A board of high-ranking Maryland officials on Wednesday rejected a proposed pipeline across the western part of the state that would carry natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to West Virginia.
The Board of Public Works voted 3-0 against an easement for TransCanada’s pipeline. It would run under the Potomac River near Hanover, Maryland, and extend 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) from Columbia Gas’ network in Pennsylvania to Mountaineer Gas’ distribution system in West Virginia.
Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, cited testimony that the pipeline could bring Maryland environmental problems without economic benefits. The board also includes Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, a Democrat.
Environmentalists and residents have been vocal in opposing the pipeline.
“Marylanders and many of their leaders have consistently opposed the threats fracked gas pipelines pose to our health, water, climate, and communities,” said Josh Tulkin, Sierra Club Maryland chapter director.
The board’s vote came after more than 60 lawmakers sent a letter urging board members to reject the proposal. The lawmakers noted that Maryland approved a law, which Hogan signed in 2017, to ban the hydraulic fracturing drilling process known as fracking in Maryland. The process is used to extract natural gas. Maryland was the first state where a legislature voted to bar the practice that actually has natural gas reserves.
“Given that Maryland has banned fracking, it defies our state’s existing energy policy to bring the same public health risks to our residents by way of a pipeline,” the letter said. “Moreover, enabling fossil fuel production runs counter to our state’s goals of increasing renewable energy production.”
The letter, which was sent this week, also noted that the pipeline would affect at least 10 wetlands and 19 streams, in addition to the Potomac River.
While the board delayed a vote on the easement at its last meeting, Hogan said the unanimous vote would have happened without the letter from lawmakers.
“It had nothing to do with any letter from the legislature,” Hogan said at Wednesday’s board meeting.
Anne Havemann, an attorney for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said she hopes the board’s vote marks an end to the proposal.
“We’ll see if (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) gets involved or the courts get involved, but for now it’s a welcome delay and we hope a permanent end to this pipeline,” Havemann said shortly after the vote.
A company building a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia has agreed to pay $122,350 for environmental violations.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail cited a consent order made public Monday in reporting that Columbia Gas Transmission agreed to pay the amount to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for 16 violations while building the Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline.
Columbia Gas Transmission is a subsidiary of TransCanada and will operate the Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline when it’s completed.
TransCanada spokesman Scott Castleman said the company implemented measures to address each environmental issue as it arose and has accepted the draft consent order.
The pipeline is one of many being built in the region and would run 170 miles (274 kilometers) from Marshall County to Wayne County.
A natural gas pipeline explosion that occurred last month in Marshall County was likely caused by land subsidence, or movement, according to federal regulators.
In a notice of proposed safety order, issued to TransCanada Corp. this week, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said shifting land likely triggered the explosion of the Leach Xpress pipeline.
“The preliminary investigation suggests that the failure was the result of land subsidence causing stress on a girth weld,” PHMSA said.
The explosion occurred during the early hours of June 7 near Moundsville, West Virginia. No injuries or damage to private property were reported, but a fireball burned for several hours after an 83-foot section of the pipeline burst into flames, releasing more than $430,000 worth of natural gas.
TransCanada’s own incident report released this week states the pipeline failed due to a landslide, but not one caused by heavy rainfall.
The full federal investigation is still ongoing, but PHMSA’s proposed safety order states TransCanada should conduct extra surveillance and analysis on a 50-mile section of the pipeline that is buried in terrain geologically similar to where the explosion took place.
TransCanada is the parent company of Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, which operates the 130-mile pipeline that runs from Majorsville, West Virginia to Crawford, Ohio. The pipeline went into operation in January and was not running at full capacity when the explosion occurred.
In the order, the federal safety agency also said it identified six other locations where similar geography could cause the pipeline to fail. It outlines a series of additional corrective actions the company should undertake.
TransCanada has 30 days to review the order and request consultation with PHMSA regarding the proposed suggestions.
Lindsey Fought, a spokeswoman for the company said an email TransCanada had reviewed the notice.
“The investigation into our pipeline incident in Marshall County, West Virginia, on June 7, 2018 remains ongoing and we are fully cooperating with PHMSA to determine the root cause,” she stated. “Initial findings noted in the PHMSA Proposed Safety Order, as well as our internal findings, point to land subsidence as the cause of the rupture.”
This story was updated on 07/13/18 to include comment from TransCanada.
A crater in the earth following a Marshall County natural gas pipeline explosion as seen from the air.
No one was injured when the TransCanada natural gas pipeline exploded today in Marshall County, touching off flames that could be seen for miles.
Marshall County emergency manager Tom Hart said the state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the cause of the explosion, which occurred at the end of Nixon Ridge in the southwest corner of the county.
A few residents left the area, but there was no mandatory evacuation order, Hart said. Emergency officials were alerted of the explosion at about 4:20 a.m.
Hart said pipeline operators were able to shut down the line remotely.
In a statement, a TransCanada representative said: “Our first priority is to protect the public and the environment. Emergency response procedures have been activated and the impacted area of pipeline has been isolated at this time.”
All summer long, pipeline protesters have been camped along the Potomac River in Maryland and West Virginia. They don’t want to see a 3.5 mile long TransCanada natural gas pipeline built underneath the river. Supporters argue the line is critical to expanding natural gas resources to businesses and homes in the growing Eastern Panhandle.
Of the three outermost counties of the Eastern Panhandle, only Berkeley has access to natural gas as a utility source. That gas comes from West Virginia’s largest gas distribution company – Mountaineer Gas based in Charleston.
Mountaineer has over 220,000 customers throughout the state. It’s located in 49 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, and it maintains over 6,000 miles of distribution pipeline.
The company wants to expand distribution lines to Jefferson and Morgan counties. To do that, it’s relying on the completion of the TransCanada line in Maryland which would hook up to Mountaineer’s 22.5 miles of new line slated to begin construction in early 2018. The state’s Public Service Commission has already approved the first phase of the project.
But sections of that 22.5 mile pipeline will travel through private property – like this 600 acre farm owned by the Kesecker family in Berkeley Springs.
“It’s just very heartbreaking to know that you thought you owned something, and, you do until somebody else wants it, and they come in and they take it away from you,” said landowner Patricia Kesecker.
Kesecker and her husband raised their family in Berkeley Springs. Their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all live nearby.
The Keseckers farm extensively and the property has been in the family for over 80 years. They also rent portions of land to about ten other people. For the past year the family has been very vocal about their disapproval of the Mountaineer Gas’ Eastern Panhandle Pipeline project.
In June, they were taken to court by Mountaineer Gas, and the Keseckers lost. Mountaineer obtained the right of eminent domain. This means the company is allowed on the Kesecker’s property without prior consent, but the company must compensate the family.
The Keseckers say, however, they don’t want money.
“I mean, we’re at the age, yeah, money would be nice, but it’s not nice to have to see our farm destroyed and it’s not worth it. There’s too much heritage, too much work that’s been done on this farm; blood, sweat, and tears.”
The family plans to appeal the court decision.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Kesecker in her pickup truck as she shows the land she and her husband have owned and farmed for decades.
Kesecker shows me the vast expanse of acreage from her pickup truck. She points to an 8 to 10 acre field slated to host the pipeline. She says if the line goes through her property, it’ll disrupt corn and hay farming operations. Her family and tenants are also concerned about possible explosions or gas leaks.
“Why should they have our property and use it to what they want to do, and we’re paying the taxes still on it, and the insurance on our farm is on it? If it blows up, we wouldn’t have enough money to put back what they destroy or whoever they might kill in the process if you go across it with a tractor or something,” Kesecker said.
The 10-inch, steel, low-pressure pipeline would be buried at least four feet underground. Mountaineer Gas would clear and maintain a 50-foot right of way.
Senior Vice President of Mountaineer Gas, Moses Skaff says it’s rare that his company has needed to use eminent domain to secure pipeline pathways. He says the case with the Keseckers was one of only two for the Eastern Panhandle Pipeline. Skaff says out of 146 land tracts, 138 have been secured through deals with landowners.
Skaff also points out that Mountaineer has been present in the Martinsburg area for over 50 years without any reported safety issues.
“We have a 24-hour monitoring system of all of our distribution lines that provide alerts to our corporate office here in Charleston, which is manned 24-hours,” Skaff noted, “We’re mandated by West Virginia Pipeline Safety to conduct surveys of all of our pipeline, meaning we actually walk pipelines to ensure the integrity of those pipelines.”
Skaff reports less than one significant incident a year occurs along their distribution system. He says his company also trains local emergency responders how to deal with incidents. He notes landowners near the pipeline also have the option to tap-in for access to natural gas.
John Reisenweber is the Executive Director of the Jefferson County Development Authority, and like residents of Morgan County, he doesn’t have access to natural gas. Reisenweber is a landowner, too, and says he understands concerns over eminent domain.
“If we didn’t at times use eminent domain, we wouldn’t get anything done,” Reisenweber said, “We wouldn’t be able to build roads, I mean, this route 9; go find somebody who’s doesn’t like route 9. Go find them. Well, they were here a few years ago, and some of that was eminent domain. But they are compensated for it. They may not like it, but you have to look at what’s in the greatest interest of the community at large, and we believe that this project is in the greatest interest of the community at large, cause we do believe it’ll be done safely, and we do believe it’ll allow us to grow the economy.”
Back at the Kesecker farm, the family is hopeful their appeal will be heard in court. They also hope the shorter TransCanada line is not built. They say if it isn’t, their property would be spared since the Eastern Panhandle Pipeline project would have to be reworked.
Mountaineer Gas says the TransCanada line is vital to the future of natural gas in the Eastern Panhandle.
