Juneau Empire by Elwood Brehmer.  Gov. Bill Walker’s proposal to increase the state’s share in the Alaska LNG Project could put Alaska on the hook for more than $14 billion….

 

Alaska Natural Resources Department Reserves Stream Water For Environmental Activists — For The First Time!

 


 

Is EPA A Lawless Agency?

Phil Moeller, FERC, Alaska, Retire, Photo by Dave Harbour and Northern Gas PipelinesWe are sorry to hear today that our friend and former Alaskan, FERC Commissioner Phil Moeller, will be leaving the agency at the end of this month.  However, FERC's loss, in our opinion, will be another organization's gain.  

We offer him our very best wishes.  -dh

We've had significant evidence over the last seven years that the EPA and other agencies reporting to the current administration regulate Americans and their businesses outside of the rule of law and due process.  

The report we provided readers yesterday substantiated that observation.  

Here, today, is an official comment from the Alaska Miners Association.  -dh

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International Business Times by Maria Gallucci.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership could boost exports of some U.S. energy supplies by making it easier to ship and sell the fuel to Pacific Rim nations. The biggest recipient likely would be Japan, which is eyeing deliveries of American liquefied natural gas to replace output from its nuclear power plants.

The 12-nation agreement completed in Atlanta this week is expected to call for the “national treatment for trade in natural gas,” a provision that would lower regulatory hurdles and cut tariffs among members of the free trade pact. If approved by Congress, the TPP likely would require the U.S. Department of Energy to approve automatically all gas exports to the 11 other nations, potentially accelerating LNG exports.

-dh


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ADN by Alex DeMarban.  A new report offers reasons why Alaska would benefit by buying pipeline builder TransCanada out of the Alaska LNG project, including that it would make an extra $7.4 billion over two decades of operation.  

The downside is that without TransCanada, the state would have to pay an extra $7 billion to $8 billion upfront to cover construction and other costs.

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Here are two vignettes from conversations our mid-Atlantic energy expert had today:

·        The bad news: A producer told me today about some monster production from a Marcellus well last month, that netted sixty cents per mcf.

·        The good news: A midstream specialist told me about presenting at the Marcellus Shale Coalition Conference in Philly last month. We had presented there three years ago, so we compared notes. We mentioned that there had been about 2000 protesters outside the Convention Center, in full throat and bearing little similarity to sane people. He said there were a fair number of protesters this year, too. He went out and tried to confront one scruffy young man who was carrying a placard. “What’s your complaint about developing our natural resources?” The response :

Wait for it…

“I haven’t got any complaint. I was just hanging out in the park, and they came and offered me $50 to carry this sign. I needed the money.”  

(So much for dedicated, environmental activists!  -dh)

Our respected, mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas analyst friend tells us today that weather trends do not work in the favor of natural gas prices, as follows:

"Regular readers know our devotion to studying weather patterns, partly because they can have significant impact on energy supply/demand, but mostly because we find it interesting. Every month we forward the monthly Browning World Climate Bulletin. It is without peer both its forecasts and its educational content on the subject.

"For the time-constrained, here is the summary updated fall-into-winter forecast:

"Summary: The strong El Niño is expected to last until spring and fade to moderate through spring. This, combined with the Icelandic volcano should allow rain to return to the South in autumn and produce a cool wet winter in the southern tier of states and a warm dry winter in Canada and the northern tier of states.

"This is not good news for the natural gas market. In fact, it is just about as gloomy as it could get. We should point out that this Bulletin is closely read by commodity traders, given it great track record. This fact is likely a contributing factor to the depressed Henry Hub price (closed at $2.47 today, and the 12-month strip is $2.71).

"For new people to the Bulletin, we urge them to give it at least a quick review. It is a tremendous education about how global weather works. This is NOT a global warming piece; it is about weather."

 

 


Statement from the Alaska Miners Association referring to a Cohen Group report issued yesterday, and about which we reported here:

Alaska Miners Association, Pebble Mine, Cohen Group ReportToday, the Cohen Group released a report detailing its findings from an independent review conducted on the Environmental Protection Agency’s actions at the Pebble Project.  The Alaska Miners Association has issued a Press Release, attached to this email, with its response:

The Alaska Miners Association (AMA) today welcomed the release of the report of an independent review by The Cohen Group evaluating actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the Pebble Project and called upon policymakers to thoroughly review the findings to ensure future investment in Alaska.

Former Defense Secretary and U.S. Senator William Cohen was asked to conduct the independent review by the Pebble Limited Partnership following the EPA’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment (BBWA) and Final Determination that would preemptively restrict mining activities in the watershed, prior to the project initiating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permit review process.  The Cohen Group stated that it undertook the review on a condition of independence, and that Pebble would have no influence on the Group’s and Mr. Cohen’s views.
 
“The Cohen Report is just the latest in a series of findings that EPA had a predetermined plan to stop the Pebble Project.  AMA encourages our elected officials to review the report in detail to ensure that all projects are afforded the opportunity to submit a permit application for comprehensive legal and scientific review,” said AMA Executive Director Deantha Crockett.  “We have consistently maintained that natural resource development projects must be objectively evaluated within our established NEPA process.  EPA’s disregard for the NEPA process has denied Alaskans from learning the specifics of the proposed development at Pebble and has set a dangerous precedent for other companies considering investing in Alaska.  We appreciate the Cohen Group’s findings and hope policymakers learn from them to ensure this is never allowed to happen again in the United States.”
 
In the report released today, the Cohen Group unveiled findings from a review of thousands of pages of documents that and determined that EPA did not conduct its process in a manner fair to all stakeholders.  In addition, the Cohen Group questioned whether EPA conducted the BBWA with a predetermined outcome in mind, observed that the agency consulted with anti-development advocacy groups, and recommended the Inspector General and Congress further investigate the EPA’s actions at Pebble.  Finally, the Cohen Group expressed concern that the agency diverted from a normal permit application review process and questioned why the NEPA process was ignored by the EPA.  “The fairest and most appropriate process to evaluate possible development in the Pebble Deposit Area would use the established NEPA process to assess an actual mine permit application, rather than making an assessment based upon these hypothetical mining scenarios as the justification for imposing potentially prohibitive restrictions on future mines,” said Cohen. “I can find no valid reason why the NEPA process was not used,” he added. 
 
The full report can be found at:  http://www.cohengroup.net/news/reports

 

Decision reached on Stream 2003 Reservation of Water applications

 

(Anchorage, AK) – The Division of Mining, Land & Water’s Water Resources Section has issued its decision on the Chuitna Citizens Coalition Inc.’s three Reservation of Water applications for Middle Creek/Stream 2003, a tributary of the Chuitna River. These applications were requested to protect flows for the purpose of protection of fish and wildlife habitat, migration, and propagation, one of the four purposes authorized by Alaska Statute 46.15.145.

 

The decision was signed on Oct. 6 by Water Resources Section Chief David Schade and published today. The decision grants a Reservation of Water to the Chuitna Citizens Coalition in the lower reach of Middle Creek/Stream 2003. The decision does not grant the applications for the main reach and the middle reach of Middle Creek/Stream 2003.  This decision does not award any water rights or permits for mining-related activities.

 

Before granting a Reservation of Water, the Water Resources Section must make four findings required by AS 46.15.145(c):  “The commissioner shall issue a certificate reserving the water applied for under this section if the commissioner finds that,

 

(1)   The rights of prior appropriators will not be affected by this reservation;

(2)   The applicant has demonstrated that a need exists for the reservation;

(3)   There is unappropriated water in the stream or body of water sufficient for the reservation; and

(4)   The proposed reservation is in the public interest.”

 

In this case the Water Resources Section also received competing water right applications for use of water in Middle Creek/Stream 2003 to support PacRim Coal LLP’s proposed coal mine. When it receives applications for competing uses from the same source of water and there is not enough water to supply all applicants, the Water Resources Section is required to balance the interests involved and give preference to "the use that alone or in combination with other foreseeable uses will constitute the most beneficial use."  (Alaska Statute 46.15.090)

 

In the decision, Schade wrote that he found two arguments regarding the Reservation of Water applications to be compelling. First, the applicant made a compelling argument that the Department of Natural Resources should not allow PacRim to develop a coal mine that would significantly and negatively impact the Chuitna River watershed, and second, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and others made the compelling argument that while the state and federal permitting processes must be stringent, they must also allow for a predictable and complete permitting process that allows all available information to be compiled and presented to the state and federal regulatory agencies.   

“The Water Resources Section will analyze the entire Chuitna watershed and the consequences and protections of the different proposed uses. This review will occur after other mine-related permitting is complete and the best information is available for all the Chuitna water right applications," Schade said.  

 

"I really appreciated the public’s involvement in this process. We received more than 8,500 comments and held a hearing on the objections raised by a number of groups with conflicting views about this decision.  This involvement was helpful in making the best decision possible,” Schade said.

 

Division of Mining, Land and Water Director Brent Goodrum added, “This decision culminates a vast amount of hard work and public participation on these applications. The decision provides for the continued protection of fish and wildlife habitat within in the Chuitna River watershed. The decision also allows for a continued rigorous evaluation of the proposed coal project by state and federal regulators.” He also noted, “This decision is unique in that it is the first time that the State of Alaska is awarding a water reservation on state waters to a private entity.”

 

By issuing this decision, the Department has complied with and fulfilled an Alaska Superior Court order to issue a decision on the Chuitna Citizens Coalition’s Reservation of Water applications. The decision may be appealed to the Commissioner of the Department Natural Resources within 20 days.  

 

To read the decision and related documents, go to http:// dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/water/reservations/chuitna.cfm.

 

Note: Reservations of Water are also frequently referred to as Instream Flow Reservations.

 

CONTACT: David Schade, Water Resources Section Chief, 269-8645, david.w.schade@alaska.gov  or Brent Goodrum, Director 269-8600 or brent.goodrum@alaska.gov

 

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