House and Senate Democrats on Thursday asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to provide them with a special joint briefing on the environmental practices of a company that’s trying to build a major pipeline in Ohio.
“Our committees have a longstanding interest in ensuring that drilling activities minimize environmental risk and that regulated entities are operating in full compliance with all applicable statutes, regulations, and permits,” top Democrats from both chambers said in a rare request to the commission. “In order to more fully understand these issues, we request a briefing from FERC staff on any environmental risks associated with this project as referenced in FERC’s January 24 memorandum.”
The letter was sent by Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to FERC chairman Kevin McIntyre. Both committees directly oversee the commission.
The company in question, Energy Transfer Partners, is trying to expand its 713-mile Rover Pipeline. But the Democrats’ letter explained that the FERC recently ordered the company to cease its drilling activities near the Tuscarawas River in Ohio because of environmental concerns. FERC is the primary regulator and licenser of major interstate natural gas pipelines like Rover.
Democrats on the letter seem to suspect that Energy Transfer Partners’ water quality management is reason for concern when it comes to building the Rover Pipeline, which traverses Ohio and multiple states to move natural gas from fracking wells.
The Democrats cited a Jan. 24 FERC order instructing the Rover Pipeline and its parent company “to cease the use of horizontal directional drilling techniques in pipeline construction near the Tuscarawas River in Ohio,” according to the letter.
The senators point out that it was the second time that FERC had raised “major issues” over the pipeline’s construction.
In a FERC memorandum to the company, the commission cited concerns about the loss of drilling fluid in tunneling to build the pipeline, the Democrats stated. The FERC memo said there has been “no approach to date” that has been “completely successful” in resolving the fluid loss.
The commission allowed the company to continue construction earlier this month after probing possible environmental effects from the drilling operations. But Democrats remain concerned over the company’s “lack of urgency in addressing environmental risks throughout construction of the Rover Pipeline.”
The Rover Pipeline stated on its website that construction near the river in Ohio has ceased, “however we are continuing our construction activities at all other locations.” It stated that 77 percent of the “horizontal directional drilling” required for the project, with more than 99 percent of the pipeline project complete. It says the horizontal drilling method “greatly minimizes surface disturbance and reduces environmental impact during construction.”
“We continue to work closely with FERC on the best path forward with a priority on maintaining our environmental stewardship and public safety responsibilities,” the company said. “We remain fully in compliance with our approved [drilling] plans and continue to progress at the other [drilling] locations.”
Energy Transfer Partners is known for its role in building the highly-politicized Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, which President Trump ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite approval of early in his presidency.
The Dakota Access oil pipeline gathered national attention during the 2016 presidential election over a piece of the project that ran under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, which triggered protests. Activists and tribal groups argued that the pipeline would lead to an oil spill and contaminate one of the only sources of fresh water for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
