Fact Sheet for Dominion New Market Project

On September 18th, FERC issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment
for the proposed Dominion New Market Project, request for comments on environmental issues,
and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting re Dominion Transmission, Inc under CP14-497.

http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/search/intermediate.asp?link_file=yes&doclist=14252732

• We are now on pubic comment period on the EA,
  which ends Oct 20, 2014
• There will be a single FERC scoping hearing,
  Wed Oct 8th, 7:30pm Georgetown Town Hall (Madison Co NY).
• It is URGENT to get a large turnout for this.

There are very few people commenting on this docket.

Would be great to get some more eyes on this!!

Quick facts and summary:

• FERC docket is CP14-497
  
  You can view the entire docket, including all the comments and the application
  by clicking on this link:
  
  (NOTE: CORRECTED LINK 10-5-2014 9:45 PM)http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/search/eSave.asp?cnt=200&fd=1/28/2010&td=3/7/2030&cat=submittal,issuance&dkt=CP14-497&ft=fulltext&dsc=description
  
  See above map for the approximate route and facilities description.
• 33,000 HP of new compression proposed
• 11,000 HP at Horseheads Chemung Co
  (53,949 tons per year in CO2-e GHG emissions)
  
  
• 10,880 HP at DeRuyter Madison Co.,   (54,351 tpy)
  
  
• 11,113 HP at Brookman Corners, Fort Plain Montgomery County  (96,683 tpy)
• Total ~205,000 tpy CO2-e GHG emissions.
• A coal train 1 mile long, 100x 100 ton cars = 10,000 tons.
• So 205,000 tons is a coal train 20.5 miles long.
• EPA's Tailoring Rule makes 100,000 tpy the threshold for a "major source". 
• Since none of these exceeds 100,000 tpy, then this project is not considered a "major source",
  even though cumulatively, it does!
  
  This project should be considered a MAJOR EMISSIONS SOURCE
  and be subject to title V permitting requirements.
• More info:
  
• http://www.epa.gov/nsr/ghgpermitting.html
• http://www.epa.gov/nsr/actions.html#may10
  
• FERC has two parallel paths,
• the FULL EIS (Environmental Impact Statement)
• and the EA (Fast track).
• This project is being fast tracked.
• Maya van Rossum of Delaware Riverkeeper says this is an illegal abuse of NEPA,
  as NEPA requires an EA in EVERY case, which SHOULD determine if a full EIS is necessary
• However when FERC pre-decides on an EA, this almost always means they will not do a full EIA (which can take years).
• DEMAND that a full EIS be made
  
• FERC and Dominion are hiding critical safety information from the public, i.e., MAOP and other details
  about the existing pipeline which prevent the public from independently verifying safety information.
  
  YOU SHOULD DEMAND that FERC make this critical safety information available:
  
  MAOP, as well as operating pressure before/after the new compressors are added,
  existing pipe specification? Is it ERW pipe? Details about cathodic protection-- has it been
  maintained for 50 years? Inspection details, pigging history, etc. Yield strength of the pipeline,
  and year constructed. Is an Alternation MAOP being used? What is the temperature of the gas?
• This pipeline was constructed in the early 1960's. At that time, the most common type of pipe in use was called LF-ERW (Low frequency, Electrical Resistance Welding). This type of pipe is well known to have defective welds which are subject to failure over time.
• The federal formula for calculating Class, Potential Impact Radius, and High Consequence Areas
  are grossly deficient. Class only considers 660' from the centerline, but pipelines of this size
  when they rupture typically have an impact radius of 1,000 to 1,400 ft.
  
  The potential impact radius (PIR) formula used has been off by a factor of 2.5x, and up to 595'ft.
  
  This means the calculation for who lives in a High Consequence Area is grossly incorrect.
  Many people are not counted, and many lives are thus placed into jeopardy, since rural areas
  ("Class 1") are screwed in federal safety regulations a dozen different ways.
• What is the safety and compliance record of the operator? This should be in the docket on
  ON THE RECORD (required that FERC consider this under the Natural Gas Act)
• In dozens of projects, the public have been asking FERC to consider upstream impacts (eg, widespread  water contamination near fracked gas wells) and downstream impacts (radon gas in homes),  however FERC has defied these requests.
• FERC has been ordered by a panel of 3 federal judges in "Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. FERC"
  to a) consider cumulative impacts as required by NEPA, and to b) stop segmenting projects in violation of NEPA.  However FERC is defying the federal courts and the law.
• This project should be considered a segment of a massive buildout of fracked gas infrastructure in the Northeast. Here is a list of SOME but not all of these projects. NOTE that the environmental impacts of all of these are being considered INDIVIDUALLY, and there are NO cumulative impact analyses being done. http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2014/09/ferc-master-docket-list-ne-pipeline-lng.html
• It is NOT TOO LATE to intervene in this project!
  
  Only intervenors will have a right to sure FERC or the applicant  in the future.
  I urge ANYONE who lives in the region,  or is even remotely impacted or
  concerned about the regional impacts this project will bring to intervene. 
  
  Here is a video which shows how to intervene step-by-step BUT IS FOR A DIFFERENT
  PROJECT, so you will have to substitute the docket for this project:
  
  Use this: CP14-497
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiNnaJ6Zp3E
• Here is a link to a video series about this project.
  Some general info about pipelines are included.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvh7SLHPHPk&list=PLo1TDxDrIRYrjGZwK9pdDJd9n7ohP_78E&index=1
• If you are using a mobile device, this link may work better to show you all the segments:
  http://tinyurl.com/DominionNewMarketPlaylist

IT IS CRITICAL that all of your concerns be made during the comment period,

and that we get a big turnout.

You can use FERC's eComment to make a quick comment on the docket without
registration: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp