“I ask you and FERC to stop Sabal Trail from telling newspapers things that Spectra Energy’s own corporate documents refute, and to start paying attention to multiple requests by county commissions and other affected parties.”

Back in December, Spectra’s Andrea Grover and Brian Fahrenthold were “not familiar” with Spectra’s lengthy safety rap sheet (see above picture). Yesterday’s VDT had Sabal Trail: Eminent domain accusation ‘hard to believe’ by Joe Adgie. Meanwhile, the Moultrie Observer has picked up the VDT story. Maybe some newspapers will also publish better information than what trained pipeline PR people seem not to remember or believe, despite copious evidence of the actual facts.

Filed with FERC 19 November 2014 accession Number: 20141119-5232. The attachments are in the PDF, and they’re all in the links in the HTML version below. -jsq

John S. Quarterman
3338 Country Club Road #L336
Valdosta, GA 31605
19 November 2014

VIA ELECTRONIC FILING
Ms. Kimberly Bose
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20426

Re: Southeast Market Pipelines Project,
Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC Docket No PFl4-1-000

Dear Ms. Bose,

I ask you and FERC to stop Sabal Trail from telling newspapers things that Spectra Energy’s own corporate documents refute, and to start paying attention to multiple requests by county commissions and other affected parties.

According to "Sabal Trail: Eminent domain accusation ‘hard to believe’" by Joe Adgie in the Valdosta Times today, 19 November 2014,

‘Andrea Grover, director of stakeholder outreach for Sabal Trail, said allegations from homeowners that surveyors threatened eminent domain on their properties was “hard to believe.”’

Please find attached a two-page letter of 26 November 2013 from Hunton & Williams LLP of Atlanta, representing Sabal Trail, threatening Larry Rodgers with use of Georgia eminent domain law for a pipeline survey. Many other landowners received similar letters.

Does Sabal Trail really not know what its own attorneys are sending to landowners? If Ms. Grover does not know, perhaps you could get Vice President of Stakeholder Outreach Susan Waller or Spectra Energy CEO Greg Ebel to find out what their attorneys are doing.

Similarly, you may want to ask them about this statement in the same newspaper article:

‘Grover said that Sabal Trail only works on properties that they are allowed to work on.

‘“We are only on those properties that we have permission to be there, or have agreements in place to be there,” Grover said. “These are things that we instill in our workforce.”’

Why then, was Sabal Trail sued for criminal trespass in Leesburg, Georgia 10 July 2014 by a landowner in Mitchell County, Georgia? I saw Ms. Grover leading the Sabal Trail team in the courtroom in Leesburg.

Meanwhile, please also find attached a two-page response of 4 December 2014 to Sabal Trail’s law firm from Larry Rodgers’ attorney, Bill Langdale, spelling out that Georgia eminent domain law does not apply to a pipeline that is of no benefit to Georgia.

In the same newspaper article, Ms. Grover admitted there are no agreements in place now for use of Sabal Trail gas in Georgia:

‘Grover also said that those living along the pipeline’s route will be able to get natural gas.

‘“The community can benefit from taking natural gas for their community use when the pipelines are put in service,” Grover said. “We would put the local communities and municipalities in contact with our business development group and they can look for locations that are best for gas to come off, what the structure would look like, and timing and all of that, and work to get some agreements in place.”’

So there are no such agreements in place now. Which, according to attorney Bill Langdale (and the judge in Leesburg), means Georgia eminent domain does not apply. Yet Sabal Trail’s law firm sent landowners letters threatening Georgia eminent domain.

Also in the newspaper article there is an erroneous assertion about easements:

‘Grover said that once the pipeline was constructed and the land on the easement was replaced, landowners could do whatever they wanted with the land, including farming of the land.’

Yet landowners cannot grow trees on pipeline rights of way, for example. Please see "Spectra Energy’s Encroachment Policy" in Spectra Energy’s own Public Official brochure,

http://www.spectraenergy.com/content/documents/Brochures/Public_Official.pdf

‘Spectra Energy investigates encroachment by non-company individuals in the pipeline right-of-way. These include activities that have been reported by the encroaching party to the state one call service by calling 811, and those activities that are discovered by the company through aerial and/or ground patrol that have not been reported by calling 811. Right-of-Way encroachments include installation of such things as:
• Buildings/Mobile Homes • Fences • Utility Lines
• Pipelines • Roads • Trees’

Why is Sabal Trail telling a newspaper something its own brochure for public officials contradicts?

Finally, Sabal Trail’s proposed three-foot top cover is inadequate:

‘For safety reasons, the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee requires three feet of cover for the pipeline, and Grover said that they would negotiate with landowners for different allowances, such as if they needed the pipeline to run deeper than the minimum 36 inch allowance.’

See my submittal 20141117-5040 about the incident just this month in Berrien County, Georgia where a ditch puller broke a SONAT pipeline.

See the submittal 20141113-5199 by Southern Natural Gas about Sabal Trail’s inadequate plans for boring under existing pipelines, as well as far too many pipeline crossings.

And please find attached Resolution Number 2014-R-6 of the Colquitt County, Georgia, Board of Commissioners dated 4 March 2014 and filed with FERC as submission 20140310-5098 of 10 March 2014, which reads in part:

‘NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Colquitt County Board of Commissioners adamantly urge that Sahal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline should make every effort to ensure that the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline is buried with a minimum of five (5) feet of top cover when traversing agricultural properties to include pasture land, cultivated lands, surface drains, diversions, waterways, open ditches and streams.’

Here is a video of Colquitt County Attorney Lester Castelow informing FERC and Sabal Trail of that resolution at the 5 March 2014 FERC Scoping Meeting in Moultrie, Georgia. He said he had already emailed that resolution to FERC. You can see Sabal Trail’s Andrea Grover sitting in the audience listening, and FERC’s John Peconom sitting at the front table.

Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline Scoping Meeting, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Moultrie, Colquitt County, Georgia, 5 March 2014. Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2014/03/videos-moultrie-ferc-scoping-meeting-ferc-2014-03-05.html#Colquitt-County-Commission-resolution-for-pipeline-depth

Castelow warned about top cover on dirt roads, explicitly mentioning ditches. Where is any acknowledgement by Sabal Trail of this issue, very recently demonstrated by the ditch-digger SONAT pipeline break in Berrien County, Georgia?

Brooks County, Georgia, passed the same resolution in April 2014; see "Brooks urges deep-dug pipeline," by Matthew Woody, Valdosta Daily Times, 20 April 2014. Yet seven months later the Valdosta Daily Times says Sabal Trail told it FERC still is not requiring any more than three feet top cover.

Here is a video of FERC’s John Peconom saying at the 5 March 2014 Moultrie FERC Scoping Meeting that in other states FERC has required more than three feet top cover:

Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline Scoping Meeting, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Moultrie, Colquitt County, Georgia, 5 March 2014. Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2014/03/videos-moultrie-ferc-scoping-meeting-ferc-2014-03-05.html#There-are-changes-that-are-done-to-projects

Plenty of evidence has been presented to FERC that at least five feet of top cover should be part of any pipeline plan in Georgia.

This letter and all three attachments are integral parts of this filing, and I request FERC post all of them on its ecomment system so all subscribers to docket PF14-1 and the general public can see them. The three attachments, once again, are:

• two-page letter of 26 November 2013 from Hunton & Williams LLP

• two-page response of 4 December 2014 from Bill Langdale

• one-page Resolution Number 2014-R-6 of 4 March 2014 by Colquitt County Commission

I ask FERC to get Sabal Trail to come up to speed on what their own attorneys are doing, to remember what is actually happening on the ground in Georgia, and to stop telling newspapers things that are simply not true.

I ask FERC to remind Sabal Trail of all the previous requests for more than three feet of top cover, and I ask FERC to require at least five feet of top cover as part of any Sabal Trail pipeline plans.

And once again I urge FERC to deny any permit for Sabal Trail’s proposed environmentally damaging and hazardous pipeline, which would take significant rights from landowners, and for which no need has ever been demonstrated.

Sincerely,

John S. Quarterman
229-242-0102
jsqferc@quarterman.org

Cc: Joe Adgie, joe.adgie@gaflnews.com, Reporter, Valdosta Daily Times
Cc: Jim Zachary, zacharyjim@gmail.com, Editor, Valdosta Daily Times

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