Chief Gathering LLC sues Pennsylvania residents over anti-pipeline tactics

DALLAS TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A natural gas pipeline company fired back against Goodleigh Estates residents, alleging their interference with and public anger toward the company's Dallas Township pipeline project could cost millions of dollars - money the company wants the residents to make up.

In the 143-page suit filed in federal court on Sept. 22, Dallas, Texas-based Chief Gathering LLC is seeking a minimum of $683,000 from William E. and Patricia Watkins and Jeffrey and Jo Ann Dickson, claiming a delay they could cause will lead to losses of at least $18 million.

The company also wants to recover attorneys' fees and charge extra damages for residents' "outrageous conduct" and keep them and others from making malicious statements about Chief in the media and in online social forums.

The action is in response to a lawsuit filed in Luzerne County court on Sept. 20 by the Watkinses and Dicksons against their neighbor Tuula D'Anca, who leased Chief a right-of-way through her Goodleigh Farms property. They asked the court to halt the pipeline construction, alleging it violates the development's covenants, creates a nuisance and potential danger. Chief was not included in the suit.

D'Anca and Goodleigh Estates residents Patrick and Patricia Dougherty, who also leased rights-of-way, are named in Chief's suit, but only in an action asking the court to make a judgment as soon as possible in order to proceed with the project.

"Chief doesn't comment on pending litigation, but I can confirm the lawsuit was filed," stated Kristi Gittins, vice president of public affairs for Chief Oil & Gas. "We feel legal action is necessary to protect our interests in the pipeline project."

According to the suit, which was filed by attorneys Ken Komoroski, L. Poe Leggette and Emily B. Thomas of Fulbright & Jaworski and Jeffrey Malak of Chariton, Schwager & Malak: For the past 22 months, Chief sought permits and rights-of-way - including 30 in Dallas Township - for a 24-inch pipeline from natural gas wells in Susquehanna County to connect to the Transco interstate pipeline in Dallas Township via a metering station. It is "one of the largest and most important projects Chief Gathering has ever undertaken."

Xcel Energy, Public Service Co. of Colorado on trial in fatal pipeline accident

GEORGETOWN, Colo. - Xcel Energy and the Public Service Company of Colorado are on trial for allegedly violating workplace safety rules.

In October 2007, five employees of RPI Coating were trapped when a fire broke out inside the Cabin Creek Hydro Plant pipeline, well below the surface of the ground near Georgetown. All five men were killed. The youngest was 19 and the oldest was 52.

When the fire happened, it was a worst-case scenario that became real.

"We have a fire in our penstock - our tunnel," a person told a 911 dispatcher at the time. "There are people trapped in that penstock."

The men had no way out. The chemical fire was 1,000 feet underground.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says the men were working on relining the pipe when the fire began. The workers on one side of the fire had a path to safety. Those on the other side did not. They died in the pipe less than an hour later. The coroner says they were killed by the fire's smoke.

The trial of Xcel began on June 1 after attorneys for both sides worked to pick a jury on May 31.

First lawsuits filed against PG&E over San Bruno pipeline explosion

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Five families filed lawsuits on Oct. 19 alleging that PG&E knew its pipeline was "defective" and posed extreme danger to the community.
At a state Senate hearing, tearful victims pressed state and utility officials to remove the pipeline from their neighborhood.
One of the lawsuits came from Susan Bullis, who lost her husband, Greg,
50; her son William, 17; and her mother-in-law, Lavonne, 82, in the
Sept. 9 blast that destroyed 37 homes. The remains of the two older
Bullises were so badly burned that they had to be identified using DNA
technology.
The lawsuit blames the deaths on PG&E, alleging that the utility knew Line 132 was "defective." PG&E's internal documents said a portion of that line, just miles from the site of the explosion, had an unacceptably high risk of failure.
"Yet (PG&E) has failed time and again to take any action to protect the
citizens imperiled by it," the Bullis lawsuit alleges.
PG&E spokeswoman Katie Romans said the utility had not yet received copies of the lawsuits and declined to comment.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sues Enbridge Partners

CHICAGO, Ill. - An oil leak in Chicago's Southwest suburbs has prompted Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to file a lawsuit against Enbridge Energy Partners, the operator of the pipeline.
Enbridge Lakehead System Line 6A leaked in Romeoville, Ill. Madigan says the lawsuit will ensure Enbridge will follow through with its cleanup efforts.
The state's attorney general alleges Enbridge violated state environmental regulations when the pipeline leaked in Romeoville in September.

The eight-count civil suit alleges Enbridge caused danger to public health and created a public nuisance.

The state also wants Enbridge to pay response and oversight costs related to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's response to the Sept. 9 spill.

It's also asking the court to require Enbridge to survey wells within two kilometers of the spill and identify public water sources and drains that might be threatened by the leak.

Enbridge said in a statement responding to the filing: "Enbridge has worked cooperatively with all of the regulatory authorities involved in responding to the incident on our Line 6A near Romeoville, Ill., since the very beginning. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an order with a number of items that Enbridge was required to comply with, and we have successfully completed nearly all of the items and will soon finish the remainder. By filing this action, the Illinois Attorney General's office is simply protecting the State's interests and insuring that Enbridge will follow through with addressing any concerns that the State may have arising out of the Line 6A incident, in addition to those action items being addressed under the U.S. EPA Order."

Three U.S. refineries latest to sue to get out of Keystone contracts

CALGARY, Alta. - Three small U.S. oil refineries are suing TransCanada to get out of their contracts to ship oil on the Keystone pipeline. They say that cost overruns on the Keystone pipeline have gone over budget by 145 percent in Canada and 92 percent in the U.S.
Canadian crude producers have already sought to be released from such contracts.
The U.S. refineries are suing TransCanada Corp. in hopes of breaking contracts to ship oil on Keystone, a new pipeline they say has been beset with cost overruns.
The refineries, owned by Sinclair Oil Corp., National Cooperative Refinery Association and Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing LLC, together committed to ship 95,000 b/d on the $5-billion line, which would deliver Canadian crude near their locations in the central United States.
Now the refineries want out. In three separate but nearly identical statements of claim, which a TransCanada spokesman has called “without merit,” the refiners argue that Keystone was so expensive to build, it will no longer be a cheaper option than shipping on pipelines run by competitor Enbridge Inc.
The refiners accuse TransCanada of misleading them when they signed shipping contracts in the summer of 2007. TransCanada nearly doubled its construction estimates in October, 2007, from US$2.8-billion to $5.2-billion.
As a result, the three refiners are demanding to be released from their shipping contracts, which together would account for about 12.5 percent of Keystone’s capacity.
If they fail in court, the refiners want US$950-million in damages, plus interest and expenses.

BP faces suit claiming Ocensa pipeline damaged Colombian farmland

LONDON - Ninety-five Colombian farmers are suing BP in the high court in London for allegedly causing serious damage to their land, crops and animals.
In the first case of its kind, the farmers are claiming that BP Exploration Co. Ltd., which joined forces with Colombia's national oil company and four foreign multinational corporations in a consortium to construct the 450-mile Ocensa pipeline, caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, causing crops to fail, livestock to perish, contaminating water supplies and making fish ponds unsustainable.
The farmers are claiming damages against BP for breach of contract and negligence.
If the court accepts the evidence, it could open the way for similar claims by other communities in developing countries who say they have been adversely affected by oil pipelines.

U.S. businessman gave recording of corrupt Ecuadorian judge to Chevron

SAN RAMON, Calif. - Chevron Corp., battling a $27 billion environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, said it may pay the legal bills of a U.S. businessman whose secret recordings of meetings with the judge on the case led the jurist to step down.
Californian Wayne Hansen used a pen equipped with a tiny camera to record meetings he had in May and June with Judge Juan Nunez in Ecuador, Chevron admitted on Aug. 31.
Hansen told the judge he was seeking contracts for his company to clean up oil contamination if Nunez ruled Chevron was responsible for environmental damage in the Amazon Basin, according to Chevron’s translation of the conversations, which were in Spanish.
Chevron alleges that Nunez disclosed his intention to rule against the company at the meetings. Ecuador Prosecutor General Washington Pesantez said on Sept. 8 that the recordings, which Chevron provided to the government, show Nunez told Hansen that he would have to wait until Nunez issued a decision to find out the ruling. Pesantez said he’s investigating the matter.
If Hansen “incurs future legal costs related to this matter, it would only be fair that we consider assisting him,” Kent Robertson, a Chevron spokesman, said in an e- mailed statement.
Chevron paid for Ecuadorean contractor Diego Borja, who also attended and recorded the meetings with Hansen, to leave Ecuador and is providing him with financial support, Robertson said on Sept. 1, without disclosing specific amounts.
Borja and Hansen were asked to pay a $3 million bribe by a political operative in Ecuador’s ruling party to get pollution cleanup contracts, Chevron says the recordings show.
Hansen declined to comment and referred questions to San Francisco criminal defense attorney Mary McNamara, who confirmed that she’s representing him.

Australian state to sue Apache over gas blast at Varanus Island

PERTH - The government of the state of West Australia will prosecute U.S. oil and gas producer Apache Energy Ltd for failing to maintain and repair a gas pipeline that exploded in 2008.
Apache says it will vigorously defend itself against the charges.
Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore on May 28 announced the government had started proceedings to prosecute Apache Northwest Pty Ltd and its co-licensees, Kuwait's Kufpec Australia Pty Ltd and Tap Harriet Pty Ltd, over the incident.
The blast in June 2008 at Apache's Varanus Island gas plant, off Western Australia's Pilbara coast, slashed the state's gas supply by one-third.
A charge filed on March 27 in the WA Federal Court alleges the companies had not maintained the pipeline in good condition and repair as required under the Petroleum Pipelines Act, Moore said.
"It is alleged that the 12-inch sales gas pipeline was corroded in the area of the pipeline rupture which occurred at the pipeline beach crossing on Varanus Island on June 3 last year," he said in a statement.