The mainline of the ACP has been cancelled, so the Supply Header has lost its purpose
From the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance, ABRA Update #285, July 24, 2020
ABRA members and all concerned citizens are urged to file comments request that Dominion Energy Transmission, Inc. (DETI) submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 10 for an extension of time of 1) one-year to address abandonment and restoration issues for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and 2) two-years to complete construction of the Supply Header Project (SHP). Most all the SHP is in West Virginia.
FERC has set a comment deadline of Monday, August 3. For details on how to comment, click here.
The major points that should be made in comments are:
>>> • The SHP time extension should be denied because it has not and cannot be justified in accordance with FERC standards. The project was proposed as being dependent upon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). Dominion Energy clearly stated on the record that “the SHP does not have independent utility and would not be built without construction of the ACP.” If built, the SHP would be a pipeline to nowhere!
>>> • The extension request for the ACP to address abandonment and restoration activities along the project’s right-of-way should not be granted without a public comment period of at least 30-days. It is in the Commission’s interest to know the concerns that the public and affected landowners have about restoration activities and impacts on landowners’ rights in the future.
>>> • Landowners who entered into an easement agreement with Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (Atlantic) should be provided an opportunity to be released from those agreements as a condition of FERC’s granting Atlantic its requested extension so that the landowners can once again utilize their land without the restrictions such agreements placed upon future use. The recommendation for such a remedy made in the July 17 filing by a group of conservation organizations (cited below) should be adopted by FERC.
RECOMMENDATION — “Require Atlantic to promptly contact all landowners where a right-of-way easement exists and inform them that:
(i) Atlantic will release the right-of-way easement within 90 days of a written request from an affected landowner,
(ii) Atlantic will provide the affected landowner with the proposed written release of the right-of-way easement,
(iii) Atlantic will pay the reasonable attorneys’ fees of the affected landowner in reviewing and negotiating changes to the proposed written release of the right-of-way easement, and
(iv) Atlantic will file the final, executed written release of the right-of-way easement in the land records of the appropriate jurisdiction. Atlantic has already committed that landowners will keep the easement compensation they have received.”
FERC’s agreement with this recommendation would be in keeping with the recently expressed interest by Chairman Chatterjee of the Commission being more response and sensitive to the interests and concerns of landowners who are affected by projects being considered by the Commission.
NOTE ADDED: The FERC electronic filing system is extremely difficult to use (obtuse), in which case the submission of hard copy by mail is suggested, sorry to say but necessary under these conditions. DGN
Subject: Supply Header Project (SHP), proposed natural gas pipeline in West Virginia (33.6 miles) and Pennsylvania (3.9 miles)
DOCKET NUMBERS … Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC Docket Nos. CP15-554-000, CP15-554-001, CP15-554-008 and Dominion Energy Transmission, Inc. CP15-555-000, CP15-555-006
FERC strongly encourages electronic filings of comments in lieu of paper using the “eFiling” link at www.ferc.gov.
In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, D.C. 20426.
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Md. 20852.
The comment deadline on this project is 5:00 PM on August 3, 2020.
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A Pipeline to Nowhere? Why?
Dominion Energy Transmission, Inc. (DETI) filed on July 10 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a request that it be granted two additional years to finish the Supply Header Project (SHP), a proposed natural gas pipeline in West Virginia (33.6 miles) and Pennsylvania (3.9 miles) that would have connected existing natural gas pipelines in Ohio and
Pennsylvania with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (see July 17 ABRA Update). The SHP is a project of DETI, not Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC. DETI has been sold to Berkshire Hathaway and that sale will presumably be finalized in coming months.
DETI’s request notes that 31% of the project has been completed, but it fails to cite a rationale for why the project needs to be completed. The stated purpose of the SHP on its website is to facilitate “the transport of natural gas from supply areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to market areas in Virginia and North Carolina,” via the ACP. But the ACP now will not be built. Why, a reasonable person might ask, is it necessary to complete building the SHP?
In a letter filed with FERC on July 17 by Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Mountain Advocates and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Commission was urged to “deny DETI’s modified extension request for the SHP because it fails to meet the Commission’s standard for granting an extension.” Continuing, the letter, written on behalf of a client group that includes 11 ABRA members and others, argues that “the Commission cannot reasonably conclude, based on a single paragraph in DETI’s letter stating the construction status and location of the SHP, that its public convenience and necessity determination remains valid.”
The filing contends that “a request to proceed with only the SHP would require additional proceedings and a new authorization from the Commission.” To bolster that point, the letter includes as an attachment minutes of an April 2015 meeting that representatives from FERC and the Army Corps of Engineers had with Dominion in which the company explicitly stated that “the SHP does not have independent utility and would not be built without construction of the ACP.”
FERC has invited comments from the public on the DETI request by Monday, August 3. See the Action Alert below for more on this and the importance of ABRA organizations and activists filing comments.
SOURCE: Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA Update #285 – July 24, 2020)
Subject: FERC comment period for ACP certificate renewal modification ends Monday, August 3rd at 5pm
For anyone planning to submit a comment to FERC about Dominion’s modified renewal request, a reminder that the deadline is this Monday, August 3 at 5pm.
You can find resources below to help with sending comments:
1. Submit a comment through Sierra Club
https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/National?actionId=AR0276802&id=70131000001Lp1FAAS
2. Information from Friends of Nelson on how to submit
http://friendsofnelson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AdditionalInformationForAffectedLandowners-july2020.pdf/
3. Link to FERC’s quick commenting feature
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx
This is in reference to Docket Nos. CP15-554-000, CP15-554-001, & CP15-555-000
Take care and thanks!
–
Jessica Sims
Community Outreach Coordinator, Virginia Chapter
Stop the Pipelines Campaign