in Pennsylvania to hungry markets along the Atlantic Seaboard,” Rory Miller, senior vice president of Williams Energy Atlantic-Gulf operating area, said. “Shippers have signed long-term commitments for the expansion’s entire capacity, which represents enough natural gas to serve approximately 7 million homes.”

The natural gas companies working in the Marcellus formation are now producing about 14.6 billion cubic feet daily, compared to just 1.3 Bcf per day in 2010. These yields could continue increasing once new pipeline projects are placed into service, the agency believes.

Williams officials hope to place the Atlantic Sunrise into service before the end of 2017 to keep up with demand for infrastructure. The new project will be an expansion and extension of Williams’ Transco pipeline system, which runs some 10,200 miles from south Texas to New York City, providing natural gas to numerous metropolitan areas along the way.

A Penn State University report indicates the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline’s design and construction would support about 8,000 temporary jobs, as well as 29 full-time jobs once the operation is running.

“Penn State’s report clearly shows how vital this project and others like it are for Pennsylvania’s economy,” Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry President Gene Barr said. “We need to take advantage of all of our natural resources, and the best way to do that is through more gas infrastructure. The Atlantic Sunrise expansion to the Transco pipeline is projected to support thousands of jobs during construction and thousands more in the drilling and supply chain industries.”

The Atlantic Sunrise joins the following transportation systems developing to move Marcellus and Utica shale natural gas to large markets: the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline designed to ship gas to North Carolina; the Leach XPress that will send gas toward Huntington, W.Va.; the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will ship gas southward from Wetzel County; and the Texas Eastern Transmission’s Gulf Markets Expansion project, operated by Spectra Energy, which will carry gas from the Upper Ohio Valley to Gulf Coast states.

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WV-DEP: 132 Barrels of NGL Spilled Into Marshall County Creek — Williams to be sanctioned for pollution by NGL condensate

From an Article by Casey Junkins, Wheeling Intelligencer, April 14, 2014

Glen Dale, WV – West Virginia regulators will cite Williams Energy for “conditions not allowable in state waters” after the company’s pipeline rupture allowed 132 barrels of Marcellus Shale condensate to spill into Little Grave Creek last week.

The 4-inch condensate conduit broke late Thursday, less than three hours before a 12-inch natural gas pipeline – also operated by Williams – failed in the Bane Lane area of Marshall County along U.S. 250.

“Other violations may be issued depending on the evolution and discovery of site conditions,” West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kelley J. Gillenwater said of the 4-inch pipeline rupture. “The condensate has impacted approximately 6 miles of Little Grave Creek in Marshall County.”

Gillenwater said a visible sheen remains along Little Grave Creek, along with a slight odor. This stream ultimately leads to the Ohio River, but she said no drinking water intakes have been impacted. Gillenwater said an environmental remediation company hired by Williams has placed containment booms in the creek to prevent the material from proliferating.

“Williams has and will continue to take water samples of Little Grave Creek starting at the mouth of the Ohio River, and sampling all public accesses of the stream to the right of way,” Gillenwater said. “An unnamed tributary is also believed to have been impacted and this stream is also being sampled.”

Friday, Williams spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said company officials believe “heavy rains in the area, which may have destabilized soils, were a contributing factor” in the two pipeline failures late Thursday. Monday, Humphreys said both pipelines remain shutdown as company and state inspectors determine the full cause of the ruptures before initiating repairs.

Williams transports natural gas and liquids for Chevron, Southwestern Energy, Gastar Exploration, Trans Energy, and several other producers in northern West Virginia. The firm operates a massive pipeline and processing infrastructure network in Marshall County. It runs the Oak Grove processing plant, the Fort Beeler processing plant and the Moundsville fractionator, all of which are connected by pipelines.

Humphreys said the 12-inch line that broke near Bane Lane Thursday collects natural gas from producing wells throughout the area for shipment to the nearby Fort Beeler plant. She said officials knew they had a problem because of a noticeable pressure drop.

“Company personnel have taken soil samples in the area of the rupture and are developing a recovery plan,” she said of remediation efforts related to this failure.

On April 5, 2014, a 12-inch Williams pipeline ruptured near the Oak Grove plant. After the investigation, Gillenwater said this “explosion created a 10-foot crater, and the resulting fire scorched trees over an approximately 2-acre area.”Unlike last year’s event, Humphreys said neither Thursday rupture created a fire.

See also:  www.MAREproject.org