If you thought Sabal Trail was a one-off pipeline, think again. Kinder Morgan wants to build another pipeline conveniently past Elba Island LNG through Savannah and Jacksonville. Apparently it’s not actually for methane, but it’s still another fossil fuel boondoggle among many that local and state governments and NGOs need to proactively deal with instead of each type one by one.

Chip Harp, Valdosta Today, 9 February 2015, New Nat Gas Pipeline to Fuel Coast,

SAVANNAH — Kinder Morgan has announced plans to construct a 360-mile pipeline to connect Coastal Georgia with a major existing pipeline running across the Southeast.

The pipeline will run parallel with the Savannah River and bring gas, diesel and ethanol from Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina to Savannah and Jacksonville and other related desitinations.

The Palmetto Pipeline, as it is being called, will hook up with existing pipelines to move 167,000 barrels a day of refined petroleum products from Baton Rouge, Collins and Pascagoula, MS, and Belton, SC to North Augusta, Savannah and Jacksonville.

Kinder Morgan filed paperwork with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to reports, suggesting the pipeline will positively impact Savannah and Jacksonville. Company spokesmen said it should decrease prices to consumers now only serviced by truck or marine.

It’s FERC Docket OR15-13, started 23 January 2015, and so far there are no comments nor motions to intervene.

This is not news to the pipeline industry. Dennis Fandrich, Pipeline Conference, 5 August 2014, Kinder Morgan Announces Open Season for $1 billion Southeast US Palmetto Project,

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. today announced yesterday the launch of a binding open season to solicit commitments for the proposed Palmetto Project, which offers shippers a new refined products service to move gasoline, diesel and ethanol from Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina to points in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The approximately $1 billion project has a design capacity of 167,000 barrels per day and would consist of a segment of expansion capacity that Palmetto would lease from Plantation Pipe Line Company between Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Belton, South Carolina. A new 360-mile pipeline from Belton, South Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, would also be constructed as part of the project.

Here’s Kinder Morgan’s own Palmetto Project pipeline page,

Kinder Morgan is proposing the Palmetto Project, which will allow the company to offer a new service to move refined petroleum products from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Collins and Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Belton, South Carolina to North Augusta, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida. The project will have a design capacity of up to 167,000 barrel per day and will consist of a segment of expansion capacity that Palmetto will lease from Plantation Pipe Line Company between Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Belton, South Carolina. A new 360-mile pipeline from Belton, South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida would also be constructed as part of the project.

And here’s the Elba Island corporate connection spelled out. Mary Landers, SavannahNow, 9 February 2015, Pipeline to bring Savannah gas, diesel and ethanol from Gulf,

The parent company of Elba Island’s liquefied natural gas facility is planning a new 360-mile pipeline that will parallel the Savannah River and bring gas, diesel and ethanol from Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina to Savannah and Jacksonville, among other destinations….

Plans call for a 16-inch and 20-inch diameter pipeline extending from Belton, S.C., to Jacksonville and 3.8 million cubic feet of “breakout tankage.”

The Savannah Riverkeeper learned of the pipeline plans from Burke County residents who received notices on their doors recently telling them they would be approached for purchasing rights-of-way.

“My main concern is that this is greatly increasing the chances for spills and issues throughout the entire basin,” said Tonya Bonitatibus. “North Augusta already has a pipeline, so this is not necessary, and the potential for damage is far too great. We must start moving in a direction of sustainable energy sources, and this is a move completely in the wrong direction.”

For some in Savannah, any activity involving Kinder Morgan brings an unwelcome reminder of a nearly two-year battle with its predecessor at the Elba Island LNG facility, El Paso Corp., which sought permission to reopen a truck-loading facility there in 2010.

The City Council held that the company had promised not to truck LNG through the city, and officials were miffed when the company didn’t inform them directly about its plans to haul up to 58 tanker truckloads a day across DeRenne Avenue. El Paso ultimately dropped that plan in early 2012 as the production of domestic natural gas soared and the market for imported LNG dried up.

Kinder Morgan took over the facility that May and has been working with regulators on plans to add export capacity to Elba. FERC is now preparing an environmental assessment of the project.

The pipeline project, which does not involve natural gas, is separate from the Elba expansion.

Is it separate? If the Palmetto Pipeline can carry various kinds of “refined petroleum products”, what stops it from carrying methane?

In any case, it’s yet another fossil fuel boondoggle that needs to be dealt with. Mary Landers, Augusta Chronicle, 8 February 2015, Gas pipeline to expand along Savannah River,

Pam Miller, a local activist who co-founded Citizens for a Safe Secure Savannah to keep those trucks off DeRenne, said she wants to know what will happen to the gas, diesel and ethanol that’s not used in Savannah but transported out from the terminal.

“Where does the excess go and how does it go?” she asked. The city should be proactive, rather than leaving hazmat routes to the state, she said.

“It’s honestly something that should have been addressed when we dealt with LNG,” she said. “The city still has not done anything to deal with hazardous materials or dedicating any roads. There was some thought that once the Truman (Parkway) opened that would happen there. But once LNG was off the table they’re not thinking.”

Fracking, pipeline, and LNG export companies all coordinate in conferences, blogs, “open seasons”, etc. Pipeline opponents are starting to do the same.

-jsq

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