NEES Files Protest with FERC Charging TGP Pipeline Proposal Incomplete, Inaccurate

BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A leading nonprofit organization has filed a formal protest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) charging that the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) Company's application for the proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project is incomplete and riddled with inaccuracies.

The 14-page protest document filed by Northeast Energy Solutions (NEES) requests that FERC reject the TGP application because it is "not minimally commensurate with the complexity of the proposal and its potential for environmental impact."

The document lists more than 50 specific deficiencies in the application for the proposed 188-mile pipeline, according to Vincent DeVito, a partner with Bowditch & Dewey, the legal counsel for NEES.

"Simply, the industry has never witnessed a proposal for an energy project seeking government approvals that is as patently defective as the one submitted by Tennessee Gas Pipeline.  If they filed when being so unprepared to just ameliorate their shareholders' widely reporter grumpiness, they failed on that counted, too," DeVito said.

The protest document requests that FERC consider holding an evidentiary hearing on the TGP application so NEES because of the numerous issues in the application that are of "jurisdictional import" to the Commission. 

Among the alleged deficiencies that NEES cites in its filing are the following:

• Failure to meet the mandates of Waters of the United States Rule, including the failure of TGP to disclose the Rule and its potential impact, including the fact that landowners could be potential liable for fines of nearly $40,000 per day for pipeline breaches attributable to TGP.
• Accurate lists of the names and addresses of all affected landowners, waterbody crossings that may have contaminated waters or sentiments, and watershed and designated surface water protection areas.
• Plot or site plans of compressor stations showing the location of the nearest noise-sensitive areas.
• Complete description of terrestrial and wetland wildlife and habits, as well as major vegetative cover types, that would be affected by the proposed pipeline.
• Thoughtful evaluation of the potential for short- and long-term impact on the wildlife resources and state-listed endangered or threatened species causes by construction and operation of the proposed project.
• Accurate description quantifying the impact on employment, housing, local government services, tax revenues, transportation, and other relevant factors with the project area for major aboveground facilities.
• Full list of any geologic hazards to the proposed facilities.

NEES is a multi jurisdictional nonprofit corporation compromised of energy, land, environmental, end-user, and related economic interests. NEES, through its founding members, represents over 101,000 individuals in Massachusetts and New York who collectively own or hold conservation restrictions on over 46,211 acres of land in the Massachusetts.

NEES also includes municipalities and a state legislator among its members. NEES is an educational resource and advocacy group that works to ensure that economically viable and environmentally responsible energy projects account for its member's collective and respective interests.

NEES was founded to represent its members in providing energy infrastructure analysis and advocacy regarding the economics of energy projects and transactions in the Northeastern United States.                

Contact: Barry Wanger 
Media Relations for NEES
Barry@Wanger Associates
(o) 617-965-6469
(m) 617-835-4187

SOURCE Northeast Energy Solutions (NEES)