While the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline through the Great Plains has grabbed most of the headlines and remains on hold while President Obama ponders a decision on it, several other pipeline projects are garnering local and national attention as opposition to them continues to grow and questions are raised about the need for them all. Most would re-purpose existing lines that carry natural gas from the Gulf Coast into lines that would supply Gulf refineries with natural-gas liquids condensed from the nation's newly largest gas field, the Marcellus Shale in Northern Appalachia.
One is the Bluegrass Pipeline, which would extend from Pennsylvania to Louisiana and carry 200,000 barrels of natural-gas liquids per day to Louisiana refineries, is causing growing concern in Kentucky. In an editorial, the Kentucky Standard in Bardstown, 40 miles south of Louisville, said in an editorial, "After much consideration, it is this board’s view that the risks,
coupled with the safety history of one of the partners in the venture,
outweigh any of the minimal benefits to our area’s citizens. Among the many concerns voiced by opponents, safety and landowners’ property rights seem to be the most concerning." (Read more) (Map by Williams Cos., a partner in the project)
The biggest question is whether the pipeline company has the right to condemn private property to get the route it wants. It says it does, but its foes disagree. The News-Enterprise, in Elizabethtown, 26 miles west of Bardstown, opined, "Kentucky laws regarding eminent domain allow some property to be seized through a court process if intended for the greater good of society. While it is unclear if a private company can assert that claim successfully under Kentucky law, it is clear that county government has no impact on this matter of interstate commerce and that state government seems unlikely to take it up any time soon. To summarize, the rules are unclear, the government oversight is spotty and the appeal process is non-existent." (Read more) Gov. Steve Beshear declined to put the question on the agenda of the legislature's current special session on redistricting, saying there was no rush to deal with the issue. His son Andy is a lawyer for one of the pipeline partners.
Other proposed pipelines include the Energy East Pipeline, which would convert 1,864 miles of an existing, 55-year-old pipeline currently used for natural gas to carry about 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta to the Atlantic seaboard, and the Eastern Gulf Crude Access Pipeline, a 774-mile project that would carry 880,000 barrels of crude per day from Illinois to Louisiana, Kiley Kroh reports for Climate Progress. (Read more) (Graphic by Paul Horn, InsideClimate News)
Those aren't the only pipelines garnering attention. "Last week, a joint venture between two companies jumped into the pipeline scramble," James Bruggers reports for The Courier-Journal of Louisville. There has been a proposal from Kinder Morgan/MarkWest Utica EMG to convert "its existing pipeline to a natural gas liquids line between northwest Louisiana and the Northeast through Kentucky," and "Enterprise Products Partners, has already begun constructing the ATEX Express Pipeline, a natural gas liquids pipeline that will run 369 miles from Washington County, Pa., to Seymour, Ind." If those two pipelines, along with the Bluegrass Pipeline, are completed, "they could move almost 600,000 barrels a day from Ohio and Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast. . . . It’s not clear now if there will be enough customers to buy it all, experts said." (Read more)
The biggest question is whether the pipeline company has the right to condemn private property to get the route it wants. It says it does, but its foes disagree. The News-Enterprise, in Elizabethtown, 26 miles west of Bardstown, opined, "Kentucky laws regarding eminent domain allow some property to be seized through a court process if intended for the greater good of society. While it is unclear if a private company can assert that claim successfully under Kentucky law, it is clear that county government has no impact on this matter of interstate commerce and that state government seems unlikely to take it up any time soon. To summarize, the rules are unclear, the government oversight is spotty and the appeal process is non-existent." (Read more) Gov. Steve Beshear declined to put the question on the agenda of the legislature's current special session on redistricting, saying there was no rush to deal with the issue. His son Andy is a lawyer for one of the pipeline partners.
Those aren't the only pipelines garnering attention. "Last week, a joint venture between two companies jumped into the pipeline scramble," James Bruggers reports for The Courier-Journal of Louisville. There has been a proposal from Kinder Morgan/MarkWest Utica EMG to convert "its existing pipeline to a natural gas liquids line between northwest Louisiana and the Northeast through Kentucky," and "Enterprise Products Partners, has already begun constructing the ATEX Express Pipeline, a natural gas liquids pipeline that will run 369 miles from Washington County, Pa., to Seymour, Ind." If those two pipelines, along with the Bluegrass Pipeline, are completed, "they could move almost 600,000 barrels a day from Ohio and Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast. . . . It’s not clear now if there will be enough customers to buy it all, experts said." (Read more)
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