the goodman group, ltd.

Projects

Iroquois Pipeline Expansion by Compression (ExC) Project

On March 26, 2024, Ian Goodman and Brigid Rowan of The Goodman Group, Ltd. (TGG) provided expert comments to assist New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYPLI) in their April 29, 2024 comments to NYS Department Environmental Conservation (DEC) regarding the NYS Department of Public Service (DPS) Letter concerning the DEC Review of the Iroquois Enhancement by Compression Project (ExC Project).
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Tennessee Gas Pipeline East 300 Upgrade

In June 2020, Kinder Morgan announced its plan to for the East 300 Upgrade Project, a $246 million expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) system. The Project, which involves the construction of a compressor station in New Jersey, as well as upgrades to two existing compressor stations (in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively). This expansion would increase the TGP system firm capacity by 115,000 dekatherms per day to meet the demands of Consolidated Edison (serving New York City and suburbs).
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Renewable Energy Start-Up

From 2018 to 2022, we supported a renewable energy start-up, which is building a facility to convert waste cooking oils into very low-carbon renewable diesel (RD) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). These products will reduce the lifecycle GHGs by about 85% compared to conventional diesel and jet fuel.
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Assessing Economic Effects of Impact Assessment

Co-created a tool for the Canadian federal government to evaluate the credibility of economic development claims (employment, government revenues and GDP) associated with Designated Projects under the Impact Assessment Act.
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Matagorda Ship Channel Improvement Project

Prepared on expert report for Earthjustice about the proposed deepening and widening of the Ship Channel. Given changes in the economic context related to crude oil, we concluded that a Supplemental EIS should be required.
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Millennium Bulk Terminals – Longview

Retained as expert witnesses by Washington State Office of the Attorney General (AGO) in the matter of Lighthouse Resources, Inc., et al. v. Jay Inslee, et al. before the US District Court (West). Prepared written expert testimony Expert Report on Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview/Lighthouse and the Expert Rebuttal Report on Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview/Lighthouse. The reports analyze the burden to the US coal industry if the Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview (Millennium) were not built.
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Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE)

Two years before Governor Cuomo’s May 2020 rejection of this controversial pipeline project (to transport shale gas from Pennsylvania to NYC), TGG demonstrated that Williams was substantially overstating employment and other economic benefits of the Project. TGG’s Expert Report on the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project Economic Impact Analysis for New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, commissioned by the Eastern Environmental Law Center (EELC) in May 2018, evaluates the economic impact study prepared for the proponent by Michael Lahr and Will Irving of Rutgers University.
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Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric Project

Appointed by NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC), an Inuit community in Labrador, as external advisor for the Independent Expert Advisory Committee (IEAC) on Muskrat Falls. This large and highly controversial hydroelectric project has been widely opposed by many affected Indigenous residents. The mission of the IEAC was to use science and Indigenous Knowledge to recommend measures to protect the health of the Indigenous and local population from the effects of methylmercury related to Muskrat Falls.
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Canadian Federal Environmental and Regulatory Reviews

In 2016-2017, TGG participated in the most significant reform of the Canadian environmental assessment process in a generation. Following the election of the Liberals in 2015, the Canadian government initiated major environmental and regulatory process reviews. The purpose of the reviews was to establish improved rules to better protect the environment, fish and waterways and rebuild public trust. Indigenous engagement and reconciliation were seen as key aspects of the process.
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Kalama Manufacturing & Marine Export Facility

In 2017, TGG was retained by Earthjustice to review and provide expert testimony regarding the environmental and economic impacts of Kalama Manufacturing and Marine Export Facility (Kalama). Kalama is a proposed petrochemical refinery in Port of Kalama, Washington, using large quantities of fracked gas to produce methanol. At full capacity, Kalama would be the world’s largest methanol facility. It would produce up to 3.6 million metric tons of methanol per year, for export to China as feedstock for plastic production. This project remains highly controversial due to significant environmental and health risks, and has attracted widespread public opposition in the Pacific Northwest.
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Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

TGG provided expert testimony on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux in the legal proceedings related to the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Represented by Earthjustice, the Tribes have waged a long-term legal battle to stop the pipeline, in parallel with the historic protests of the pipeline in North Dakota. Since 2016, the Tribes have argued that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) should deny DAPL permits to cross the Missouri River and undertake a full environmental review. In late 2016, the Obama administration supported the Tribes’ position, and USACE committed to a full environmental review. Days after his inauguration in January 2017, US President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum to grant the final permits and expedite the construction process.
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Valero Crude by Rail Project, Benicia, California

TGG was retained by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 2013 to provide an expert report on a proposed crude-by-rail (CBR) terminal project at a Valero refinery in Benicia, California. In July 2013, TGG filed Comments on Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) Valero Crude by Rail Project Benicia, California with the City of Benicia. In our report, TGG provided a market analysis of the project. The report was included as an attachment to NRDC’s Comments on Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Valero Crude by Rail Project, filed with the City of Benicia on July 1, 2013.
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Tesoro Savage Vancouver Energy Distribution Terminal

In January 2018, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee rejected the Vancouver Energy Distribution Terminal (VEDT), the largest proposed crude-by-rail terminal in the US – and the largest proposed oil terminal on the West Coast. In response to the Governor’s decision, Tesoro Savage (the project applicant) terminated all development activities and cancelled the project in February 2018.
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PennEast Pipeline Project

In 2015, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) commissioned TGG to evaluate the economic impacts of the PennEast Pipeline. TGG’s Expert Report on the PennEast Pipeline Project Economic Impact Analysis for New Jersey and Pennsylvania evaluated the economic impact study (PennEast Pipeline Project Economic Impact Report and Analysis) prepared for the PennEast Pipeline Company.
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Trans Mountain Expansion Project

In Autumn 2014, TGG released a highly publicized expert report, Economic Costs and Benefits of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) for BC and Metro Vancouver, in collaboration with Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Public Policy Research. The report, published in November 2014 and re-released in February 2015, refuted Kinder Morgan’s claims regarding positive economic development benefits of its controversial pipeline project (TMX). Goodman and Rowan of TGG estimated the economic benefits of TMX for BC and Metro Vancouver and compared these benefits to a range of potential costs of bad to worst-case scenarios. TGG demonstrated that the economic benefits of the pipeline were very small and had been significantly overstated by Kinder Morgan, whereas the worst-case costs of a catastrophic spill were very large and had been vastly understated.
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Keystone XL Pipeline for South Dakota

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (RST) of South Dakota retained TGG in 2015 to provide expert testimony in the Keystone XL (KXL) permit recertification case before the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). TGG’s written expert testimony, Changes to the Economic Costs and Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline for South Dakota, was filed on behalf of the RST in April 2015 (and withdrawn in July 2015).
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Colorado Roadless Coal Exception

For over 30 years, TGG has prepared numerous studies evaluating Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments for energy-related activities. In May 2015, TGG released an expert report entitled Comments on Scoping Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) Rulemaking for Colorado Roadless Coal Exception #46470. TGG’s Comments were presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service on behalf of the Sierra Club.
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Oil and Gas Well Stimulation Treatments in California

Background: In 2015, TGG was retained by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups (NRDC, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Sierra Club, Los Angeles Waterkeeper) (“the Coalition”). The Coalition was concerned about the environmental and health impacts of oil production in California using newer well stimulation technologies (including fracking). Well stimulation treatment (WST) refers to processes to increase the production of a well by stimulating the flow of oil and/or gas.
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Economics of Transporting Tar Sands Crudes in Quebec

In June 2014, TGG, in collaboration with Équiterre and Greenpeace Canada, released a report refuting the oil industry’s claims regarding the economic benefits for Quebec of moving and refining tar sands crudes. The report, entitled Economics of Transporting and Processing Tar Sands Crudes in Quebec, demonstrated that the benefits for Quebec would be insignificant while the costs and risks were very high. TGG also concluded that a major pipeline accident could be catastrophic with billions of dollars in damages and loss of human life.
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Analysis of the Potential Costs of Accidents/Spills Related to Crude by Rail

In November 2013, TGG prepared an expert report entitled Analysis of the Potential Costs of Accidents/Spills Related to Crude by Rail for Oil Change International (OCI). The report demonstrates that the economic costs of crude by rail accidents can be very large and concludes that a major crude by rail (CBR) unit train accident/spill could cost $1 billion or more for a single event. The expert report was incorporated into Comments filed by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and OCI (on behalf of a numerous other environmental and community groups). The Comments were filed in December 2013 before The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), U.S. Department Of Transportation (DOT) as part of the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Hazardous Materials: Rail Petitions and Recommendations To Improve the Safety of Railroad Tank Car Transportation.
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Enbridge’s Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion Project

In 2013, TGG was retained by a coalition of Quebec- and Ontario-based environmental groups (the Équiterre Coalition) to provide expert testimony related to a controversial crude oil pipeline: Enbridge’s Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion (300,000 barrels per day at full capacity). The project would transport a mix of tar sands dilbit and synthetic crude oil (SCO), Bakken, and conventional Western Canadian crudes through Ontario and Quebec, crossing major waterways and Canada’s most populous urban areas (including Toronto and Montreal). TGG filed written expert testimony entitled, The Relative Economic Costs and Benefits of Enbridge’s Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion Project in August 2013 at Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) on behalf of the Équiterre Coalition.
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Keystone XL Market Analysis

TGG and KXL: On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued an Inauguration Day executive order to rescind the construction permit for the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline. Since KXL was first proposed by TransCanada in 2008, the pipeline has been the subject of a long and divisive public debate. This debate and the accompanying media coverage have been characterized by significant misunderstanding and misinformation concerning the pipeline’s environmental and economic impacts. During the Obama Presidency, the pipeline underwent an extensive federal review process by the State Department over a seven-year period. TGG released several highly influential expert reports, notably Pipe Dreams and the Keystone XL Market Analysis, described here. Our reports demonstrated to the Obama Administration and the media that the economic benefits of KXL have been greatly exaggerated by the proponents while the environmental costs have been understated. See Project Pages for Keystone XL in South Dakota and Keystone XL Job Study for more information about TGG’s work on KXL.
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Keystone XL Job Study

TGG’s jobs analysis in Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL was used to demonstrate to the US media and the Obama Administration that KXL would not be a major job creator for the US, nor would it have any substantial impact on US employment. TGG co-authored this influential and widely publicized study on the employment impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline with the Cornell Global Labour Institute in 2011. The report was released in September 2011 and updated in January 2012. TGG’S Ian Goodman and Brigid Rowan provided the economic analysis to demonstrate that TransCanada Pipelines Ltd had greatly exaggerated the employment impacts of the Keystone XL (KXL) Project. TGG estimated the Project would create no more than 2,500-4,650 temporary direct construction jobs for two years and at the most a handful of permanent jobs (ranging from a low of 20 to a high of 127).
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Employment Impacts of Air-Pollution Controls at North Dakota Coal Plants

TGG has been evaluating green job impacts for over 30 years. In November 2011, TGG prepared an expert report for the Sierra Club (National) entitled Employment Impacts of Air Pollution Controls at North Dakota Coal Plants. The purpose of this study was to estimate the employment impacts of pollution-control expenditures at the Milton R. Young and Leland Olds coal-fired plants in North Dakota.
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Economic Impacts of PG&E’s Proposed Capital Expenditures in 2011 General Rate Case

For over 30 years, TGG experts have filed testimony in over 60 regulatory proceedings in jurisdictions throughout North America. In 2010, TGG provided Direct Expert Testimony on behalf of The Greenlining Institute in Pacific Gas & Electric’s 2011 General Rate Case (GRC) before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
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the goodman group, ltd.