Over objections from environmentalists, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given its green light to building a hotly disputed natural gas pipeline through western Maryland and under the Potomac River.
With one of its five commissioners voting no and another dissenting in part, the five-member commission approved the Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project. The 3.5-mile pipeline, proposed by Columbia Gas Transmission, would carry gas from Pennsylvania to West Virginia, passing through Maryland just west of Hancock.
Environmental groups and some western Maryland residents have waged a lengthy campaign against the “Potomac Pipeline,” as they call it, staging repeated protest demonstrations and garnering several local-government resolutions against the project. Opponents argue that the project’s construction risks harm to the river and drinking water supplies, both near the underground crossing and downriver. They also contend that it will accelerate climate change by encouraging more natural gas production and consumption.
Photo: The Potomac River just upstream of Hancock, MD, where TransCanada’s Eastern Panhandle Expansion pipeline would pass under the river into West Virginia. (Royalty-free photo by Aude, via Creative Commons)
In its 53-page order, the commission majority brushed aside those concerns, saying the company’s plan for tunneling beneath the Potomac addressed the risks and potential impacts of a leak or blowout.
Environmentalists had asked the commission to require Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of TransCanada, to follow a lengthy list of conditions for tunneling beneath the river that the Maryland Department of the Environment had proposed in approving a state permit for the project. But the federal panel declined to do so, saying it would encourage but not require the company to adhere to the state conditions.
The panel’s majority also dismissed contentions that the pipeline would stimulate more gas production using hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”), a controversial technique blamed for instances of drinking water well contamination and other problems. They likewise said they lacked information to determine whether the pipeline could significantly exacerbate climate change by allowing for more gas to be produced and consumed, as environmentalists contended.
But two of the five panel members took issue with the majority on those last two points. Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur concurred with the majority in approving the pipeline, but she disagreed with its decision to ignore the project’s climate-change impacts. Commissioner Richard Glick opposed the project, arguing that the commission had abrogated its legal responsibility by refusing to consider those impacts.
“Climate change poses an existential threat to our security, economy, environment and, ultimately, the health of individual citizens,” Glick wrote. He said the majority “goes out of its way to avoid seriously addressing the project’s impact from climate change” by disregarding the potential emissions of carbon dioxide and methane that might result from increased gas production and consumption.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network issued a statement decrying the FERC decision. Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls said the group is “considering all of our legal options in response to this unfortunate decision.” He vowed to continue rallying opposition to the pipeline and called on Gov. Larry Hogan to deny Columbia Gas the easements it still needs to build the project through western Maryland.
By Tim Wheeler, Bay Journal News Service
James Reeves says
First, fracking has never been found to contaminate drinking water. Accused but always found not guilty. Second, pumping natural gas to West Virginia, one of the biggest coal producers on the planet, will reduce overall CO2 levels by shifting to the use of natural gas from coal.
Disruption of the river is a major concern, but maybe the thought of burning a cleaner fuel outweighs those risks.
I see this pipeline as a compromise. I care about the environment, but I am not an all-or-nothing person when it comes to fuels versus renewables. We are coming closer to economically feasible renewables, but we need a bridge to get their. Most environmentalists, unfortunately, dont’t care if the poor in West Virginia can’t afford the cost of renewables. This is not a case of “Let them eat cake,”
Michael Bitting says
Also Mr. Reeves,
A quick google search can show specific cases where fracking has contaminated groundwater. For example, this one:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-can-contaminate-drinking-water/
Michael Bitting says
For some reason my first post didn’t get published, but it’s a myth that natural gas is a viable bridge fuel when you look at fugitive emissions associated with production. See article here: https://www.economist.com/business/2016/07/23/a-dirty-little-secret