As a Commissioner said,
“It don’t pass the smell test”
that Sabal Trail already bought land for a compressor station
before they even filed for a formal permit.
A Commissioner said
“We have to be more aggressive.”
Well, then, time to
pass a land-user ordinance against pipelines!
Thanks to Jennifer Maloney, you can see for yourself Albany and
Dougherty County citizens and Commissioners
opposing the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline
in
a community effort
at a Dougherty County Commission meeting 15 September 2014. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Dougherty County Commission
Spectra never bothered to check pipeline for corrosion –Spectra employee
So “the pipe will be monitored 24/7”? That’s not Spectra’s actual practice, according to an employee and according to a federal fine.
By fjgallagher for Natural Gas Watch 19 June 2013, Spectra Energy Employee: We Never Bothered to Check Natural Gas Pipeline for Corrosion,
A Spectra Energy employee acknowledged to federal inspectors that the company never conducted key tests for corrosion on a natural gas pipeline that was already operating at excess capacity, according to documents recently obtained by NaturalGasWatch.org.
There’s much more in the article, including this:
Additionally, according to another May 2, 2013 letter sent under separate cover from (PHMSA) to Holeman, Spectra failed to install equipment to monitor whether or not the natural gas pipeline in question was being affected by corrosion and could not produce any records indicating that the pipeline had, in fact, ever been tested for corrosion or that the pipeline was even structurally sound.
So that’s what “the pipe will be monitored 24/7” means. Good to know.
See Item 2 in that Final Order with fines from the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to Spectra Energy CEO Gregory L. Ebel: Continue reading
Spectra backtracks about pipeline incident
Spectra flip-flops on major safety events as well as on whose houses are beautiful and whether Georgia cities can use gas from its pipeline from PCB-polluted Anniston, Alabama to Orlando, Florida. And Spectra was fined recently for violating both federal safety requirements and its own operating procedures, including for pipeline monitoring. Oh, and its natural gas comes from fracking.
Remember Spectra rep Andrea Grover,
quoted by the VDT?
Well, she’s been quoted elsewhere, too.
Mike Benard wrote for
CSRHUB 5 April 2013,
Spectra Energy ‘Backtracks’ on Methane Incident:
First: “Nothing Released …. No Smoke …. No Incident”;
Then Admits: Methane & Hydrocarbons Released,
Spectra Energy Corporation (SE, NYSE) was forced to backtrack on dismissive assertions it made about a nighttime incident at its huge natural gas compressor station in Bedford County, PA, after persistent neighbors and a reporter kept pressing the company and state regulators for facts.
A natural gas compressor station, like the ones Spectra says will be along its proposed AL-GA-FL pipeline, maybe in Dougherty County, maybe in Lowndes County; we don’t know.
Now Spectra could say this was a different kind of compressor because it’s a different kind of operation in Pennsylvania. What kind? Fracking: Continue reading
VDT starts to catch up about pipeline
Spectra used
Dougherty County Commissioner Ewell Lyle’s question
in answer the Valdosta Daily Times about that natural gas pipeline
from Alabama to Florida.
And notice how they’re saying Tallapoosa County, Alabama now, and not
mentioning
PCB-polluted Anniston, Alabama as the source of the pipeline?
The VDT map conveniently clips Alabama completely out of the picture.
How about we clip Georgia out of the pipeline and install solar power instead?
Matthew Woody wrote on the front page of the VDT today, Pipeline intersects area: Sabal Trail project runs from Alabama to Florida,
Andrea Grover, Public Affairs Representative from Spectra Energy, said that initially the pipe was going to be a closed system, but Spectra Energy decided to turn the pipe into an “open access pipe,” meaning that any area along the pipe could potentially tap into the system to either receive gas from or supply gas to the pipeline. Describing the pipeline as a highway, Grover said it will have on-ramps and off-ramps. They provide the transportation of the gas, and once the pipe is in service, communities are encouraged to work with Sabal.
Dougherty County Commissioner Ewell Lyle suggested letting locals tap it less than a week ago.
Note that weasel word: “potentially”. I could “potentially” tap into the two (2) pipelines that cross my property, but decades they’ve been there and that’s never happened.
When asked about the benefits of the pipe, Grover stated, Continue reading
WALB on Spectra about that AL-GA-FL natural gas pipeline
Maps and video about
that pipeline public hearing in Dougherty County.
Spectra does have per-county maps and has finally doled them out.
What did Lee County do to make the pipeline avoid it entirely?
And what about Georgians even getting to use that natural gas?
Devin Knight wrote for WALB Sep 16, 2013 6:14 PM EDT Updated: Sep 21, 2013 6:14 PM EDT, Dougherty County residents ask for pipeline to be re-routed,
“Why not go ahead and put a tap in, or whatever you call it so we could utilize that gas instead of just being a transit through our area,” Lyle said.
WALB didn’t record an answer, but stay tuned, Spectra heard him.
Unfortunately, Commissioner Lyle is also now singing Spectra’s tune: Continue reading
Spectra speaks about that AL-GA-FL natural gas pipeline
One of the promised public hearings appeared within a week, and the pipeline company made all sorts of promises and emphasized how busy and important it is. The pipeline rep caused opposition from a second county commissioner, and inadvertently revealed some possible means of opposition.
Carlton Fletcher wrote for AlbanyHerald.com 16 September 2013, Spectra official discusses natural gas pipeline,
Brian Fahrenthold, the state and local government affairs director for Houston-based Spectra Energy, assured commissioners and landowners impacted by the pipeline that his company will “meet or exceed all safety standards” required by federal officials during construction of the $3 billion project that will, when completed, send 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day into Florida from central Alabama.
“We’re in the early rows of activity right now, and this is a marathon,” Fahrenthold said. “We operate close to 19,000 miles of pipeline in the United States, and we have an outstanding safety record. Almost 15 percent of the natural gas used in the United States flows through our system.”
Fahrenthold answered questions from commissioners and from members of the public during a lengthy public hearing, assuring those gathered at the downtown Government Center Spectra is open to any pipeline route alterations that are viable.
“We keep hearing that there is an alternate route being proposed by some (landowners) in the community, but we haven’t seen it,” Fahrenthold said. “If there is such a route proposal, we’re open to it.”
Well, that’s cute: he says landowners should band together and do the pipeline company’s work for it. How about we start by demanding to see Spectra’s current route maps?
And look at this! Remember Commissioner Ewell Lyle spoke up for closely monitoring the pipeline and noted it wasn’t just a local issue? Spectra listened: Continue reading
Pipeline concerns about Flint River and Floridan Aquifer heard by Dougherty County Commission
Someone reminded her County Commission they can do something about the pipeline, only a few counties from here. At least one county commissioner there gets it that “it’s clearly not just a local issue. It’s a Southeast issue.” And the pipeline company has now promised public hearings in that county.
Dougherty County Chairman Jeff Sinyard
followed up within a few days on his promise to do something.
Carlton Fletcher wrote for AlbanyHerald.com 9 September 2013,
County Commission hears concerns about pipeline,
Dinorah Hall told commissioners at their business session that the proposed $3 billion pipeline would pose danger to the environment and to residents in the path of the 465-mile project.
“It is within your authority to advocate citizens’ safety first by proposing an alternate site for the large, industrial compression station that will be used to push the gas through the pipeline and an alternate route away from more heavily populated areas,” Hall said. “Just imagine the catastrophic impact a pipeline disaster could have on our natural resources such as the Flint River and our underground aquifer.”
Commission Chairman Jeff Sinyard encouraged Hall and other impacted landowners to attend the commission’s work session Monday to discuss their concerns with project representatives.
“It is very, very important that they meet every legal and environmental requirement on this project,” Sinyard said of Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp., which is building the pipeline to supply gas to Florida Power & Light. “We expect them to use professional, non-bullying dialogue when talking with our citizens, and we’re going to do everything we can to see that this project negatively impacts the least number of citizens.”
Local residents are still just NIMBY, but District 4 Commissioner Ewell Lyle said, Continue reading