Fight the Pipelines in Pennsylvania (good op-ed):

[femmocrat]

Fight the pipelines in Pennsylvania

Local communities should have a say in how natural gas is shipped across our state, argues RYAN M. HROBAK of Armstrong County
January 4, 2015

Pennsylvanians, beware. Pipelines may soon be ferrying natural gas liquids from one side of Pennsylvania to the other. Recent events indicate that environmentally destructive leakage is part and parcel of the pipeline proposition.

Sunoco Logistics recently announced its intention to construct a new gas pipeline, Mariner East 2, from eastern Ohio, through the West Virginia panhandle and southwestern Pennsylvania, and terminating in Delaware County, from where it could be exported overseas or shipped throughout the northeastern United States. The pipeline would run parallel to the currently unusable Mariner East 1, which Sunoco Logistics has begun repurposing.

Sunoco Logistics recently made another announcement — having to do with its liability for a major crude oil spill outside of Shreveport, La., in October from its Mid-Valley pipeline that extends from Texas to Michigan. This “leak” dumped 189,000 gallons of crude oil into the local ecosystem, polluting one of Louisiana’s ecologically rich bayous that flows into Caddo Lake.

Sunoco Logistics’ Mid-Valley pipeline also leaked in March, spilling more than 20,000 gallons of crude oil into Oak Glen Nature Preserve in southwestern Ohio. That’s two major pipeline leaks within the past year.

More at link: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2015/01/04/Fight-the-pipelines/stories/201501040046

[blue neen]

1. Sunoco is using "Eminent Domain" to get to the properties they want:

"Ron and Sallie Cox’s house in North Strabane Township is nestled behind a lush forest they are fighting to protect from a new natural gas pipeline inching toward their property."

"The couple are so adamant about preserving their land that they have found themselves among more than two dozen property owners in Washington County involved in a complicated legal battle challenging Sunoco Pipeline’s right to cross their land."

“It’s a disaster,” Sallie Cox said last week as her attorney prepared their case against the Philadelphia-based company’s claims it’s a public utility and has a right to impose eminent domain powers to enter private property for the 50-foot-wide project."

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140117/NEWS01/140119443#.VKsRpHsUh-8

[femmocrat]

2. I think that is still tied up in the courts.

The most recent article I could find was from Oct. 2014. The PUC is siding with Sunoco (of course), but the eminent domain and zoning questions are still being hashed out. (I think! I get lost in the legalese.) This article says there wouldn't be a decision before the end of 2014.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/10/sunoco_pipeline_puc_overturns.html

[blue neen]

3. I fear Sunoco will get their way.

Let's hope that they don't!

[JPZenger]

4. A few thoughts.

We certainly need to make sure there are proper safety provisions and regular independent inspections. However, let us keep in mind that pipelines are still the safest method to transport fuels.

There needs to be some updating about which agencies are responsible to oversee all of the different types of pipelines. Some types of pipelines seem to fall through regulatory cracks in PA.

The current pipeline system is at capacity which is constraining the demand for new natural gas wells in PA. Increased pipeline capacity would likely increase fracking in PA and also reduce costs for natural gas consumers in PA.

A hot issue is use of eminent domain. The current system for long distance pipelines is supposed to involve maximum involvement of local officials and consideration of compatibility and environmental issues. Eminent domain is supposed to be used as a last resort. I don't know how it works in actual practice.

[blue neen]

5. Some people don't want increased fracking in PA...

and with the all of the fracking that is already going on, consumers haven't seen much cost reduction.

The oil and gas companies aren't doing the fracking for the PA market or even the US market-----it's for the overseas (China, et al.) markets. That's why the pipeline ends at Marcus Hook, for easy shipping out of the country.

There are other considerations, as you mention. Crude oil is being shipped by high-risk rail, natural gas could be next.

[Panich52]

7. Frackers long ago promised cheaper gas. Yet PUC OK' d increase last year.

I don't want more frackin fracking. Their trucks already get a free ride to destroy roads while the rest of us got higher PennDOT & other fees. (Notice how frack workers' vehicles are out-of-state?) Wolf promised to correct the free ride, but you can bet fees won.t be reduced.

And I'd still like to know how exporting energy makes us 'energy independent.'

[Number9Dream]

6. Shale gas may head overseas - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

snip> "A Tribune-Review examination found foreign companies are buying significant shares of these drilling projects and making plans for facilities to liquify and ship more of that natural gas overseas."

snip> "A leading player in the natural gas grab is China, whose thirst for energy to fuel its industrial explosion is growing rapidly. Others include the governments of South Korea and India, and companies in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan and Australia."

snip> "They're going to come in, extract all this stuff for next-to-nothing, and make global profits off it," said Pittsburgh Councilman Doug Shields. "This is beads for Manhattan, in a global sense."

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_731595.html#axzz3O9O9gUD3