Category Archives: Construction

FERC Rejects State AGs Plea for Project Moratorium During COVID-19 Crisis

From Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance’s ABRA Update #276, May 14, 2020

A May 7 [2020] request by attorneys general of 10 states and the District of Columbia for a moratorium on approvals of all new and pending natural gas pipelines, LNG facilities and related fossil-fuel infrastructure projects during the COVID-19 pandemic has been summarily rejected by the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The AGs’s letter argued that a moratorium is “necessary to preserve the due process rights of interested parties, many of whom are dealing with unprecedented challenges to their health and economic wellbeing from the COVID-19 crisis and whose ability to participate in hearings and proceedings may be accordingly constrained.”

FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee replied on May 12 in a letter to Virginia AG Mark Herring, denying the moratorium request.

Chatterjee said: “Hindering the build-out of energy infrastructure now could have long-term and lasting negative impacts on the delivery of energy in the future. For these reasons, I view requests for a moratorium on energy projects to be short-sighted and impractical. Any step to slow the energy economy is a step in the wrong direction.”

SELC Asks FERC to Formally Halt ACP

Following the 4th District Court’s January 7, 2020 ruling vacating the Clean Air Act permit for the Buckingham compressor station issued by the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board, the Southern Environmental Law Center wrote on January 14, 2020, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking that they formally “issue an order halting all construction of the ACP.”

The letter says, “Allowing continued construction would violate the condition of the Commission’s certificate of public convenience and necessity requiring that Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (“Atlantic”) obtain all applicable authorizations required under federal law before commencing construction. The Commission cannot merely rely on Atlantic’s temporary work stoppage to address this issue. It should issue a stop-work order. ”

Noting that the certificate order mandates that the ACP must have all required authorizations before it can “receive written authorization” to start construction, the SELC letter states, ” At this time, the ACP is a largely unpermitted pipeline—it is missing eight required authorizations.”  The letter lists the missing eight authorizations.

Read the full letter here.

ABRA Alerts Feds to ACP Safety Problems

From Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance ABRA Update #249, October 18, 2019

ABRA’s CSI program has provided more evidence to federal regulators of unsafe and non-compliant construction practices of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).

On July 25, 2019, the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) wrote Dominion Energy Transmission, Inc. (DETI), which is managing the construction of the ACP, concerning trench widths that did not appear to meet specifications and the presence of bedrock and loose boulders in pipeline trenches. The locations were within the first miles of the project in West Virginia. DETI responded on August 21 denying that the conditions cited by PHMSA inspectors existed. This prompted ABRA to examine the reported incidents base upon photographic evidence acquired by ABRA/CSI Pipeline Air Force photo surveillance flights.

In a October 16,2019, letter to PHMSA, Dan Shaffer, ABRA’s Geospatial Consultant, brought to the agency’s attention photographs that contradict DETI’s contention. Shaffer explained that “CSI has identified 25 locations along the route that seem to show large rocks loose in the trench, directly underneath the pipe, incorporated with backfill, or protruding into the trench in close proximity to the pipe. . . . We are concerned that these conditions place the Atlantic Coast Pipeline at a significant risk of damage during hydrostatic testing, increased rates of corrosion due to damaged epoxy coating, or rupture due to landslides or even small slips.” One of the photo examples provided to PHMSA with the letter is reproduced below.

9/19/2018 1122 MP 33.8 -80.203613, 38.908424 5,5 Shattered bedrock lines the trench.

Concluding, Shaffer said: “Our photographic evidence suggests that such conditions are common practice on this project. We feel that these locations warrant additional investigation to ensure that the project is being constructed in a safe manner.”

Both Fine and Stay for MVP

On Friday October 11, 2019, in a consent issued by Henrico Circuit Court, Mountain Valley Pipeline agreed to pay $2.15 million to resolve the lawsuit by Virginia regulators that accused it of repeatedly violating environmental standards during MVP construction. The suit was filed in December 2018 for “violations of the commonwealth’s environmental laws and regulations at sites in Craig, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, and Roanoke Counties.”

The agreement requires the company to submit to court-ordered and supervised compliance with regulations meant to curb sediment and erosion and stipulates automatic fines for further violations. It further stipulates that “MVP, at its expense, shall retain a third-party Environmental Auditor to provide on-site monitoring of instream invertebrate and fisheries resources during all construction activity related to waterbody and wetland crossings and document instream conditions and any impacts to the resources.” Depending on the event, fines of anywhere from $500/day to $26,000 may be levied immediately for future violations.

Later the same day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit put a hold on two permits, the Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement, permits the MVP needs to proceed with construction activities. According to the Sierra Club press release, the Court’s announcement effectively means construction must stop on the 300-mile project.  On October 15, FERC wrote to MVP, saying in part, “While next steps are determined, Mountain Valley is hereby notified that construction activity along all portions of the Project and in all work areas much cease immediately, with the exception of restoration and stabilization of the right-of-way and work areas, which Commission staff believes will be more protective of the environment, including listed species, than leaving these areas in an unstable condition.”

Speaking of the FERC order, David Sligh, Conservation Director for Wild Virginia said:  “The command that Mountain Valley cease all construction immediately is appropriate and necessary to meet the law. However, FERC has previously allowed work that is clearly construction to be done under the guise that it is ‘stabilization.’ The Commission must now act responsibly and clearly prohibit all activities that are not absolutely necessary to protect the environment. FERC must no longer play deceptive games that allow further destruction from a project that cannot protect our resources and may never be completed.”