Inergy’s MARC 1 Pipeline At Crossroads

October 6th, 2011 | Natural Resources News Service | | 5 comments

Exposed Petroleum Pipeline from September Flooding in the Loyalsock Watershed in Lycoming County, Pa. (Photo credit: Carol Kafer)
Exposed Petroleum Pipeline from September Flooding in the Loyalsock Watershed in Lycoming County, Pa. (Photo credit: Carol Kafer)

Severe flooding from Tropical Storm Lee in early September washed away the road that Carol Kafer used to take to work in the rural hills of northern Pennsylvania. Raging waters exposed a petroleum pipeline near the roadbed, complicating repairs and delaying for weeks the reopening to traffic.

At least, Kafer says, the disaster may finally awaken the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the potential environmental risks of a planned 39-mile natural gas pipeline, called the MARC 1, across her county.

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Inergy Lines Up Congressmen and Senators to Fight Locals for NY Gas Storage-Transportation Network

September 23rd, 2011 | Natural Resources News Service | | 5 comments

A struggling Kansas City-based energy company that seeks new investors for $380 million in natural gas infrastructure projects in New York and Pennsylvania is counting on winning two fierce regulatory battles against thousands of opponents.

The company, Inergy, has no time to lose, given what one U.S. senator called its “precariously fragile” construction schedule.

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Desalination: Little Oversight of California Water Boards

September 21st, 2011 | Natural Resources News Service | | One comment

Inside Doheny Beach pilot desal plant

Dana Point, California –When it comes to pushing for energy-intensive ocean desalination projects along the coast of California, the motivation of some water board members is being questioned. Continue reading Desalination: Little Oversight of California Water Boards

DEC Opens Eighty Percent of N.Y. to Fracking

July 1st, 2011 | Natural Resources News Service | | 3 comments
Reversing his agency’s previous position, New York State’s chief environmental regulator now recommends an outright ban on high-volume hydrofracking within the New York City and Syracuse watersheds.

Joseph Martens, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, made the announcement July 1 just before the agency released major portions of its heavily revised rules for the controversial natural gas drilling technique.

Martens, who was appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January, also said the DEC would drop its recommendation to allow drilling within state forests, wildlife areas and parklands. It also seeks for the first time a ban on fracking in primary aquifers.

The proposed new fracking bans represent a major departure from the DEC’s 2009 supplemental generic environmental impact statement.

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