Senators and Representatives stand up for the people!
June 9th, 2015
WOW! Hot off the press, U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton from Arkansas, Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee, and U.S. Representatives Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack, and Bruce Westerman have all signed on to a letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to extend the comment period on the Plains & Eastern Clean Line Transmission Project.
And here’s their press release:
Federal Lawmakers Request More Time for Comment Period on Plains & Eastern Clean Line Transmission Project
In their press release, they make it easy for all of you to send your request too… so just do it!
Written comments should be addressed as follows: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE-20), 1222 Program, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585. Electronic comments can be emailed to plainsandeastern@hq.doe.gov. [and also send to the DOE assigned staff person, Angela.Colamaria@hq.doe.gov] The Department will make comments available as they are received. Additional information from the Department is available at http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/plains-eastern-clean-line-transmission-line-part-2-application
Please take a few minutes and send them a hearty THANK YOU!!!
Senator Boozman (AR) Contact Page
Senator Cotton (AR) Contact Page
And in the Arkansas News:
BLOCK Plains & Eastern Clean Line docket filings
June 8th, 2015
QUICK — take a few seconds and send a missive to BOTH plainsandeastern@hq.doe.gov AND Angela.Colamaria@hq.doe.gov and ask for 1) an extension of time to file comments, at least to September 11, 2015; and 2) public hearings across the affected area, as they did for the DEIS.
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Hot off the press, here are the BLOCK Plains & Eastern Clean Line: Arkansas and Oklahoma Initial Filings to the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in the Plains & Eastern Clean Line docket:
And to add a little frosting on the cake:
Meanwhile, Clean Line is putting its efforts into ASTROTURF!!! You’d think they’d have a clue how that goes over.
And here’s the Citizens First Congress Champions for Change luncheon, where BLOCK Plains & Eastern Clean Line: Arkansas and Oklahoma’s Alison Milsaps spoke to the crowd:
Arkansas natural gas pipeline fails
June 7th, 2015
A Spectra Energy owned backup line to the Texas Eastern natural gas pipeline ruptured, last Sunday or Monday. It’s a 24″ pipeline, and 4 million cubic feet of gas leaked out. That’s a lot of gas, one article says it’s enough for 60+ homes for a year!
What’s most odd about this is the lackadaisical attitude about reporting this problem, see that last article on the list below. One article reported:
Arkansas River pipeline blowout occurred Sunday morning, cause still unknown
Then within a couple minutes, the turbulence dissipated and disappeared. Metzler said he drove down to the river that afternoon, but to his puzzlement could find nothing amiss. He and others talked about contacting the Coast Guard, he said, but decided against it because “we didn’t know what to tell them. Something had happened, but nobody knew what.”
…
Metzler said there was concrete scattered across the deck of the Chris M, skid marks across the boat’s surface, and handrails and an exhaust stack knocked over. “The concrete still had the form of a pipe,” he said, and parts of it were “covered in soot — I decided this thing must have been on fire.” He is convinced the Texas Eastern exploded. “I believe a big piece of pipe blew out of the river and flew through the air,” he said.
The towboat Chris M, owned by Jeffrey Sand Co. in North Little Rock, was damaged Sunday morning when a natural gas pipeline i… (Credit: Special to the Democrat-Gazette)Pipeline in Arkansas River Ruptures, Releases Natural Gas
Natural Gas Released as Pipeline Ruptures in Arkansas River
Arkansas pipeline shut after rupture
63-year-old gas line that blew had a ‘smart pig’ check in ’12
Officials close Arkansas River after natural gas line ruptures
Gas Pipeline Ruptures in Arkansas River
Natural gas line ruptures in river near LR airport
CHECK THIS ONE: News of pipeline rupture called slow
FBI flying over my old neighborhood!
June 2nd, 2015
Secret Aerial FBI Program Uncovered by 23 Year Old Journalist
Follow up in the STrib about the surveillance airplanes circling around Minneapolis:
Mysterious low-flying plane over Twin Cities raises questions of surveillance
That’s one way to put it.
And the AP Exclusive in the STrib today:
FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US, including Twin Cities
Pat Micheletti has kidney transplant
May 28th, 2015
Fair Use from STribIn today’s STrib:
Micheletti recovering from transplant after brother donates kidney
Says he was in severe pain and thought he had hip issues… whoa… and then went to Mayo to get checked out:
I’ve not dealt with Pat since Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project days, what a protracted sticky and very painful mess that was. He’s probably very glad to be out of that… I remember when he was caught in the midst of an ex parte contact blitz:
Excelsior’s indirect ex parte contact
July 26th, 2007
I will never forget the packed standing-room-only hearing in Taconite when one of the public commenters drifted up the aisle in flowing clothing and brought a sculpture/collage/birdcage(?) as an exhibit to present to the judge, representing the Mesaba Project and what it meant to her, the devastation it would create, and she said she made it especially for Pat (it might have been his birthday that evening). He was sitting near the back, on the center aisle, head in hands, shaking his head in disbelief at this odd presentation. The judge was visibly afraid/concerned, he held his hands up, “stay back” or some such, did not want her to approach with that “exhibit.” It was one of the most hilarious parts of that long mess.