trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/srr5y0bkzmm2n4gikworlw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Rover quickly accepts FERC conditions to restart drilling on $4.2B gas pipeline

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Rover quickly accepts FERC conditions to restart drilling on $4.2B gas pipeline

Rover Pipeline LLC promised "full compliance" with requests by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff and asked for permission to immediately resume suspended drilling operations on the Tuscarawas River in Ohio to move forward with its $4.2 billion natural gas pipeline project.

In a Feb. 4 letter, the Energy Transfer Partners LP company requested permission to resume the Tuscarawas Mainline B horizontal directional drilling by 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 5.

Rover promised to conduct initial background sampling of the ground to "confirm the absence of drilling fluid at each well location" Feb. 5 before restarting drilling. It said post-drilling samples would be collected within 24 hours of completing the drilling. As FERC staff requested, the company also provided a supplement to a revised sample and analysis plan.

In an earlier letter, Rover expressed frustration after FERC shut down drilling at the Mainline B river crossing in Stark County, Ohio. It said a loss of fluids was normal and it was in compliance with FERC-approved plans. FERC suspended the operations Jan. 24 after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency asked the federal commission to do so because of losses of drilling fluids during horizontal directional drilling, a pipeline construction technique for crossing under bodies of water and other obstacles.

Rover's latest request for permission came in answer to a letter from FERC staff Feb. 2. The staff had reviewed information Rover had filed Jan. 28 and conducted an analysis of the geology at the river crossing, and staff asked the company to file additional information before it would grant any authorization to restart drilling activities.

The shutdown of drilling was the latest chapter in regulatory action over releases of drilling fluids on the Rover pipeline project. Leaks in 2017 from horizontal directional drilling operations had drawn the attention of both Ohio and FERC and resulted in suspended construction and delays. Part of the 3.25-Bcf/d, 511-mile Rover pipeline is in service. The estimated in-service date for the full project is the end of the first quarter. (FERC docket CP15-93)