Citing Rover Pipeline for new environmental violations for releases of drilling fluids into a tributary of the Mohican River in Ashland County, Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency asked the pipeline developer to pause horizontal directional drilling activities.
The state agency, in a letter made public Friday, said it also made the request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has the direct authority to approve or pause further drilling, "asking them again to intervene until Ohio and FERC are convinced that this [horizontal directional drilling] activity can be completed without further impacts to the environment."
The state agency has also asked the pipeline developer to review contingency plans and ensure it is prepared to respond to future releases.
Rover on Nov. 27 defended its activities as already compliant with FERC and Ohio-approved plans.
The Ohio letter came about a week after FERC had agreed to let Rover resume work at four more horizontal directional drilling sites. FERC in May halted some horizontal directional drilling on the project following inadvertent drilling releases into Ohio wetlands. The commission has since allowed work at batches of sites to resume.
Once completed, the 3.25 Bcf/d Energy Transfer Partners-sponsored project is expected to bolster production growth in the Northeast and increase outflows to neighboring regions such as the Midwest and Southeast and eastern Canada.
Rover awaits OK on eight remaining sites
"To date, we have completed 25 of the 49 [horizontal directional drills] for the entire project and currently have 16 in process (12 in Ohio)," Energy Transfer spokeswoman Vicki Granado said in an email. "We anticipate release of the remaining eight drills shortly, and will begin those as soon as we are released."
While a suspension in drilling activity, if backed by FERC, would could lead to further delays to Rover's service date targets, the project's timeline for bringing the second portion of the first phase online by the end of year is already on relatively unsteady ground, as certain key drilling sites along the Phase 1B path remain blocked. Several sites on Mainline B, which is incorporated into the project's Phase 1 scope, have been on pause since early May.
Permission to resume drilling drilling at those Mainline B sites would be a symbolic step forward, but project filings show an estimated range of 31 to 127 days for completing some drill sites, indicating the re-authorized sites may take one month or more to complete, just as weather is becoming more inclement.
Ohio said in the latest incident, construction caused 200 gallons of bentonite-based drilling fluid to be released into waters of the state, specifically the Black Fork, a tributary of the Mohican River close to the areas where a release of 50,000 gallons occurred in April.
"I find it very troubling how only a few short weeks after being allowed to restart operations by FERC in Ohio, we are continuing to document significant violations," Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler said.
Ohio EPA sees 5th violation since drilling restart
Ohio EPA said the notice of violation was the fifth since Rover received clearance from FERC in September to resume drilling at some Ohio sites. "Rover continues to experience a significant and disturbing number of violations because of [inadvertent return] discharges to Ohio waters since Sept. 8, 2017," the agency said.
Energy Transfer Senior Vice President–Engineering Chris Sonneborn swung back Monday, asserting that Ohio had made "egregious and serious misstatements and mischaracterizations."
Ohio's letter "appears to be designed to further your litigation and political strategy given the unfounded allegations you made," he said.
Sonneborn argued that the five inadvertent returns occurred at just two out of a dozen horizontal directional drilling sites and that Rover properly followed plans when those occurred to immediately identify them, cease operations and contain and remove drilling fluids.
As to the Black Fork of the Mohican, Rover argued that Ohio EPA knows the geology of the region is such that if an inadvertent return occurs in an area, it is highly likely to recur. Rover has already followed steps recommended by third-party contractors and FERC, in response, he said.
Weekly construction status reports for the project are current through September 15, leaving few real-time insights to be gleaned on the project's status. However, filings made in early November indicated that several compressor stations were scheduled to be completed by mid-to-late November, which may lead to incremental compression — and perhaps capacity — being added in the coming weeks. More granular detail on the project's status is elusive, however. Restrictions on Mainline B drill sites will continue to pressure a timely startup of Phase 1B facilities.
Since it began service on Sept. 1, Rover's Phase 1A has flowed an average 842 MMcf/d from the Northeast region to downstream pipeline interconnects with ANR Pipeline and Panhandle Eastern Pipeline at Defiance, where it has then generally flowed to the Southeast. Shipments on Rover have declined of late, averaging 885 MMcf/d over the past two weeks after reaching nearly 1.2 Bcf/d during the first week of November, according to Platts Analytics' Bentek Energy.
Maya Weber is a reporter for S&P Global Platts, which, like S&P Global Market Intelligence, is owned by S&P Global Inc. S&P Global Platts analyst Eric Brooks also contributed to this article.
