Friday, October 26, 2012

LNG: Ooops! Downeast LNG stumbles again.



Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

888 First Street, NE Room 1A

Washington, DC 20426

eFiled on 2012 October 19


Re: Downeast LNG, Docket Nos. CP07-52-000, CP07-53-000, and CP07-53-001 Inappropriate Boilerplate Submission to FERC


Dear Ms. Bose,

On 2012 October 12 Downeast LNG filed responses to FERCʼs September 11 & 13 Information Requests (Accession Nos. 20120911-3001 and 20120913-3024). Included in those requests were inquiries into the proposed 20-foot-tall vapor fence specifications, and into how Downeast LNG would maintain those vapor fences.

In Accession No. 20121012-5103(27695846), in the very first paragraph, under 1.0 Purpose/Applicability, Downeast LNG claims it would install its vapor fence to ensure that natural gas concentrations of a certain level are contained within the EcoEléctrica facility.




Downeast LNG has obviously and carelessly pasted boilerplate text from a completely unrelated LNG project into its response to FERC. The EcoEléctrica LNG terminal near Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, is very different from the proposed Downeast LNG terminal in Robbinston, Maine. The settings and safety issues are different.


It is an offense to FERC, to the LNG industry, and to public safety that Downeast LNG has confused its

own application with the conditions at the Puerto Rico EcoEléctrica LNG terminal.


Save Passamaquoddy Bay suggests that Downeast LNG has demonstrated a lack of professional competence in its application, and that the applications be denied.

Save Passamaquoddy Bay

A 3-Nation Alliance

(US • Passamaquoddy • Canada)

PO Box 222 • Eastport, ME 04631

(207)853-2922

info@SavePassamaquoddyBay.org

www.SavePassamaquoddyBay.org

Respectfully,
Robert Godfrey

Researcher & Webmaster





LNG: Ooops! Downeast LNG stumbles again.

Friday, October 19, 2012

MYSTERY: And the Mystery Vine on Tim Foulkes' Mountain is ...



Sean Blaney wrote:

Hello Tim and Rick,


This is an exceptionally robust colony of Fallopia cilinodis (=Polygonum cilinode), Fringed Bindweed. The shape of the basal lobes of the leaves (truncate, or sort of “squared off”) is a useful distinction in comparison to Fallopia scandens (=Polygonum scandens). The latter species is relatively uncommon in NB, being found only in quite rich floodplain soils and very rarely along the margins of saltmarshes on the Northumberland shore. The bright red stems (which are not always present, especially when the plant is in low light) are useful in distinguishing the plant from non-flowering Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium), which is remarkably similar in general growth form and leaf shape. A close examination of the nodes, where the leaves join the stem, would reveal a fringe of hairs encircling the stipular sheath (called an ocrea in this family). That is also distinctive for the species from all other similar plants, and it is what gives the species its common and scientific names. Fringed Bindweed is a generally fairly common to common species throughout the province and is native to our region. It occurs in a variety of habitats but does well in clearcuts, forest openings and floodplains.


Cheers,

Sean Blaney


Sean Blaney, Botanist & Assistant Director

Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre

PO Box 6416, Sackville, NB. E4L 1G6. 

Photo Credit: Tim Foulkes





MYSTERY: And the Mystery Vine on Tim Foulkes' Mountain is ...

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

MYSTERY: Strange Vine on Tim Foulkes' Mountain - Can you identify it?





Here is something new to be seen in the wilderness on Tim Foulkes’ Mountain (aka Simpson Hill.) located just starting up Yellow Jacket trail from branch to Cedars trail.


The first photo is an overall view of the vine that has “taken root” near the broken top of a very tall  (30 ft) stump of an old poplar tree (second photo) which is leaning over so that the tendrils of  the vine have descended to the ground along the trunk of a fir tree, last photo.


These are not Tarzan compatible but could be fun for fairies, pixies, etc. I have not been up this part of the Yellow Jacket trail since early spring, but feel that this must be all one season’s growth!


It does not have any nasty razor wire type barbs like some vines from the deep south, so am inclined to leave it, even if it is an invasive species. Who knows what forest critters may be enjoying it?


Any ideas?

Tim, From September 2009




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MYSTERY: Strange Vine on Tim Foulkes' Mountain - Can you identify it?

Friday, October 12, 2012

ENERGY: More oil shipments to pass through Fundy waters?



Shell Oil Company

Shell Oil Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



For decades, the United States has bemoaned its dependence on oil imports. But now, the world’s biggest oil consumer is looking at seaborne oil exports of its own.


Royal Dutch Shell PLC is among the companies that have applied to export oil from the United States, with oil-tanker shipments out of the Texas Gulf Coast to refining complexes on Canada’s East Coast one possible destination. This comes as energy companies in Canada also eye Atlantic shipping routes, although some hope to bypass domestic processing facilities and get their oil to India and China.


Exporting oil is a politically contentious issue in the U.S., where politicians repeatedly push for energy independence and exports are highly restricted. Shell’s move, however, is not about independence.


Instead, it is struggling with a backlog of oil in certain areas of the continent – bottlenecks that push North American crude prices below the global benchmark.


“What this is simply showing is the pipeline imbalance in the U.S.,” said Len Waverman, a professor of strategy and global management at University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.


“So the reason for exports is the fact we have regional markets in the U.S.,” Prof. Waverman said. “We don’t have a national market.”


Shell’s application is part of an industry-wide rush to deal with the glut of oil hitting the North American market, thanks to expanding production in new and revived oil fields in North Dakota, Texas, Alberta and Saskatchewan.


As the prospects of major pipeline projects to Canada’s West Coast and the Texas Gulf Coast remain muddy, oil companies must find ways to expand their traditional markets or continue to receive a discounted price for their crude.


“We can confirm we applied to the Department of Commerce for licences to export domestic crude oil,” Kayla Macke, a spokeswoman for Shell in the United States, said in an interview Thursday. “Crude oil trades on a global scale, and imports and exports follows supply and demand.”


She said Shell can not yet specify which markets it hopes to reach.


BP PLC and Vitol Group, the world’s largest oil trading house, have also applied for licences, the Financial Times reported. It said the Department of Commerce refused to confirm the existence of licences or licence applications, citing U.S. law. But the newspaper quoted the department as saying exports to Canada had a “presumption of approval.” The paper said BP and Vitol declined to comment


The political debate, however, could extend beyond the United States. TransCanada Corp., for example, has faced regulatory roadblocks in its quest to connect Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast via the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.


Canadians may want to retaliate if Shell and its competitors try to reach refineries such as the Irving Oil complex in Saint John, in their bid to better their bottom lines.


“One might say: ‘Why should oil be going to Canada if the U.S. right now is blocking the XL pipeline?’” said Jack Mintz, a director at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.


The political issues could open negotiations for a North American energy strategy, a more “holistic approach,” he said.


Energy companies are pushing a variety of export options, such as expanding existing U.S. networks, replacing natural gas with oil in an existing line, building new lines such Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline, and turning to rail cars to transport crude. Shell’s export ambitions could add further pressure to major projects such as Gateway.


“Over time, things change and you don’t want to have an opportunity lost,” John Carruthers, president of the Gateway project, said in an interview on the sidelines of the project’s regulatory hearings in Prince George, B.C.


But, he said, Asia will continue to be a desirable market, and the possibility of U.S. exports emphasizes the need for Canada to find another destination for its oil.


With files from reporter Nathan VanderKlippe in Prince George, B.C.




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ENERGY: More oil shipments to pass through Fundy waters?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

EXPLORE: Fundy Highway Inukshuk, Rock Art and Grafetti


There’s something comforting about the inukshuk (or inuksuk if you prefer) that can be seen along all of our highways. These brand new little guys were overlooking the recently opened Trans-Canada Highway at St. David’s Ridge east of St. Stephen, N.B.


Have you got a favourite or some other story in stone like a carving on a mountain, names etched in rock, a strange geological formation, or striking graffiti even (our modern version of pictographs) or even wall art in your town? If so send a photo or two as attachments to an email addressed to fundytides at gmail.com. The subject is the title so be sure to capitalize it and the body is the text where you tell us all what it is, where it is, and when you saw it.


Who knows what spirits lurk here in Quoddy.


Art


PS. Want to know more about rock art? Check this out at Wikipedia and my very, very favourite site Stone Pages.




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EXPLORE: Fundy Highway Inukshuk, Rock Art and Grafetti