No, it's not the demon weed, wish it were, but it's along a different line....
"Mass. pipeline plan stirs hope and alarm; Natural gas flow would cross state; Clash on energy, environment" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff June 09, 2014
RICHMOND — A Houston energy company has proposed building a multibillion dollar pipeline that would connect Massachusetts to abundant natural gas from Eastern shale fields, entering the state through this small town on the New York border and stretching across dozens of municipalities into the Boston metropolitan area.
The proposal, by Kinder Morgan, has the potential to lower — or at least stabilize — what are some of the highest energy costs in the nation by opening up new supplies of cheap, domestic natural gas and expanding a pipeline system that is becoming inadequate to meet the region’s hunger for energy, analysts say.
Get that agenda flowing!
Btw, I was told natural gas was supposed to be cheap and plentiful and then I'm given a bunch of excuses for limited supply and high prices. WTF? Fed printing pre$$ really f***ing things up!
But the plan, which has yet to be filed with federal authorities, has sparked fierce opposition in many of the roughly 45 Massachusetts municipalities through which the pipeline would pass.
And ONE is MINE!
“This would be a gas super- highway across the most pristine lands in the state, family farms, old New England towns,” said Richard Hewitt of Groton, which is on the proposed route.
Yeah, dirt-poor dip$hits like me!
While the pipeline has received great attention in communities it would cross, it has gained little notice in the rest of the state.
What they mean is the flag$hit of the region hasn't thought to say much yet. And they will not much after, either.
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More than a dozen municipalities have passed nonbinding resolutions against the project.
Why can't they be binding? Why are they not in our wonderful democracy of self-determination, the beacon to the world, so much so that we must make war on you to bring the benefits to you?
The proposed pipeline would branch off the company’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline, which runs from Texas to the Northeast. The branch would stretch 418 miles from Troy, Pa., in the heart of Pennsylvania’s gas country, to Wright, N.Y., and then into Richmond, eventually sliding across Massachusetts’ northern spine to Dracut.
Well, I suppose they owe us one. Sad I feel more at home there than here sometimes.
Kinder Morgan said it plans to file its proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate transportation of gas, and begin seeking federal permits by October. State and local governments don’t have much jurisdiction over such projects.
It's a kinder, gentler energy exploiter.
The company estimates the pipeline, which it hopes to begin using by November 2018, would create about 3,000 construction-related jobs and generate $25 million a year in tax revenue in Massachusetts. The pipeline would carry enough gas for 1.5 million homes.
How can you turn that down?
Regional energy officials say additional pipeline capacity is sorely needed in New England, which has become increasingly reliant on natural gas.
In Massachusetts, about half of the state’s homes heat with natural gas, while about two-thirds of the electricity consumed in the state is generated in gas-fired plants.
That share is expected to rise as aging coal and nuclear plants shut down. Two of Massachusetts’ three remaining coal plants stopped operating last week ; the third is set to close by 2017. In addition, Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., is to shut down by the end of the year.
I'm all for that and thankful after they leaked cancer-causing stuff into the Connecticut River and then lied about it. Search my blog for more.
As a result, said Gordon van Welie, head of ISO New England, the region’s power grid operator, the state and region are quickly running out of pipeline capacity to provide sufficient, affordable supplies during periods of peak demand, such as winter cold snaps.
In this age of global war.... never mind.
That has led to temporary shortages and spiking wholesale natural gas prices, which can get passed on to customers. “If anything,” van Welie said, “our situation is becoming more dire.”
Northeast Utilities and National Grid, the state’s largest utilities, have expressed interest in buying space to transport gas on a different pipeline expansion project now under federal review.
New England governors, meanwhile, are collaborating to increase the number of energy sources, considering options such as importing more hydroelectricity from Canada, developing wind projects, and building new gas pipelines. Massachusetts officials are quick to point out that more pipeline projects are not a done deal.
“We know that we have a problem that needs to be addressed,” said Barbara Kates-Garnick, undersecretary of energy in Massachusetts. “While we might need more capacity in pipelines, the size and amount is not totally clear at this point.”
Some residents and environmentalists question the need for new pipelines. A study conducted for the New England governors by the consulting firm Black & Veatch found that yet another pipeline would be unnecessary if — after an already-filed expansion of the Algonquin Gas Transmission line — renewable power and energy efficiency can keep demand for natural gas flat.
Shanna Cleveland, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, a Boston-based environmental advocacy group, said that rather than build more pipelines, the region should aggressively pursue energy efficiency and other power sources, such as wind and solar.
But Kinder Morgan is moving forward. “The reason we’re looking at the project in this region is because of what policy makers are telling us is necessary,” spokesman Allen Fore told about 300 in Pepperell.
Fore said Kinder Morgan’s proposal is still in the early stages, and the public would have time to weigh in. Opposition is growing, much of it organized by a grass-roots effort called No Fracked Gas in Mass. The name refers to controversial drilling technique known as fracking that has opened vast reserves in shale deposits in Pennsylvania and other states.
Whadda you want, trains rolling through at night?
“This is my life we’re talking about here,” said Melanie Masdea, who has lived in Richmond since she was 4. “I don’t want a fourth pipeline in my backyard.”
It's more than being a NIMBY as the Globe implies. It's about us all.
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I wish to a wistful sky the trillions in war loot and bank bailouts had come to clean, sustainable energy, and those dollars that did were more than wasted on tax subsidies and tax breaks for well-connected and monied interests. All that time the oil and gas companies got rich beyond belief and the $tatu$ quo $till rules today.
Also see: The Iron Pipeline Between Massachusetts and Vermont
Don't like that pipeline, either.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"US not inspecting 40 percent of higher-risk wells" by Hope Yen | Associated Press June 17, 2014
NEW CASTLE, Colo. — Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America’s drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks.
When your water becomes flammable let me know.
(Blog editor a bit dejected this morning because of paper, so please excuse the sarcasm)
Roughly half or more of wells on federal and Indian lands weren’t checked in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, despite potential harm that has led to efforts in some communities to ban new drilling.
You know, the U.S government has been screwing the Native Americans since the moment the European colonizers organized.
In New Castle, a tiny Colorado River valley community, homeowners expressed chagrin at the large number of uninspected wells, many on federal land, that dot the steep hillsides and rocky landscape.
Like elsewhere in the West, water is a precious commodity in this Colorado town, and some residents worry about the potential health hazards of any leaks from wells and drilling.
Like good, clean, drinkable water is not everywhere?
‘‘Nobody wants to live by an oil rig. We surely didn’t want to,’’ said Joann Jaramillo, 54.
You people!
About 250 yards up the hill from Jaramillo’s home, on land that was a dormant gravel pit when she bought the house eight years ago, is an active drilling operation that operates every day from 7 a.m. until sometimes 10:30 p.m. Jaramillo said the drilling began about three years ago.
Even if the wells were inspected, she questioned whether that would ensure their safety. She said many view the oil and gas industry as self-policing and nontransparent.
‘‘Who are they going to report to?’’ she asked.
Government data obtained by the Associated Press point to the Bureau of Land Management as so overwhelmed by a boom in a new drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that it has been unable to keep up with inspections of some of the highest priority wells. That’s an agency designation based on a greater need to protect against possible water contamination and other environmental and safety issues.
Was about a month ago.
Factors also include whether the well is near a high-pressure formation or whether the drill operator lacks a clear track record of service.
Senator Edward Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said Monday that he will press Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to explain what the department will do to increase well inspections in light of the report.
‘‘The fines Interior Department inspectors can levy on oil and gas companies who violate drilling safety requirements amount to a slap on the wrist — they are nowhere near a sufficient financial deterrent to ensure that companies put safety ahead of speed.
Now there is increasing evidence that potentially dangerous wells go uninspected altogether,’’ he said. ‘‘We need to ensure that the oil industry is paying its fair share to drill on public lands.’’
BLM’s deputy director, Linda Lance, said the current rate of inspections ‘‘is simply not acceptable to us.’’
‘‘No one would have predicted the incredible boom of drilling on federal lands, and the number of wells we’ve been asked to process,’’ she said. Since fracking reached a height in 2009, about 90 percent of new wells on federal land are drilled by the process, which involves pumping huge volumes of water, sand, and chemicals underground.
I'll bet the royalty kickbacks are cents on the dollar in profits as the public pays for the right to have their water polluted by who knows what chemicals.
The agency oversees 100,000 oil and gas wells on public lands, 3,486 of which received the high priority designation.
According to BLM records for fiscal years 2009 to 2012, 1,400 of those high priority wells, spread across 13 states, were not federally inspected. Wyoming had the most, 632, or 45 percent. South Dakota had 1 out of 2 wells uninspected, and Pennsylvania had 1 out of 6.
All the higher-risk wells were inspected in six states — Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and Texas. Many more wells are located on private lands, where state officials take the lead in ensuring they comply with environmental laws, with mixed results.
In interviews, BLM officials acknowledged persistent problems in keeping up with inspections, but said they were not aware of any major safety issues to date arising from the uninspected wells.
Lance said BLM field managers are making judgment calls to minimize the risk of potential harm to surrounding communities.
Oh, I feel so safe now!
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Also see: Xbox technology retrofitted to oil-drilling work
