Monday, June 20, 2016

New England senators, witness question pipeline financing practices

Frank Zaski shared this:

Many utilities are locking their ratepayers into long term natural gas pipeline contracts. This is troublesome particularly for proposed, unneeded pipelines. Note clips from this article.
 
New England senators, witness question pipeline financing practices
(06/14/2016)
Large gas pipelines traditionally are financed by utilities and other large customers that determine they will save substantially with lower rates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) observed. “But does it make sense to make home heating customers and small businesses bear the risk when the state lets utilities pass the costs through? Giant pipeline companies should not be allowed to force consumers to pay for these huge uneconomic projects,” she said.
 
N. Jonathan Peress, who is EDF’s gas air-policy director, said the magnitude of new gas pipeline projects under developed combined with what’s been built in the last 10 years could lead to a capacity bubble. It could impose unnecessary costs on energy customers for expensive yet unneeded pipeline capacity, and ultimately constrain deployment of lower cost energy sources like wind and solar in the future, he warned.
 
In Michigan, the proposed Nexus pipeline is 50% owned by an unregulated division of DTE Energy, the state’s largest utility. While only 5% of the gas flowing thru Nexus is destined for Michigan, DTE Gas and Electric is trying to have their ratepayers pay the costs (subsidize!?) for a substantial portion of this pipe in their monthly bills. The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter is protesting at the MPSC and notified FERC.  http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14267826
 
An article (based on the SC post) appeared in Michigan’s largest newspaper reporting this situation. http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/06/13/critics-dte-pipeline-plan-bad-ratepayers/85608948/
 
In Ontario, business, utility and industrial users stated to the OEB that they do not want unnecessary and costly overbuild of the Dawn Parkway pipeline needed to transport additional Rover/Nexus gas from Dawn. They believe the government will mandate reduced natural gas consumption (through RE and EE). They know they would have to pay for pipeline legacy costs as well.  http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/oeb/Industry/Regulatory%20Proceedings/Policy%20Initiatives%20and%20Consultations/2015%20Natural%20Gas%20Market%20Review%20%28EB-2015-0237%29
  
If we are serious about complying with COP21 and substantially reduce GHG emissions, we cannot be locked into 20 year natural gas pipeline contracts, particularly for new, unneeded pipelines. Ratepayers must be made aware of this.
 
 

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Fossil Fumes: A public health analysis of toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry. - Clean Air Task Force (CATF)

 As the United States works toward implementing ambitious climate goals,
methane pollution from the oil and gas supply chain has received
increased attention, and for good reason — methane is a greenhouse gas
87 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the near term, and the oil
and gas industry is the largest source of methane pollution. But methane
is just one harmful air pollutant from the oil and gas industry. This
report sheds light on the health impacts of hazardous and toxic air
pollutants that are often emitted from oil and gas sites alongside
methane, including benzene, formaldehyde, and ethylbenzene. These
hazardous toxic air pollutants harm the health of communities living
near oil and gas facilities such as oil and gas wells, compressor
stations, and processing plants.



Read the whole story and download the full report here:



Fossil Fumes: A public health analysis of toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry. - Clean Air Task Force (CATF)

Friday, June 3, 2016

CAFO Emissions Update

H2S (hydrogen sulfide gas) readings, 1 mile from CAFO. Lenawee County, Michigan, June 2, 2016 at 6:14 a.m.  33110 ppb.  For hydrogen sulfide, the EPA lists 0.7 ppm limits for lifetime exposure, and ATSDR (CDC: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) lists 70 ppb for acute and 30 ppb for intermediate exposures<https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/ehsrc/CAFOstudy/CAFO_8.pdf>.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

CAFO Waste Emissions exceed EPA standards: Memorial Day Wkend 2016 - Monitoring, Reporting, Educating about CAFO Pollution

 Memorial Day Weekend was a toxic one for rural areas of Lenawee County, Michigan. Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions jumped from 1800 ppm to 5870 ppb (Parts per billion) after CAFO waste was spread on adjacent land. This is over 82 times the Acute level of exposure (See image below). Generally, outdoor areas that are not exposed to industrial releases of H2S have airborne concentrations of less than 1 ppb H2S as an ultra-low background level.



Read the full story here:

CAFO Waste Emissions exceed EPA standards: Memorial Day Wkend 2016 - Monitoring, Reporting, Educating about CAFO Pollution