From the Hub

12/20/2014
Today as I talked with Momentum supervisor. Momentum transmission has a project here that is a 36 inch line from Doddridge and Harrison heading into Braxton then, I think, joining existing line, the B&W (Baltimore & Washington) line to Chesapeake Bay. I was told that Dominion plans to refit an existing import facility for export of gas to international market. Also spoke with the logging supervisor. They intend to have all the timber dropped by March 1 in order to get the trees down before return of Indiana bats. They plan to have this project ready for gas by end of  2015. I asked specifically if this had any connection to Atlantic Coast or Mountain Valley. No.
They plan to pile and burn the tree tops and wife and I plan to be ready to complain to DNR, for what it is worth. We also are gearing to raise hell when our road is torn up. They are making a big loop around us, as we told them to take a hike. BTW, our neighbors signed up with Momentum for $5,000/disturbed acre, ouch.
Consol Energy has teamed up with a Texas company to form CONE Gathering. They are trying to buy up ROW options around here. Land man told us that CONE plans on two 24inch gas lines and a 16inch waterline on their ROW. I suppose they plan to move gas to the big lines and move water in and out from well pads.
So, lots of pipeline projects going on.

4/19/2015
Free Nelson Folks met me at Jane Lew about 4:30 or so. We looked at maps of the proposed route of ACP in Lewis. Noted the crossing of I79 just south of the Jane Lew interchange,  followed ACP around Jane Lew and down Broad Run to crossing near Broad Run Church. Stopped at Lightburn Station and Extraction Facility (no security accosted us this time). Noted the crossing of West Fork River just a bit upstream from Lightburn, then stopped and viewed the proposed location of the compressor station at mouth of Hollick Run. Proceeded up Kinchloe Creek viewing proposed route on ridge south side of creek. Detoured up Elk Lick and Left Millstone to view the Stonewall Gas Gathering line clearing in progress, a 100 foot ROW clearing for that 36 inch gathering line. Back to mouth of Elk Lick to view the Consol well pad that has been under construction all winter. We noted the seeding that has begun and the erosion that is in progress. Apparently, Consol has decided not to move a rig in on this pad until market conditions are better. Then proceeded up Kinchloe to Benson and the end of the proposed main ACP line. We discussed how the ACP, MVP, Stonewall Gathering, proposed CONE Gathering and other lines all converge here. Also noticed a new ROW clearing crossing Kinchloe east of Turkey Pen. I do not recognize the color flagging as belonging to any of the other lines with which I am familiar. Decided at this time to head to Weston for Mexican. Busy day for Heidi, Marilyn, and Brad. Brad shot some film, others took a few photos. Thursday plans up for discussion, though they want to head back to Nelson County by around noon.

5/7/2015
FYI and for what it's worth: Spoke with supervisor on the ROW clearing company (from PA). He is aware of permit needs from DEP and from counties for burning and assures me they have the permits. Also is up to date on the regulations on their burning. I think he is going by the letter of the law. BTW, Wife and I went for a drive yesterday evening, looking for smoldering brush piles and could find none; I will check out the close piles this evening and see if they have them extinguished. 
I asked about timelines and he told me they aim to move 1/2 mile a day on average for all aspects from clearing ROW to pipeline to reclamation. He says they are maintaining that schedule so far and aim to have gas in the pipeline by end of November. 
CONE Gathering LLC, part of Consol and Noble Energy, have a lot of options to negotiate ROWs in this area. They are contacting landowners and renewing their option for a second year @ $1000/landowner/year, rather than proceeding with negotiations and construction. The option agreement gave them one year for $1000 with the ability to renew for a second year for same money. No explanation; perhaps waiting for clear market trends and on progress on the interstate lines? Anyway, they have invested a lot of $$ so far on getting and paying for the options. Assuming they exercise their options, they would have to negotiate an agreeable route with the landowners and finalize the deal. The initial plans according to landmen were for two 24 inch gas lines and one 16 inch water line on the ROW at a compensation of $1/inch of pipe diameter/linear foot, or $64/linear foot. Who knows what will come of that. They have options with many landowners in this Kinchloe area.

6/2/2015
Yes; they (Stonewall) are moving right along in our area on the Harrison County line. The ROW going around our place is now ready for ditching and pipeline. Lull here now, awaiting the pipeliners. Has been really noisy and annoying for the past few weeks. Noise, smoke, and traffic have moved on over to Mare Run and into Freeman's creek here now. The crew moving and stockpiling the topsoil from the ROW told me the pipeliners were about 2 weeks behind them. Lots of well permits have been issued just on the Harrison/Lewis County line. Antero has been big in that area. Now Consol is gearing up for lots of drilling. They have a bunch of wells permitted.  Mike Ross, BTW, has a horizontal well permitted in his name just across the Harrison County line from us. Also of interest; CONE Gathering LLC, a collusion of Consol Energy and Noble Energy has put off their gathering line project for a while. They optioned a ROW in the area with a lot of local landowners last year and have extended their option for another year, paying all the landowners involved another $1000 for a second year to hold the option. It would be moving through much the same area as the Stonewall Gathering project if it goes, crossing that line a few times. What we heard from landman (so, take that with a dose of salt) is that CONE was proposing two 24 inch gas lines and one 16 inch water line on their right of way. Seems to be Consol's plan for getting their gas out and frack water in and out as they expand into Lewis County. Remember that Consol now has all of Buffalo Lake in southern Harrison County for water supply and would be nice for them to run pipelines into their drilling fields, rather than running trucks. Interesting Times for sure.

6/3/2015

"Paired Sales" analysis studies relating to gas pipelines (comparing sales of properties encumbered with a gas pipeline easement to an otherwise similar properties not encumbered) are the type of empirical data most land valuation experts (appraisers) like to consider/rely upon in eminent domain cases. The studies can also be strong evidence of the economical costs to property owners who are never made whole because they are not reimbursed their expert and legal fees in establishing a fair value for the easement acquisition. None of the ACP states presently have statutes on the books or case law precedent (like Florida) requiring reimbursement of those expenditures. FERC needs to appreciate the fact (as does Congress) that exercise of the power of eminent domain is not making property owners whole for loss of property and property rights. They are in a worse position after eminent domain than before. Energy companies will realize huge profits permanently using properties of citizens who get but one opportunity for compensation in a manner that falls well short of being made whole.I have a recent paired sales study relied on by an appraiser for Dominion which reflects a range of diminution in value from 29% to 70% for properties encumbered by easements for HVTL (high voltage transmission lines). They are considered less of a negative than gas pipelines for many reasons, the least of which is not fear in the marketplace. Collection of this type of data is very helpful to rebut the many studies undertaken by the energy industry with self-fulfilling prophecies. (This comment was made by an attorney.)

That would be a great kind of study to do or get hold of. Seems that one would need some experience in the real estate business, as well as lots of time. Local realtors to whom I have spoken seem unconcerned about potential loses of value to land owners. The realtors are generally doing quite well right now with rental properties being profitable and with some few landowners cashing in on big payouts. The realtors make out well no matter what happens to you. Studies that I have looked at often just report the average for an impacted region and seem to see little downside, which is little help if you happen to own the property that is affected. Just my $.02 this morning.

6/4/2015
About Buffalo Lake. I think Mike n Ike and some other front men bought it a few years ago. I remembered at the time thinking that they wanted it for frack water supply. Yes, my worry has been that pipes do go in two directions and Buffalo Lake would make a good source of clean water and also a way to dilute waste water before passing it on to the West Fork. 
Recall that Consol was diluting frack water through abandoned deep mines in Northern WV and SW PA and resulted in the killing of Dunkard's Creek in 2009. Specifically, their releases increased the salinity of Dunkard's to the point that the golden algae could flourish and kill everything with the secreted toxins. It took a long time to pin that on them. I do not know how the suit went to get them to pay costs on that. I expect they settled out of court for some modest sum. 
 April; in the batch of photos that I gave you on  the first flash drive I passed on to you are some photos of the Buffalo Lake. Also, I think I put a few photos and comments on our Facebook page. Would have been back in late winter. If you look at the posted signs at the lake, yes, it is exclusive, though I suppose Consol might sell water to other companies. 
Also of concern is the water intake constructed on the West Fork just downstream from Two Lick. Also some photos on the flash drive of that. If/when there is ever any effort to quantify or regulate water withdrawals from public waterways, they will have that facility in place and grandfathered in.

6/15/2015
Timber is cut on entire 60 miles. I think some downed timber has not yet been cleared and burned in south part. Some of northern sections have been covered over. Welding is going on now near Big Isaac/Kinchloe area. Pipe is strung as far as Mare Run, no pipe at Right Fork of Freeman's Creek yet. I looked at all easily road crossings today from start to crossing of RT 33 at Pricetown. All that should be visible from air once you get close. I will download the GPS waypoints to computer this evening and pass along to any and all who can use.

6/16/2015
All; I did snap one photo of Kinchloe Creek yesterday running full of mud. As I was traveling about yesterday, I noticed that erosion gullies are starting to show on some of the hillsides. A flagger on Buffalo Calf yesterday told me that there was a pretty big slip somewhere in first few miles on a section that had been backfilled. Perhaps that will show on the fly over. I will try to get out and document some more of the erosion and such locally.


6/22/2015
As I thought, MVP and Stonewall roughly parallel each other through most of Lewis. Stonewall begins between and a little south of Smithburg and Salem and ends east of Flatwoods in Braxton. At my home, Stonewall is a few hundred feet from my house, MVP is a couple miles west, ACP is a few hundred yards from my property and CONE Gathering is still talking about crossing my property. Horizontal well permits are now on Kinchloe, within a mile of my property. Next round of drilling will certainly be right in my backyard. If things continue as they have, Becky and I will be completely surrounded by pipelines and well pads. Ouch!

7/10/2015
Hi; B and I returned home this afternoon to find our road a mess again due to Precision Pipeline's heavy traffic. Our road has been graded by them on a nearly daily basis since late april and they have scraped off all the compacted rock base down to underlying clay. As it gets muddy, they just grade it off again. Their trucks have run into and closed off the ditches so water now runs down the road when it rains. They have compacted the soft spots into holes and humps that catch water and make a mess. I jump whoever is around everytime I see them now. Got a name and phone number for Precision's Landman. Mike Hampton 715 558 3707. You may have seen him in the local paper handing $5000 check to Pricetown Fire Department and another $5000 to Lewis County Sherrif. I called Mike and jumped him pretty hard over our road and their lack of concern for local citizens. He offered to pass my complaint on to their environmental officer. I offered to call the environmental guy myself, but Mike would not pass on that person's name or number. 
Anyway, Mike called me back a few minutes later to let me know that 2 truckloads of rock will be coming tomorrow and that the grader operator will be instructed to pull the ditches from now on. A little, but not enough. I'll plan to keep bugging Mike as long as his people are bugging me. I'd suggest that you all call Mike Hampton with any complaints about roads, noise, traffic, smoke, dust, trespassing, disruption of your lifestyle, and etc. Please pass this on if you want. I do not have a big email list made up. 
Oh, we also call Gary Weaver at the Lewis County DOH office 304. 269 8948. We jump his case regularly about road conditions and often suggest that, if Precision Pipeline can't keep the roads open, safe, and in good condition for local residents, that Gary has a responsibility to shut them down. I think regular calls to Gary Weaver would be in order from all of us. It is about time for us to also start calling Gary's supervisor. 
Finally, do not leave out your delegates and senators. Make their lives as miserable as Momentum, Stonewall, Precision, and their sub-contractors are making your lives.


7/24/2015
Hi Folks; Here are a few photos of progress on Stonewall Gathering next to our home. As always, I only have a short email list, so share with others and use as you see fit. It took them about 3 days to do the stretch you see in the series of photos. It is rocky. A lot of banging and pounding going on. If you count the joints, you can see that this is about 600 feet of pipe. The yellow wrap is placed to protect the pipe where it passes through rocky sections. They had a crew of two workers doing the wrapping. I think all my photos have a short caption with them that would show in most photo viewers if you scroll across. 
Spoke with a worker from Minnesota this morning. He's been working in the area for 3 years now on various pipelines. He says every year they have gotten more rain than they thought they would or that they planned for; duh! 
BTW, all my photos, up to this recent batch, have been put on a flash drive and passed on to D. I think she is transferring to her computer then passing on to others. If you want to see my chronological documentation of Stonewall Gathering from last fall through now, let us know and we will try to track down the flash drive and get it to you. I think D may have planned to pass it on to M. I hope it gets passed around and does somebody some good. 
Spoke with Mike Hampton of Precision Pipeline this morning again about our road. Since they worked on it last week, the surface is compacted and rutted to the point where our car drags. Mike promised they'd get it fixed. He says they just added another grader to maintain all these roads they damage; that is two graders over the entire 55 to 60 miles of pipeline! Of course, as they move on to new sections of the pipeline, they need to fix more and more roads. I also expressed to Mike my concern that they would not get the road back to original or better condition by the time they pull out. Mike assured my that they would haul in the gravel needed. I pointed out that there was damage that exceeded what would be fixed by a few loads of gravel. We will see how much of the damage to roads is left unfixed and is passed on as a long term cost to taxpayers. Oh, last week when I spoke with Mike, he kind of tried to excuse their damage by pointing out that these roads were never designed for the loads they are experiencing now. I pointed out that anybody could have told them that. I also pointed out that they should have planned ahead and upgraded the roads to the expected loads and traffic before they started and added that as a business expense.


7/25/2015
Yes, they have come a long way from the tree felling going on last winter, though it seems like plenty long time when you are listening to them every day. The wood cribbing will be left behind when they lift the pipe into the ditch. They did the trench alongside the welded sections and then lift the pipe into the trench. Before putting the pipe in, I noted that they pile up loose soil at intervals to cushion the pipe, I'd guess. I have not yet seen the actual lifting of the pipe into the trenches. They must weld some sections together in the pipe, like that section in the photo with the brown joint of pipe that must be moved for the stream crossing.


8/18/2015
CONE Gathering has been signing options for a ROW in this area. The land man told us that CONE planned two 24 inch gas lines and one 16 inch water line on the ROW, if/when they exercise their option. Who knows what actual plans are.


8/19/2015
 CONE is a collaboration between Consol and Noble Energy. This is an intrastate gathering line project. Probably hooking into some of the big interstate lines, though I do not know which lines or if they have other plans. Not sure how much area they are active in or where the lines will run. I do know that they have spoken with a lot of land owners in southern Harrison and northern Lewis counties. Also, not sure if or when they will go ahead and build their lines. They were taking out options to purchase a ROW back in 2014. Option lasted until May 2016 (2 years) at payment of $1000/year for the option for each property crossed. Consol (CNX) has  a number of active well pads and also a number of permits and permit applications in southern Harrison and into Lewis counties. I guess they want to have infrastructure to get their gas out when they do start drilling actively again.


Date undetermined:
Tom Berlin reports on the CONE gathering line in Lewis County: CONE Gathering has been signing options for a ROW in this area. The land man told us that CONE planned two 24 inch gas lines and one 16 inch water line on the ROW, if/when they exercise their option. Who knows what actual plans are.CONE is a collaboration between Consol and Noble Energy. This is an intrastate gathering line project. Probably hooking into some of the big interstate lines, though I do not know which lines or if they have other plans. Not sure how much area they are active in or where the lines will run. I do know that they have spoken with a lot of land owners in southern Harrison and northern Lewis counties. Also, not sure if or when they will go ahead and build their lines. They were taking out options to purchase a ROW back in 2014. Option lasted until May 2016 (2 years) at payment of $1000/year for the option for each property crossed. Consol (CNX) has  a number of active well pads and also a number of permits and permit applications in southern Harrison and into Lewis counties. I guess they want to have infrastructure to get their gas out when they do start drilling actively again. 

Re Stonewall line, Tom says: The ROW agreement that Momentum was pushing for the Stonewall project gave them right for multiple lines and for things other than natural gas. It also said they could sell or reassign their rights to others. I do note that they have placed their pipe very close to one side, giving them lots of room for more construction.