Oil Keeps Flowing in Rushed Dakota Access; ETP Making Mess with Ohio Gas Pipeline

In this week’s podcast, Spencer and I mentioned the federal court ruling that Trump and the Army Corps illegally rushed approval of the Dakota Access pipeline. After we recorded the podcast, I read that Judge James Boasberg set a schedule for further hearings but declined to shut down the pipeline at this time:

Oil will continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline through the summer while authorities conduct additional review of the environmental impact, after a judge on Wednesday ordered more hearings in coming months.

…A lawyer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for environmental review, would not estimate when asked by Boasberg how long additional review would take. The judge could still order the line to be shut at a later date following a series of hearings scheduled through the summer [Pete Schroeder, “Oil to Keep Flowing in Dakota Line While Legal Battle Continues,” Reuters, 2017.06.22].

Meanwhile, Dakota Access owner Energy Transfer Partners is making a mess in Ohio with a rushed natural gas pipeline:

Construction of the $4.2 billion Rover natural gas line has caused seven industrial spills, polluted fragile Ohio wetlands and angered local farmers. The company owes $1.5 million in restitution after demolishing an historic house. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is furious and a federal energy regulator has launched a rare public investigation that threatens to delay the pipeline’s scheduled Nov. 1 completion.

“We’ve not seen a project in Ohio with spills at this size and scale, and if we can’t even trust Rover to construct this pipeline, how can we trust them to operate it when it’s complete?” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, executive director of the Ohio Environmental Council [Catherine Traywick, “The Company Behind the Dakota Access Pipeline Has Another Big Problem in Ohio,” Bloomberg, 2017.06.22].

Noteworthy is ETP’s attitude toward rushing its work and taking care of its new neighbors:

Many farmers bristled at Energy Transfer’s attitude, said Matt Strayer, an attorney representing about 200 landowners that have easement agreements with the company. The tight timeline meant that paying for damage was preferable to preventing it, Strayer said.

“They’ll do what they want, and they don’t care who they step on to get there,” said Ben Polasek, an Ohio wheat farmer who owns five parcels on the pipeline’s path. “It’s all about how quickly they can get that pipe in the ground” [Traywick, 2017.06.22].

I’m so glad to have Energy Transfer Partners as a neighbor.